In the Mouth of Madness
by John Carpenter
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Product details
Actor: David Warner, J?rgen Prochnow, John Glover, Julie Carmen, Sam NeillDirector: John Carpenter
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
Running Time: 95 minutes
Release Date: 1998-08-18
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Publisher: New Line Home Video
Studio: New Line Home Video
VHS Movie Reviews of In the Mouth of Madness
Movie Review: Great Concept Mixed With Some Cheesy Acting
Summary: 3 Stars
Before the review begins, it needs to be said that John Carpenter is my favorite director. With that out of the way, In the Mouth of Madness is a good movie that was unfortunately marred by some bad acting and a poor script. Sam Neil did a superb job, but everyone else was somewhat of a let down from my point of view, especially Jurgen Prochnow's role as Sutter Cane. Nevertheless, In the Mouth of Madness is probably Carpenter's last worthwhile directorial effort before slipping into obscurity.Movie Review: If it wasn't for the ending, this would be a great film
Summary: 3 Stars
John Trent is an insurance investigator (Sam Neill) who thinks he has seen everything, until he hired to find missing horror writer Sutter Cane (Jurgen Prochnow). In spite of the fact that he knows that it's not possible, he soon finds himself confronted with the possibility that Cane's novels are sending people crazy and that he himself might be a product of Cane's imagination.
"In the Mouth of Madness" started off really well, with an axe wielding maniac attacking Sam Neill in a restaurant, and held my attention right until the end. This film raises so many interesting questions: What is reality? Are Sutter Cane's novels really sending people mad? Is Sam Neill's character real or not? I couldn't wait to find out how the writer was going to answer all of these questions...And then the credits started rolling and I realized that after sitting through 90 minutes of this movie, virtually none of the questions that it had raised had been answered. If these questions had been answered, then I would certainly have given this film five stars: the acting is great and stylistically, this is a really good horror film. It is unsettling and relies on ideas rather than an overdose of special effects in order to create horror. Nevertheless, the non-committal ending just left me with a feeling of having been ripped off by everyone who is involved in this film. As a result, I am not surprised that this is one of the lesser known of horror director John Carpenter's films. It could have been a classic if it had a better ending, but without it, this is just mediocre and utterly forgettable.
Movie Review: "I think, therefore you are."
Summary: 5 Stars
Ever since I was 15 years old, I have had an on/off relationship with horror films. Right around 1994-5, I was going through an "off" phase for some indeterminate reason. At that time, ItMoM did not intrigue me in the slightest from what I saw in the trailer. So for about a decade and a half, I put off seeing it. About 2 weeks ago, I was reading reviews when those for ItMoM caught my attention. I told myself, "Self, you only live once." Then I put it in my Netflix Queue. Now I realize all too late that I should have championed this movie back in 1995 when all the critics were busy skewering it.
The basic plot deals with a matter of fact insurance detective name John J. Trent (Sam Neill in one of his better roles) who makes a living bringing down would be beneficiaries who torch their own properties. Fans of the horror novelist Sutter Cane are rioting around the bookstores worldwide awaiting the release of his newest novel. Cane, who literally outsells The Bible and has been translated into 18 languages, has been missing for two years. Cane's publishing company hires Trent and Cane's beautiful editor Linda Styles to find him. Their search leads them to fictional New England village Hobb's End. Once there, Trent's firmly rooted prosaic ideas about how the world is supposed to function slowly discombobulate.
What was it that I loved so much about ItMoM? Oh yes, it felt less like watching the typical horror movie I was half-expecting and more like reading a really great horror novel. There is a very strong Lovecraft influence at play that borrows from several of his stories. We have the unspeakable monstrosities that existed eons before man in which his readers are very well familiar with. Also there is a towering Byzantine church that could very easily be integrated into one of his stories. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that Phillip K. Dick was also an inspiration with the constant changing of reality. Far too many horror films take their inspiration solely from other horror films that were not that great to begin with. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see one borrowing from literature. And fine literature at that.
Movie Review: What is reality?
Summary: 4 Stars
Trent(Sam Neill) is an insurance investigator hired to track down Sutter Cane(Jurgen Prochnow). Sutter Cane is a top selling horror book author whose books causes people to freak out in unimaginable ways. After piecing together his puzzle, Trent figures out where Cane can be located. Now Trent must distinguish between reality and fiction.
Being a John Carpenter fan one can't help but check out his films. Especially for me, Carpenter is responsible for two of my favorite horror films being Halloween and The Thing. In The Mouth Of Madness is far different from both of those films, its nowhere near as good but it's passable for me.
In The Mouth of Madness isn't scary at all. It works its horror through the creepiness utilizing the atmosphere and plot development. The movie was never boring to me once it got out of first gear. The acting was pretty solid to me and definitly added to the creepy feel as well. Every person who Trent and his female partner came into contact with. Just had a very eerie feel to me. I also feel the thin line between reality and fiction was very well directed here.
I thought the special effects were pretty good but the gore needed work. The background music fit very well with the atmosphere. My only problem is the ending theme. I mean is it just me or is that song out of place?
Overall, In The Mouth of Madness is well above average horror to me. With its creepy feel and message to it. I would say this is one of Carpenter's stronger movies. Fans of the supernatural and mind benders would be making a good move to pick this up.
Movie Review: NEW WORLD ORDER: A LA LOVECRAFT
Summary: 4 Stars
This is one of the best scary movies ever. Now, if you are a hard-core horror movie fan, you probably are like me immune, meaning you probably won't get scare. Nevertheless, you will love this movie, and enjoy it. The story is about...well, us, the fans of horror. Is about the questions "what is reality?, does reality exists?". But, the main question is "what if you are the only sane person in the whole world?" Anyway, the movie is about a book so freaking real and scary that the readers (those who finish it) becomes psychopathic killers. The author goes missing and the company hires a man to find him. Is this quest for him that takes us to a lovecraftnian nightmare. You will love it!
P.S. Even if I love a movie, I always recommend to rent it first. That way if you don't like it you won't lose money.
Summary of In the Mouth of Madness
The mind-bending worlds of author H.P. Lovecraft have long interested horror directors, but the films have rarely successfully captured his nightmarish mix of madness and mythology. John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness is not directly based on Lovecraft's work, but screenwriter Michael De Luca draws his inspiration from Lovecraft's Cthulu mythology and then adds his own ingenious twists. John Trent (Sam Neill), an insurance investigator recently fitted for a straightjacket, tells his story to a psychiatrist. Hired to track down the missing pop-horror phenomena Sutter Cane, a Stephen King-like author whose fans are literally made for his books, Trent finds the supposedly fictional Hobb's End. He watches the town collapse into madness, murder, and monstrous transformations: the fantastic horrors of Cane's novels played out in front of his eyes. "Reality isn't what it used to be," deadpans one zombielike townsperson. In fact, it is how Cane writes it--but is he Devil, dark oracle, or simply a preacher in the service of an evil that grows stronger with every soul his books convert? The script never quite gets a grip on the blurry relationship between fact and fiction, but those details fade in the face of Carpenter's demented imagery, shiver-inducing twists, and dark wit. It's more eerie mind game than straight-out horror, a portrait of a world gone mad, and Carpenter relishes every hallucinatory moment. --Sean AxmakerGeneral Video
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