2026 HAMMER Horror Movie Looks Like A Lovecraft Mythos Adaptation
There’s a NEW Hammer horror film being premiered at the end aug 2026 called ITHAQUA and it appears to be based upon H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos in an August Derleth story of the same name. But is it? Let’s take a look.
Watch the full video HERE.
Greetings fiends, I’ve been doing a lot of Hammer related videos recently and I happened to stumble upon this new film due for release at the end of August, 2026.
Ithaqua or Ithaca from Hammer Films directed by Casey Walker and starring Kevin Durand, Michael Pitt, Luke Hemsworth, Caroline Raynaud, and Aaron Poole, is a horror film due to premiere at the end of August, 2026, about two weeks from the making of this video.
Ithaqua appears to be based upon the Lovecraft mythos cycle, specifically a story written in 1941 by August Derleth called Ithaqua about one of the great old ones, referred to as a wind walker or wendigo.
That being said, there is very little info on the film, just a plot summary and a few posters on IMDB and a couple of images I found on other sites. This is highly unusual for a film that’s just about to come out so I imagine they’re keeping a tight lid on it for one reason or another.
Ithaqua PLOT
During the decline of the fur trade, a mercenary named Cole Franklin, hired by the residents of a remote fort, struggles to unite the survivors of the famine-stricken outpost plagued by a dark force that leaves its victims with an insatiable hunger.
As horror spreads in the fort, the invisible presence takes a suffocating grip on the entire community. Cabin fever, starvation, and paranoia rapidly erode order, turning neighbor against neighbor in a violent spiral toward total madness. Soon, reason gives way to primordial survival instincts. Franklin is forced to draw upon his military background to lead survivors against an entity that defies human comprehension.
Lovecraft Derelth Cthulhu mythos?
iTHAQUA ORIGIN STORY
Ithaqua, also known as the Wind-Walker or the Wendigo, is a fictional entity in the Cthulhu Mythos. The titular creature debuted in August Derleth’s short story “The Thing That Walked on the Wind” from 1933, which was inspired by Algernon Blackwood’s 1910 tale The Wendigo.
Derleth later wrote a short story called Ithaqua published in the 1941 issue of Strange Stories magazine.
Ithaqua is one of the Great Old Ones and appears as a horrifying giant with a roughly human shape and glowing red eyes. He has been reported from as far north as the Arctic to the Sub-Arctic, where Native Americans first encountered him. He is believed to prowl the Arctic waste, hunting down unwary travelers and slaying them in a gruesome fashion. He is believed to have inspired the Native American legend of the Wendigo and possibly the Yeti.
August Dereth’s Ithaqua story
“The Thing That Walked on the Wind” originally published in strange tales magazine 1933.
(at the end “please note that Derleth’s 1941 story called ITHAQUA has a similar plot and deals mainly with disappearances revolving around the titular creature)
An officer reports on the disappearance of one of his constables, a man named Robert Norris, and the subsequent discovery of his frozen corpse.
Norris had been investigating the disappearance of an entire village in the Canadian wilderness near Manitoba. During the course of his enquiries, three people who had gone missing the previous year miraculously appeared from the sky. Although one was dead on arrival, the two survivors related the tale of the missing townsfolk, revealing the secret of a community which worshiped an ancient and malevolent being which showed its displeasure with its followers by abducting them to enact an unknown punishment.
Whilst on the case, Norris glimpsed the creature, a colossal caricature of a man with glowing red eyes, and this marked him for a cold death at its hands.
Now let’s go back to the Hammer film synopsis: During the decline of the fur trade, a mercenary struggles to unite the survivors of a famine-stricken outpost plagued by a dark force that leaves its victims with an insatiable hunger.
So it doesn’t sound like Derleth’s original story at all. Furthermore, three of the top actors in the film, Luke Hemsworth, Kevin Durand, and Michael Pitt have no character names per IMDB.
I am sure something is going to break on this film anyday, but for now we are left with a bit of an enigma.
WHAT WE KNOW
Ithaqua director Casey Walker did produce THE VOID, a very Lovecraftian film.
Ithaqua is a name created by August Derleth in 1933 for a story revolving around Lovecraft’s Cthulu mythos.
Both the story and the film take place in Canada.
It appears that the original story and film are different with different characters.
Neither Lovecraft or Derleth are credited in the IMDB writers credits.
From this set of facts, I believe that Walker took the name Ithaqua from the Derleth story but wrote an entirely new story, possibly based upon Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos.
We will find out soon enough!
Watch the full Ithaqua video here on the Horror Mike Channel.
