In Michael Neel’s H.P. Lovecraft’s Celephaïs, a man spends his life haunted by a dream so vivid and beautiful that the waking world can never measure up. That longing drives him deeper into the memory of a lost kingdom, where every return brings him closer to finally arriving home.
A young boy (Jasper Neel) runs through open fields near grand stone castles and finds himself inside a magnificent royal foyer — the entrance to the dream city of Celephaïs. The city is like no other. There, he meets Athib (Silvia Graziano), who greets him warmly, welcoming him back to this extraordinary place as though she has been waiting for him.
An older man, Kuranes (Chuck Schwager), approaches, and upon seeing the boy, realizes it is himself from sixty-six years ago. In an instant, Kuranes is awakened from his dream. In the present, Kuranes lives in darkness and poverty, but his only relief from the grim reality of the world is his dream of Celephaïs. With each passing slumber, Kuranes becomes more and more obsessed, while each adventure becomes more mysterious, all in the hope that one day he will enter the gates of Celephaïs for good.
“…Kuranes lives in darkness and poverty, but his only relief from the grim reality of the world is his dream of Celephaïs…”
For indie filmmaker Michael Neel and crew, it’s crystal clear that their take on H.P. Lovecraft’s Celephaïs is a labor of love. With a budget of less than an Oscar’s gift bag, a lot of time and effort was spent creating the kingdom of Celephaïs with absolutely nothing. Yes, Hollywood could do a million times better than what Neel was able to produce, but it would be bogged down by casting and modernizing Lovecraft rather than telling the story.
Considering the constraints, Celephaïs has the look and feel of an old ’70s BBC production. As Kuranes, Chuck Schwager does a fine job conveying the story’s theme, which is important. The film hits hard on the theme of obsession with a dream, and in Lovecraftian style, it’s a dream teased night after night…and it comes through. Did I mention that legendary actor Tony Todd was a part of this project?
Michael Neel’s H.P. Lovecraft’s Celephaïs hits on the idea that horror is not in monsters, but in wanting something so badly that reality itself becomes unbearable. By the end, the film leaves Kuranes caught between a broken life and a dream world that may be the only place he was ever meant to belong.
H.P. Lovecraft’s Celephaïs can be streamed on YouTube.