User reviews

The series is neither an adaptation of a Lovecraft work, nor is it based on his mythos or his life. "Lovecraft Country" is a combination of fantasy, horror, mystery, and Indiana Jones adventure, but the emphasis is not only on these aspects, but it significantly concentrates on racism in America in the 1950s. I have the impression that the authors used the "father of horror" to attract the audience to a famous name. We have "racist horror", and Lovecraft is a racist horror writer ... let's name the series after him and attract fans. At first, it may work, but those same fans will very quickly realize what is happening and will be disappointed with the series that they could have liked under some other name, which does not offer false promises.

The other thing that bothered me was the soundtrack. With good production, cinematography, and acting, they skillfully evoked the atmosphere of the fifties, and then spoiled it with inadequate music. I watch the South Side of Chicago in the fifties, but I listen to Rihanna, Manson, and hip-hop ... it doesn't work. It breaks the atmosphere and spoils the experience.

Third and most important, after a promising start, the script turned into a total mess. Had they stick to the great premises from the first couple of episodes until the end, the series could have been awesome. For some reason, they decided to overwhelm it with new subplots from episode to episode, until it turned into an overcomplicated and incomplete mishmash of everything and anything.

However, the series is technically indisputably well done, the visual aspect, atmosphere, and characters are very likable, and the story is, if you don't mind the confusing and chaotic storytelling, basically quite interesting. If you don't expect too much, it's worth a look.

7/10

This series starts out very well hitting character development, backstory and monsters. A lot of action and likable characters. The series goes along just fine and is very enjoyable . . . Until it wasn't. It got stupid, preachy and disjointed toward the end. So promising, yet so disappointing.

The biggest question I had about the show was how much of the horror themes were gonna be racial or Lovecraftian. As of episode three, the horror is fairly evenly balanced. There are a lot of scenes that focus on racial tensions and horrors that are extremely well done, and never feels like a slap-in-the-face message about racism. Rather they produce genuine tension and anxiety. As for the Lovecraftian horror themes, they are fairly sparse and scattered (nothing really happens until the end of episode one), but when they do show up, they are exquisitely well done and interesting. There are constant nods to Lovecraft, and his mythos- i.e. episode three is a love letter to "The Rats in The Walls"- and the story incorporates and weaves them in well so far, but it is only episode three. Now for why it may not be for everyone; it does have a complex story and method of delivery. A lot of information is alluded to, or glazed over so you really have to pay attention, and episode two was very confusing on the first watch and required two watches, paying close attention each time. It is not the show for you if you are looking for an easy story to digest, this one will make you think and put things together yourself. On the other hand, if you don't mind using your brain when watching this show, it's superb, especially for those who love and are familiar with Lovecraft and his mythos. The overall direction of the show is still a little unclear. It started out with a clear motive but switches up really quick. That is one thing I am still waiting to see is the overall story arc and direction. As I said though, it is only episode three of supposedly ten so far. I would highly recommend watching if anything mentioned about it sounds interesting.

Wanted to like it. First episode was really good and so was the second and third one but after that it pretty much went downhill.. too much going one and not finishing a story before it starts a new one. Too bad. The beginning it had so much potential

I enjoyed the cast of characters along with the blending of black cultural and intellectual history, particularly with the use of James Baldwin. Certainly, pays homage to the Sci-Fi and Horror of the period of the show as well as the lore of the shows namesake. Journee Smollet is the real MVP. A Beautiful shot, directed, and acted series so far. I can't wait to see more episodes of the series.

Creative history lesson whose fantasy ultimately got so absurd that it was unwatchable :-(

I haven't been this excited since the first episode of Watchmen. Not sure where to start, the colors, the acting, the wardrobe, the writing, the directing! A fantastic and absolutely thrilling episode that leave you wanting more of everything. Everyone who was a part of this production should be so proud of this beautiful show they have made. I am so looking forward to the rest of the season!

I have not had a show relate so much to my inner nerd and suspense. This is an excellent show which gives factual Black history.

Pros: The music/soundtrack for the film is fantastic. I love how they incorporated old recordings of civil rights leaders into the soundtrack. Very effective.

The acting is really good for the most part.

The production design and cinematography are pretty great.

Cons: The show is a mess. Tries to do too many things. It's clunky, and deeply corny at times.

Far too much exposition. The writing is incredibly trite. It has an air of self-importance that the writing and directing never quite live up to.

The CGI is very amateur.

Overall, Lovecraft was deeply disappointing. It was incredibly obvious and beats you over the head with its message. It tries to incorporate far too many sci-fi/fantasy/horror elements. The whole thing is a disappointing mess. I'm not sure how the script made it past the development stage.

This show is amazing- each episode is excellent horror, touches on powerful history, includes three dimensional characters, and challenges the viewer.

I really liked the first episode, it was a great pilot. Very refreshing and I would recommend everyone to watch it. I don't know what happened after, but the show quickly after the first one because very boring and unoriginal. I think they might went too far with the racism as well. Not because of the white people, but because it makes the whole story and character actions very predictable and cliche. A part from the first one, this show was a letdown.

