Last night's fun was
In The Mouth Of Madness, a mid-90s horror offering from John Carpenter starring Sam Neil.
The basic story: John Trent (Sam Neil) is an insurance investigator hired to find horror author, Sutter Cane, who has disappeared. His publisher would prefer to have Cane back, but will take the insurance money if he's dead so...they need to know where he is. Trent suspects that it's either a publicity stunt or insurance fraud, and being that insurance fraud is his business, he had a pretty cynical outlook on humanity in general and the publishers in particular. Cane's books apparently have a very strong effect on their readers and while reading some of his books as part of his research, Trent starts having frightening hallucinations. Trent also realizes that the art work on many of the books combined form a clue to where Cane really is. Along with Cane's editor, Linda Styles, Trent heads off to find Cane. They come to a town that supposedly is just fictional, and many other elements from Cane's books have a stronger reality than they should. It seems as though through Cane's writing, reality is changing, and there are powers behind even Cane directing him in what to write. Reality, or Trent's sanity, is deteriorating rapidly and Trent and Styles seem to be just character's in a story playing out their predetermined parts to a horrible conclusion...
What I liked: This movie genuinely scared me. I'm not really a slasher fan and never got into the "Scream" trend and similar movies from the 90s that tried to bring back the genre. I like movies that scare me on a mental level and that mess with reality; this one worked well at that level. I was thinking a few days ago that most horror movies were really aimed at teens and young adults and that, me being in my mid-30s, they didn't really hit me the same. This was a refreshing change, a movie with middle aged actors in a story that was more sophsiticated than the basic hack-and-slash or killer monster formula.
Like in "Event Horizon", Sam Neil handles the transformation from cynic to crazy very well.
I was also pretty amused with the nod to Stephen King as well as the part with Styles throwing herself at Trent claiming that Cane is writing her to do it because it's what the readers want. A nod to a genre cliche although in a trunabout on the cliche, it's never really...completed.
I liked some of the basic premises. When I was much younger, I had a conversation with my mom about how religious reality was really powered by the faith of the believers. "gods" are more real when they have more believers. I've also oftened use the idea an an author, a book, and the characters as a metaphor for God and creation. Seeing both of those ideas brought forth like this touched something in me.
What I didn't like: A few of the scares seemed scares for the sake of doing something weird to let you know something was up, but didn't really seem to fit into the larger story. Like the hotel picture that kept changing and the boy/man on the bicycle. Actually, there are a lot of litle plot elements that seem somewhat disconnected so it's best not to think too much about them and just go along for the ride.
Conclusion: A scary movie in the vein of "reality isn't what you think it is" that will keep you thinking. Has some blood and gore to add a physical shock dimension to what is mostly an intellectual level horror story. If that's your thing, check it out.
---spoilers----
All through the end I was sorta wondering to myself if everything that happened was really just Trent's insanity from having read the books in the first place.
I also kinda expected at the end when Trent is watching the movie in the theater for the movie-in-the-movie to show Trent watchingthe movie and something coming up behind him while's he watching himself.
I liked that the movie poster for "In The Mouth Of Madness" is show to be starring John Trent, Linda Styles and other characters from the story.
I looked back and paused a few times and I have no idea what in the artwork Trent saw that mad him cut it up into shapes that would form New Hampshire
Post Edited (08-12-03 13:20)