I am a big fan of master director John Carpenter, and although he has lost his shine in more recent years (What ever you do, do not watch The Ward. Just trust me on this one) I still consider him one of the all time best directors, and one of my personal favorites. I've reviewed The Thing, The Fog, and Halloween (what I call The Holy Trinity), and today I review another great horror film from John Carpenter. Today's special: In The Mouth of Madness.
In The Mouth of Madness follows insurance fraud investigator John Trent (Sam Neill), as he is hired to find a popular and profitable Lovecraft-ian/Stephen king-esque horror author named Sutter Cane (Jurgen Prochnow) who has gone missing. As riots start to break out all over in advance of his newest novel (whose final draft has gone missing along with Cane. Also, apparently some avid Cane fans are starting to lose their minds), Trent goes searching for the mythical town of Hobbs End, which is featured heavily in Cane's novels and is believed to be completely fictional; however Trent believes he may have found a map to the area hidden in the paperback covers to Cane's novels. What Trent could never have predicted is that his search for Cane, Hobbs End, and the final draft will take him to the very edge of sanity and right into the mouth of madness itself.
Sam Neill has always been one of my favorite actors. I grew up watching him as Dr. Allen Grant in Jurassic Park, and in In The Mouth of Madness he puts on another one of his all time best performances as a man who is a staunch believer in reality and what happens when this belief is ultimately put to the test. I really liked that they made him a reasonable, sane (at first), and intelligent person. Most of his reactions and decisions throughout the film make sense and seem like ones I would make if ever put in the same situation. His John Trent is likable and pretty easy to root for, and a large part of the fun of the film is watching the hell he is put through and the various effects his trials have on him. I'd put this performance right next to Dr. Allen Grant, maybe even a notch above that....it's honestly hard to say (I really do have a strong fondness for Grant).
Jurgen Prochnow is also pretty memorable as mysterious and creepy author Sutter Cane. I really dig the way they have him look in the film, and while he's not in much of it he definitely leaves a mark. Julie Carmen is pretty good as Linda Styles, a worker at the publishing house for Cane's novels and a Cane fan herself. Charlton Heston makes a brief appearance as Jackson Harglow, the head of the publishing company. Naturally, he makes his small role count and is actually kind of memorable here. Lastly, I've got to mention that Wilhelm Von Homburg (aka Vigo The Carpathian from Ghostbusters 2) shows up in a bit role here as well.
The town of Hobbs End is itself a fantastic creation. It looks absolutely perfect here, perfectly resembling a quaint, idyllic, small New England town (although Ontario Canada was used as the filming location. How ironic!). Of course, Hobbs End may not be as nice as it looks. Every small town has its fair share of demons, and Hobbs End may have more than expected.
In The Mouth of Madness was written by Michael De Luca, and while it's not the best script you can sample the film is filled with fascinating idea about authors, God, reality, and sanity/insanity. The horror here comes from these ideas. In The Mouth of Madness is almost an existential horror film, and when looked at as such I'd say this film could easily be called a success (I know people who also say it's the best Lovecraft film ever made. Although it isn't based on any Lovecraft stories, In The Mouth of Madness was clearly inspired a good deal by Lovecraft).
While In The Mouth of Madness doesn't really feel like a Carpenter film, this is still one of his best (in my opinion). The cast here is a solid one, the ideas and themes explored are pretty rich, the filming locations are beautiful, and the horror elements work surprisingly well. In The Mouth of Madness is considered by some to be the watermark for John Carpenter (apparently after this film is where he started to lose the touch, or so I've heard). I was pleasantly surprised how insane this film actually is (it continually ups the craziness until we reach that awesome final scene). It took me two viewings to finally come to my own conclusions as to what is going on here. In The Mouth of Madness is a great film, due in large part to the casting of Sam Neill and the hard work of John Carpenter. I found it to be an extremely enjoyable and fun ride. If this really is/was Carpenter's last great film, then I say he went out on a pretty sweet note.
4 STARS
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