I'm baffled by the high reviews for this. I love sci-fi and horror and all the kooky stories out there, but this was even too much for me. There is so much going on and it doesn't follow any clear path. The description of "man looking for his father" is so misleading. It's illuminati, mutants, magic, racism, vampires, monsters, ghosts, and even more. But it's so much that you just can't keep up! By the time I got to episode 5 I realized I didn't give a crap about any of the characters. None of them form a connection with the viewers. I was so disappointed.

Great cast, scenery, music, cinematography and intriguing acting! I've been anticipating this show awhile even before there was a trailer with the creators/ producers involved plus I binged Underground by Misha Green a couple months ago. Not sure why Lovecraft Country already has a 5.7 definitely deserves better! From the trailers I can imagine the rest is exhilaratingly unique and has so much potential.

I love how this show stretches the pages of LoveCraft Country to the end of our imagination. I love the way it's shot down to the film that's used. Everyone has that kit from within glow. I love how complex the characters are, how everyone has their own time to shine. I haven't looked forward to Sunday nights at 9pm since Underground. I really hope that there are a few more seasons inside these brilliant writers!

As someone who has read the book, I wish they would have stuck more with the book. After the first few episodes it basically becomes completely different from the book and I'm not enjoying it as much.

It started off a bit slow to introduce all the characters but by the end I wanted more. It's main cast is super interesting.

I am not American neither I am white nor black. I found Lovecraft Country weird. It showed the people of color couldn't even get out of their house cause wherever they go white folks are trying to kill them out in the open. That seems very unrealistic to me. I am two episodes in and all the white people they meet are doing evil racist things to them. That cannot be true right?

Lovecraft has always fascinated me. I can't say I've read any of his works but the ideas of extra dimensional horrors beyond our comprehension is such an interesting concept. Because of that, I was pretty hyped for a show centering on Lovecraftian horror and if ever I thought one would deliver it, it would be the one named after it, right?

Nooooooooooooooooooope!

Lovecraft Country is an utter mess of wasted potential, mismanaged plotlines and horrible pacing. It's the kind of series that makes me feel bad for the actors because you know they're trying. They're really trying to turn this crap into gold and they can't.

Now, despite all of that, I stick with it to the end, hoping for some big, Cthullu-sized pastors and what I get is absolutely maddening. Now, this whole show has been an SJW wet dream in the worst possible way because there's no cohesion or unifying message. Instead it feels like the writers asked Twitter what the biggest social issues are and, not wanting to offend anyone said, "Awesome, let's do them all!" And I bet there was someone in that meeting that asked questions like, "how could we do that and still have it make sense?" or "what does that have to do with Lovecraft?" or maybe even "could we pick a few each season rather than doing them all at once?" And then that person was told to pack there things and leave before they got any more sense all over this whackado production.

Oh and then there's the ending. You can't make a whole show about social injustice and then end it by saying an entire race is going to be punished strictly because they share a skin color with a crazy person and their dozen or so friends. THAT'S racism!

Ooooh this one got me heated and the more I think about it the lower my rating drops. The ultimate offense though is beyond politics or sides, it's that this could have been better. It could have been more. It could have been meaningful but the creators were so wrapped up in causes that they forget to tell a good story. It's a fatal flaw and it will take a lot to get me to come back for season 2.

Was looking forward to seeing what this was about, and very impressed! I'm intrigued and ready for next week's episode NOW!!!

The pacing from the first to the second episode was incredibly inconsistent. The first episode was enjoyable enough and showed great imagery of racism prior to the Civil Rights.

The second episode though - my god was that bad. Weird jumps between scenes, it didn't take time to develop the setting, characters, or do horror in any meaningful way. With this being commentary on Lovecraft, I would have thought there'd be horror, and not just vague illusions to tropes like cults or monsters. This was more of a middle grade dark fantasy story. Looking at the novel, this story was only a hundred pages long, and the HBO adaptation didn't add anything to it - so that is about the length of a middle grade novel. Adult horror is usually longer and better developed. With Jordan Peele involved as a producer, I'm really surprised by the low quality.

The actors and acting are amazing, kudos to the whole cast. The direction and visuals are also solid, the guy knows what he is doing. The way they melded hp lovecraft and exposed racism during the jim crow era was also on point. The overall story arches were just meandering and confusing as hell! There were way too many moments where I was thinking...well minus 2 minutes in one particular scene literally nothing in this episode had anything to do with what I watched last episode. I know this is based on a book that I'm assuming people like that, and this, which is fine. I enjoy a cohesive story so I'll skip a season 2 if there is one.

The series tried tying together so many ideas in such a short period that it ended up being way too choppy. Every episode feels like its purpose is to highlight racial inequality during the time period, rather than delivering a coherent plot. It focused so much on race that it really hampered the enjoyability of the fantasy aspects.