Film Happenings In And Around Portsmouth New Hampshire

It may seem surprising today, but New England was very active in the years before the film industry was centralized in California.The start of their film output mirrored that of the American republic, with films such as Benedict Arnold (1909), Ralph Once's Battle of Bunker Hill (1911) and Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (1914). Shooting a film in New England benefitted the crews with its cooler climate, making summer shoots more possible there than in a boiling metropolis like New York City. Some of the largest film companies of the time, such as that of Thomas Edison, made New England shores and small towns destinations as summer shooting locations.David Mamet chose to do the same when shooting his Hollywood comes to New England drama, State and Main (2000).

New England's landscape has also inspired those whom wish to explore darker, more controversial matters. Horror has been a part of New England's history of film almost from the start, going back to the 1900 release of Uncle Josh in a Spooky Hotel. One of the most recognized horror authors of all time, H.P. Lovecraft was born in Rhode Island in August of 1890. Lovecraft's numerous tales of terror in pulp magazines often took place or were influenced by the history and land of his home region. In 1963, director Roger Corman adapted a novella by Lovecraft, "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward," to become the film titled The Haunted Palace. From 1967's The Shuttered Room to 2011's Whisperer in the Darkness, some thirty films have been adapted from Lovecraft's work, several set in sleepy New England towns. H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos established a fictional universe of which many other artists have contributed, such as director John Carpenter. Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness," for example inspired Carpenter to create his homage, In the Mouth of Madness (1995), set in the eerie, fictional village of Hobb's End, New Hampshire.

Author Stephen King has both added to the Cthulhu Mythos and endeavored to create his own. King's Lovecraft-like take on New England life is detailed in film adaptations of his stories in Dead Zone (1983), Misery (1990) and Needful Things (1993). In fact, writer Michael Sletcher said King has "probably done more to shape popular culture images of New England than anyone since Eugene O'Neill..and like O'Neill, he has an obsession with looking behind the picket-fences facades of the small town." Both Lovecraft and King heavily used the supernatural in their stories, possibly drawing on the literature written by predecessors like Henry James and Nathaniel Hawthorne. For instance, Hawthorne made good use of the region's infamous Salem Witch Trials in his stories. The time of the witch trials in Salem would draw filmmakers to the topic again and again, starting with 1937's Maid of Salem.

Other filmmakers chose to spotlight more modern problems. These include residential filmmaker Louis de Rochemont's Lost Boundaries (1949), an account of race relations and bigotry found in a fictional New Hampshire town, filmed in and around Portsmouth. New Hampshire movie theaters dot the map and Portsmouth is home to the iconic New Hampshire Film Festival. In efforts to preserve New England's history in film and continue it, such expositions are planned annually across the New England countryside.

Film culture in New England continues to morph and adapt to the times. Historian Phil Hall attests, "The digital video revolution has encouraged a great many filmmakers, particularly in New England..." Hall does have some concern as about a flooded marketplace, especially in regional or local markets, such as Portsmouth NH theaters. Regardless, with the advent of fast connections and sites like YouTube on the internet, fledgling filmmakers are finding ways to rival, if not win over, the films made in Hollywood.

During the early silent era of film, it wasn't unusual to find films made in the New England states, such as New Hampshire. Early New England films, such as Benedict Arnold (1909), Battle of Bunker Hill (1911) and The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (1914). The lack of complex technology at the time—everything from air conditioners to accessible cameras to high-tech editing equipment—made New England just as attractive for film companies as any other location and, in addition, benefitted from the climate and scenic landscape. Vitagraph, Lubin and Edison were just a few of the major companies to record their films there. This trend continues to this day, with films as recent as David Mamet's State and Main (2000).

Recently, New England's beautiful but at times haunting landscape has attracted filmmakers of a different ilk: producers of horror. In fact, one of the earliest films to mine this vein was 1900's Uncle Josh in a Spooky Hotel, in which the title character finds himself forced to spend a night in a haunted building. One of the most recognized horror authors of all time, H.P. Lovecraft was born in Rhode Island in August of 1890. His recurring theme of secret and ancient horror may have been drawn by Lovecraft from his surroundings. His novel, "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" was the first of numerous Lovecraft film adaptations, the title renamed by director Roger Corman as The Haunted Palace (1963). Other film treatments featuring Lovecraft's version of New England include The Shuttered Room (1967), The Dunwich Horror (1970), Re-Animator (1985), From Beyond (1986) and The Whisperer in Darkness (2011). H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos established a fictional universe of which many other artists have contributed, such as director John Carpenter. The lead character in Carpenter's homage to Lovecraft, In the Mouth of Madness (1995), follows a mysterious disappearance to New England, specifically Hobb's End, New Hampshire, a small town where bizarre things are the norm.

One New England author said to have created a similar setting for his own creations is Stephen King. New England, specifically King's home state of Maine, features prominently in nearly all of his works. Some have said that Stephen King has "probably done more to shape popular culture images of New England than anyone since Eugene O'Neill." King and Lovecraft continue the tradition of literature written about supernatural New England established by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," for instance, tells of a meeting with the Devil in the woods outside colonial Plymouth, which, itself, draws on the tragic time in New England known as the Salem Witch Trials. Maid of Salem brought the trials to the big screen in 1937, the first of many films on the subject.

Other films have been aimed at addressing more modern evils. Lost Boundaries (1949) is one of these socially aware films, concerning racism in a small New Hampshire town and recorded in Portsmouth.Portsmouth is home to the New Hampshire Film Festival, one of the preeminent independent film screenings in the northeastern United States, and some of the great New Hampshire movie theaters. One will find that similar events take place every year throughout New England, preserving the independent spirit of filmmaking.

Progress is helped along with the development of inexpensive but quality recording equipment and software. Historian Phil Hall attests, "The digital video revolution has encouraged a great many filmmakers, particularly in New England..." Hall does have some concern as about a flooded marketplace, especially in regional or local markets, such as Portsmouth NH theaters. With modern benefits provided by the internet, filmmakers from New England are seeking to rival Hollywood once again and they just might.

Local Movie Theatres Under Attack? Cinema Thrives At NH Movie Theaters (Pt. 2)