Well, I will say that writer and director David J. Hohl was definitely on the right track here, because the 2008 movie "In Search of Lovecraft" had potential. Just a shame that the budget didn't allow the film maker to achieve more with his vision.
That being said, then I must also say that this movie is low budget and the low budget feel just permeates the entire movie, for better or worse. And this is a make or break thing, I believe, for most viewers. I managed to endure and sit through the entire ordeal, given my love and interest in all things Lovecraftian. But mark my words, this is not an overly great movie.
Sure, there were aspects to the movie that were interesting enough, but they just weren't properly utilized or brought to fruition, and the movie just never made it out of that low budget, homemade feel that it had to it. And that served as a hindrance to the movie as a whole.
The acting in the movie wasn't really the best. Sure, the actors and actresses were doing good enough jobs, I suppose. But if you are sitting down for some spectacular and believable acting performances, then "In Search of Lovecraft" is not the right movie to watch.
Visually, then "In Search of Lovecraft" was suffering terribly from a lack of proper funding for proper effects. The effects in the movie were dubious, at best. And the CGI in the movie, forget about it. The CGI was like something straight out of an early 1990s computer game. Yeah, it was that bad.
The movie is listed as a horror movie, well I suppose as it deals with the topic of Lovecraft and the established mythos of the Old Ones, then there was a sense of cosmic dread to it. But horror? Nah, this was not a scary feature in any way.
"In Search of Lovecraft" is not among the top contender of movies that are based on the Lovecraft mythos. If you wish to watch something like that, you would be better off with something else, say perhaps some older Yuzna movies.
As for the storyline, well it was a watchable movie, sure. But the script, plot and storyline just felt a bit rushed and not really full circle. It was like there was lacking a red thread throughout the course of the movie, to fully tie the individual events of the movie together for a greater picture.
I sat through the entire ordeal, but I wouldn't exactly say that I was entertained, or particularly enjoying the movie. But loyalty to Lovecraft and an unhealthy interest in the mythos made me endure the entire ordeal.
My rating of "In Search of Lovecraft" lands on a three out of ten stars, based mostly on the effort and the spirit put into this project. This is hardly a movie that I would recommend my fellow Lovecraft enthusiasts to rush out and grab a copy of; it is just not all that interesting.