abstract
- Tony Alcala Gonzalez analyses how the Gothic of H.P. Lovecraft¿s ¿The Call of Cthulhu¿ (1928) both influences and is challenged by Alan Parker¿s 1987 film Angel Heart, a work of extreme crisis split, like its era, between the increasing acceptance and the deep fears of interracial sex and of ecological disaster. In Alcala¿s analysis, water, excess, and delirium in both works annihilate all attempts by their respective protagonists to resist the consequences of their acts and thereby reveal the existential fragility of their lives. Along the way in both cases, these narratives intimate deep cosmic secrets that threaten humanity, especially when they appear to be guarded by secret cults. Alcala suggests that this 1928/1987 interchange makes us think more about our own moment of crisis, where the oversaturation of stimuli and information suffered by our senses changes us and those around us much as the deluges in these works overwhelm their main characters. © Manchester University Press 2025.