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Summary: One Spooky Film
Review: This is one of the RatMouse's favorite horror films. Its best seen on a big screen (mine is 12x12 inches). This film shows what things would be like if the evil in the world and in people's minds manifested itself as physical reality. John Carpenter has pulled off yet another classic horror film in his special spooky style. After seeing this film you will be afraid to go outside.
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Summary: Lovecraft to the Bone
Review: What a treat, the true flavor of Lovecraft brought to the screen. Actually better then Lovecraft because this movie is quite scary, which I never found Lovecrafts books. With only one truely grusome scene it hardly qualifies as one of Carpenters most gory films, but don't let that fool you, THERE ARE THINGS WORSE THAN DEATH.
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Summary: What is reality?
Review: Do we really know what we see and here is real? Reality is very subjective and this film goes to the extreme to examine that fact. The human mind has vast power and how that is used is up to the individual. Enough abstract junk; this film is chilling. I love a film that can make you think and this one does that to the T. Watch this film and find out if the world will survive. In what reality is anyone guess.
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Summary: WONDERFUL NODS TO H.P LOVECRAFT...GREAT FILM.
Review: Ahhhhh....finally, aside from "The Resurrected", someone pays homage to master horror miester H.P. Lovecraft and captures the feel of his body of work without using the name to create a terrible, irrelevant film. "In The Mouth of Madness" is not based on any particular work or works of Lovecraft, but more a tribute to an underrated genius. There will be some spoilers below, so avert your eyes if you haven't seen the film yet.The plot is indeed horrifying. Trying to seperate what is real and what is imagined, only to later discover that the only reason you exist is because some other-worldy entity scrpited you into reality, all the while slowly losing your sanity. If you are an avid reader of Lovecraft, you will discover new homages to his works and mythos each time you watch( look for tributes to "The Dunwich Horror" when Trent is leaving Hobbs End, and to "Haunter of the Dark", with the Old Stone Church). The film captures the essence of the Cthulhu mythos so well.....the nether world and insanity could be right behind the next door you open. In the end, our fate is in something else's hand and the entire world, no matter what we do, is ultimately plunged into utter chaos, where the madmen rule supreme, and all our heroes are the ones locked away, reduced to raving lunatics. The storyline follows insurance investigator John Trent(Sam Neill, perfectly casted), who is charged with finding a publishing company's star horror writer and biggest seller, Sutter Cane(brilliantly portrayed by Jurgen Prochnow). Cane's books seem to take on a life of their own and show a strange hold over his readers, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality. Trent believes this to be a publicity stunt, but reluctantly agrees to take up the case. Tagging along with him is Cane's literary agent(Julie Carmen, so-so performance). As the case unfolds, so too do the wrappings of Trent's mind. Cane is not missing, but is actually writing his masterpiece, which is also the story you see taking place as the film progresses. The pair explore places that don't exist, meet people that were never born, and see things that man was never meant to lay eyes on. And ironically, we eventually learn that from the beginning of the film, our main characters have been scripted into an alternate reality created by Cane's writings. The great ending of the film completes the spiral into madness for Trent, sending reality into the darkness forever and replacing the known world with a macabre mirror-image. The DVD edition is excellent, including a full commentary by John Carpenter and others involved in the film. I feel the bone-chilling soundtrack is Carpenter's best, bar none. Critically acclaimed and hailed by many Carpenter fans as one of his best works, "In the Mouth of Madness" belongs in every horror fan's DVD collection. By the way, there's even a small role for Moses himself. Charlton Heston plays the president of Cane's publishing company.
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Summary: Fascinating Horror Devolves Into Gore-arama Free For All
Review: John Carpenter's resilent In the Mouth of Maddness is quite provocative portrayal of the genesis of religion from the perspective of the creative seedlings that lead to profound movements and altered states of philosophy. How mass movements of philosophy start from the creative womb of imagination is handled form the perspective of what would happen if depravity and animal inastincts were convincingly sold to society as effectively as Christainity. However with such a sound premise and solid initial hour of storytelling can't salvage In the Mouth of Maddness from mindless gore, campy pretensions, and inevitable setbacks inherent in a horror film. If you like Carpenter take a look. If not don't bother. Excellent DVD presntation and John Carpenter commentary highlight an intriguing guilty pleasue indeed.
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Summary: Interesting foray into Lovecraft country
Review: In the Mouth of Madness (is the title and homage to the Lovecraft novella "at the mountains of madness?)is a truly original, artful effort by Carpenter. Sam Neill is truly enjoyable as the insurance investigator tracing Sutter Cane. I like the premise of this film: a book that to even read it drives you mad... It is full of strange imagery and I love the town... This is a true movie experience that shouldn't be missed.
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Summary: A lot better than I expected
Review: When this movie came out, the bad reviews I saw caused me to stay away. Then it turned up on TV and I said, "What the hell, it's free." I'm glad that I did. John Carpenter seems to have figured out what many other directors have failed to do; How to make a good Lovecraftian movie. Instead of attempting a direct adaptation, he's simply used similar theme's and ideas. While I found some of the effects looked a bit iffy, I found the story strong enough carry the film.
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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: Horrifying
Review: The first time I rented In the Mouth of Madness, I expected a horribly goofy John Carpenter film. Instead, this film is up there with The Shining as one of the top horror films EVER. The psychological suspense is perfect - the only thing that lets this film down is seeing the Great Old Ones or whatever they were called - didn't Lovecraft always leave descriptions to the reader? I think the mind's eye could conjure up something much more horrible than big slimy monsters. See this film - you will NOT be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Mere perfection
Review: In the best horror film I've ever seen, Sam Neil and Jurgen Prochnow are giving great performances of this mind-boggling story! Neil had been one of my favorite actors ever since Jurassic Park, and he's just great for this part of a private investigator for insurance frauds. As the tension climaxes, he and Prochnow (playing *almost* God) help create the horryfying climate of the movie! It is the best, not only because at points it does get very scary, but also because it has a very solid and quite original screenplay, and a perfectly-fitting musical score. A great horror film should not only scare you and offer you an easily understandable case and ending, and Carpenter knows that very well! I think it'll be long time before we can see something even remotely as neat as this one!
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