Rating: 
Summary: Classic Carpenter, Sweet Story
Review: The story of this one has to be seen to be believed. The plot twists and turns as the narrator recalls the tale of terror. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in madness. It's insane.
Rating:
Summary: Carpenter TRULY gives H.P.Lovecraft a fair Movie!!!!
Review: I have long been a fan of the writings of Lovecraft, and I have bought and seen several movies. B-MOVIES DELUXe! They are so incredibly bad, that I had given up hope. .....That is until I saw this one by John Carpenter. Thank you Carpenter, for restoring my faith, and for giving H.P Lovecraft a fair movie!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Probably the Best H.P. Lovecraft Film Ever.
Review: In the Mouth of Madness will prabably be somewhat mystifying to viewers who aren't familiar with H.P. Lovecraft's classic horror tales about "The Elder Gods", monstrous beings that have been imprisoned in the depths of space since the dawn of time, waiting patiently for their chance to return to Earth, and reclaim it from the insignificant creatures (US!) that roam her...lovecraft wrote in a style that is virtually untranslatable to the screen...even the most successful adaptation, "Re-Animator", had to veer wildly off from the source material in order to be viable... Well, here John Carpenter decides to cut out the middle-man, and rather than change Lovecraft around, he simply gives us H.P.'s worst nightmare: The Elder Gods are coming back....Run..... Sam Neill plays John Trent, an insurance adjuster looking for missing Horror novelist Sutter Cane. Cane has been incommunicado for weeks, sending his new novel in in dribs and drabs. The publication date is coming up fast, and Cane's less-than-stable fans are REALLY anxious to read his latest- So anxious that they're starting to have book store riots looking for copies. Trent and Cane's Editor (Julie Carmen) stumble upon Hobb's End, the FICTIONAL town that is the setting for all of Cane's books, and from there things just get weird. Cane is writing his latest, "In the Mouth of Madness", as a way to increase belief in The Old Ones, thus opening the doorway for their return to our plane of existence. The film is very entertaining, but seems kind of constrained by the budget...the deserted streets at the end just didn't seem big enough to convey the feeling Carpenter was trying for. I think Lovecraft would have enjoyed it, though. The disc has both widescreen and full-frame versions of the picture (Pick widescreen!), commentary by Carpenter and the Cinematographer, the theatrical trailer, and a filmography for Carpenter and the cast. (Jurgen Prochnow's filmography has an Easter-Egg- The trailer for Twin Peaks:Fire Walk With Me.) Also, look for a young Hayden Christensen (Star Wars Episode II's Anakin Skywalker) as the paperboy towards the end.
Rating: 
Summary: More like "I wish I hadn't watched it" Madness
Review: This movie must have been made too late in the digestion process, because by the time you are done watching, you are convinced that it was "In the Excrement of Madness". For being made in 1995, the special effects were a joke. I've seen better masks at the drugstore during halloween. The female lead in this movie really "killed" my interest, but to the title's credit, her acting did make me MAD. This had so much potential, but I wish Sutter Cane had written in better actors, special effects and directing.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Scariest, Most Mind Bending Movies Ever!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Sutter Cane, the world's best selling Horror novelist, has disappeared. Vanished without a trace. "I'm not insane, do you hear me? I'm not insane!" "You want to hear about my THEM, don't you?" "When does Fiction become Religion?" An insurance claim investigater is hired to find Cane, whose books are a literary phenomenon that affects its "less stable readers, causing disorientation, memory loss, and severe paranoid reaction". "He became convinced his writing was real, not fiction" People are going through withdrawl waiting for the new Sutter Cane novel, symptoms include madness, murder, mayhem... This movie crosses the border of reality more than once to the point where you question your own sanity. "What's to be scared about? It's not like its real or anything." "Sane and insane could easily switch places if the insane were to become the majority." The dark Lovecraftian feel, the possibilities of evil and monsters lurking in the shadows. The New England town on the very edge of Hell. "It's about people turning into things, creatures that aren't human anymore." In the Mouth of Madness is a Horror masterpiece, a film Lovecraft himself would be proud of and a fitting tribute to the late great author's works. A must have for any Horror connosieur! "When people begin to lose their ability to know the difference between fantasy and reality; the Old Ones can begin their journey back."
Rating:
Summary: Lovecraft and Carpenter, together again
Review: "In the Mouth of Madness" is John Carpenter's second take on the Cthulhu Mythos (the first is "The Thing", it looked like Lovecraft's "In the Mountains of Madness"). It says in the credits that it is inspired by stories by H.P. Lovecraft; indeed there is no solid uniformity in theme, except for a passing resembelence to "Pickman's Model". Sam Neill is an insurence investigator who is assigned to find missing novelist Sudder Cain ("He out sold Stephen King," - says his agent...Yeah right). The more that Neill gets into the books and follows the trail, he finds that the line between reality and fantasy is thin at best. I loved this movie. It is the last movie that Carpenter seemed to care about. Indeed it is pretty spooky, creepy, with several 'boo' scares to keep you on your toes. Also I thought that this movie caught the essense of books better than most films usually get it. The monsters are truely horrible, authenticly menacing. Sam Neill is the heart of this movie, looking at things so coldly and cynicly, there for when he believes, we MUST. This is a great horror movie, I wish Mr. Carpenter would remember he is great.
