The audience surrogate character is a young black hydrologist, which probably doesn't hold true to Lovecraft's vision. Nicolas Cage's manic performance doesn't always lend itself to the mostly serious tone. Cage's daughter is a practicing witch and no one in the family seems to hold it against her, although she is portrayed as a bit of a klutzy, immature teenager. Conservative-minded people can find reasons to complain about the worldview of the movie, but it's still pleasurable viewing as a lower-budget sci-fi horror picture with some skin-crawling violence.