The Yellow Sign

Aaron Vanek took up the poison chalice for this film project because "The Yellow Sign" is an adaptation of themes within the collection of loosely connected short stories that make up "The King in Yellow" by Robert W. Chambers. This book is rightly famous and, indeed, revered within the 'Weird tales' genre because it is genuinely disturbing and hints at horrors beyond what is written therein. It is profoundly Lovecraftian in feel and works at the level of dread, suspense and terror that can only be attained where the nature and origin of fear is hidden, covert, implied. The problem with attempting to translate a Lovecraftian tale into film is simple; you can have as many special effects as you like, but show the monster and you lose all the tension and dread built up by the imagination of the reader/viewer. It is not therefore surprising that the vast majority of the Lovecraft tales 'adapted' for films to date have failed miserably to do justice to the original stories. That being said, "the Yellow Sign" is a worthy exception to the general rule. This is a genuinely disturbing and downright creepy film, a very rare commodity indeed. Just like the book, there are elements missing and the lack of coherence leaves your imagination to fill in the gaps. I seriously considered giving this a full 10 out of 10 but for the fact that a 'director's cut' is shortly to be released! Recommended without reservation.