Rating:
Summary: Just Awful
Review: I thought at first was that this feels like a "Movie of the Week." As I continued to watch I soon realized that this would never be good enough for that, maybe more of a SciFi Channel movie than a real horror film. Is the acting really this bad or is it just a bad script? This has none of the suspense or eery feel that some other Carpenter films have, in fact at times I laughed out loud at this movie. Save your money.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Ride: Good Horror/Surreal Work
Review: Most of the films I really enjoy fall into the broad category of "Surreal". Well, this covers Horror totally, and works as a brilliant surreal piece.
Just as Lovecraft draws from the hidden parts of the mind, Carpenter does the same... how else can you explain the "not the Carpenters" line ? :-)
Anyways, horror humour aside, this film is best viewed with no preconceptions. Some scenes are just better watched as they happen... and just listen to your jaw drop.
The actress from Fright Night 2 is superb in this. She is so evocative, and seductive, which is an especially attractive point of the dark side ( oh Yes, Luke ... the Dark Side has its attraction ).
As for the so-called boring commentary. Yes, on one level the commentary is boring, but one of the most under-rated, if most misunderstood, and overlooked , element of these films is lighting. As far back as THE GHOST AND MRS MUIR, 1947 (?), the careful use of light can make or break a scene, and most people never give the lighting elements a second thought. Just like some actors and TV people are very thankful for careful lighting and good filters ( as well as a judicious application of makeup) to save and enhance their looks. Well, lighting does enhance a film when done right... otherwise, why not just skip-bleach the whole lot of the stock :-) ??
Enjoy this film, it is brilliant.
Rating:
Summary: "This is Reality."
Review: Sutter Cane (Jurgen Prochnow) is a writer whose horror stories are noted as much for their after effects as they are for there quality. With his career at its peak, his next novel almost complete, Cane vanishes and a dedicated insurance investigator, John Trent (Sam Niell), is called in to pick up the pieces. Trent discovers clues to the location of Hobb's End, Sutter Cane's favorite setting. Assisted by editor Linda Styles (Julie Carmen), he hares of into the night driving to and from looking for the town no one has ever heard of.
As you can imagine, they find the town and prompty wish they hadn't. what they discover is a carefully crafted fantasy made real, with Cane holding all the puppet strings. The townsfolk are characters from the author's writings, the author has employers of his own, and the world is held at bay. In classic New England style, self-determination and predestination go to war in the dark corners of Hobb's End.
For reasons obvious when watching, writer Michael DeLuca owes much to H. P. Lovecraft for his settings and theme. The desolate New England town, entirely peopled by spooky people, and squirmy/snaky things haunting the edges. Even dark powers from another dimension make a required appearance. But all that being said, the story falls short of Lovecraft's delightful ability to make one feel like you are looking through a dusty mirror at a clear and present horror.
This film is about apocalyptic visions, and Lovecraft wasn't really of that bent. Its menaces don't really lurk, they come right out and ruin your day. And Lovecraft had a unique ability to be both terrifying and 'cozy,' something the film lacks entirely. Carpenter put way to much production into this effort, keeping the tone very artificial. Because of this there is sense of parody about everything, which is attractive on its own, but detracts from the sense of gothic horror.
While the story feels contrived, Carpenter is to be complimented in not turning this into something over-sexed and glitzy. All of the actors, from Sam Neill and Julie Carmen on down are keep alarmingly plain in appearance and demeanor. This is a stark contrast to some of the set work and helps make sure that while the story is interesting, the viewer is never really motivated by sympathy for the characters.
A curious film, interesting to watch, but more light entertainment than the horror story Carpenter is capable at his best.
Rating:
Summary: Great Story, So-so Film
Review: While this is more Lovecraftish than most films directly named after Lovecraft stories (Reanimator, Dagon), it still fails to truly capture the madness that is Lovecraft.
The cast of mediocre actors (Sam Neil, John Glover, Charlton Heston, etc.) doesn't help this film. It does flirt with greatness, but then nestles back into the mold of stale 90's hollywood horror, noted by the unispiring acting.
Think of this as an entertaining film, but don't expect to be scared out of your wits.
I'd say most fans of Lovecraft will respect the attempt, but shake their heads as they bear witness to another less than stellar attempt at capturing Lovecraft's world on screen.
Note: The commentary was a joke! I watched for 20 minutes, all Carpenter talked about was the technical aspect of the lighting. Take that for what it's worth, I guess.
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