"In The Mouth of Madness" puts forth an interesting premise what if H.P. Lovecraft was right? What if portals to horrific dimensions are waiting to be opened, and what if slavering, horrific creatures with god-like powers are waiting to return to Earth . . . and to destroy mankind?.
Well, `In the Mouth of Madness' is a lot like other John Carpenter films interesting concepts, but the results are often hit or miss. The film itself deals with an insurance investigator named John Trent (Sam Neill, in an unexpectedly great performance), a man who defines rational, logical thought. A book publisher (a feisty Charlton Heston, who steals every scene he's in) sends Trent looking for a missing best-selling author Sutter Caine, who's supposed to be a cross between H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King. During his search for Sutter Caine, Trent finds himself encountering bizarre situations that literally come straight out of Sutter Caine's novels. . . and the situations get progressively worse and worse.
The film moves along at a decent pace, and manages to put together a number of shocking, disturbing scenes (and also makes the viewer wonder at times if the horror onscreen is `real' or just in Trent's head), but it never manages to sustain its intensity for any significant length of time. Some of the scenes which try to be horrifying wind up just being confusing, or stupid, or both. Carpenter also relies a lot on camera tricks (extreme close-ups, quick scene cuts, etc.) which are supposed to be disturbing and instead, they're intrusive and annoying. Also, the special effects budget must've been awful, because the effects are a joke check out Julie Carmen's dummy head! Clint Eastwood made a more realistic looking head in `Escape From Alcatraz'! Still, the good outweighs the bad, and I have to give John Carpenter credit for at least trying to create a chilling horror film, even if the results are somewhat spotty.
`In the Mouth of Madness' is decent, but not one of Carpenter's best. For a great example of a John Carpenter horror mind-trip, check out `The Thing' first. When you're finished with that, then watch `In the Mouth of Madness.' It's slightly stupid at times, but fun nonetheless. B-/C+
Well, `In the Mouth of Madness' is a lot like other John Carpenter films interesting concepts, but the results are often hit or miss. The film itself deals with an insurance investigator named John Trent (Sam Neill, in an unexpectedly great performance), a man who defines rational, logical thought. A book publisher (a feisty Charlton Heston, who steals every scene he's in) sends Trent looking for a missing best-selling author Sutter Caine, who's supposed to be a cross between H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King. During his search for Sutter Caine, Trent finds himself encountering bizarre situations that literally come straight out of Sutter Caine's novels. . . and the situations get progressively worse and worse.
The film moves along at a decent pace, and manages to put together a number of shocking, disturbing scenes (and also makes the viewer wonder at times if the horror onscreen is `real' or just in Trent's head), but it never manages to sustain its intensity for any significant length of time. Some of the scenes which try to be horrifying wind up just being confusing, or stupid, or both. Carpenter also relies a lot on camera tricks (extreme close-ups, quick scene cuts, etc.) which are supposed to be disturbing and instead, they're intrusive and annoying. Also, the special effects budget must've been awful, because the effects are a joke check out Julie Carmen's dummy head! Clint Eastwood made a more realistic looking head in `Escape From Alcatraz'! Still, the good outweighs the bad, and I have to give John Carpenter credit for at least trying to create a chilling horror film, even if the results are somewhat spotty.
`In the Mouth of Madness' is decent, but not one of Carpenter's best. For a great example of a John Carpenter horror mind-trip, check out `The Thing' first. When you're finished with that, then watch `In the Mouth of Madness.' It's slightly stupid at times, but fun nonetheless. B-/C+