Review of In the Mouth of Madness (1995) by Mitchell B — 10 Oct 2013

In the Mouth of Madness, in my opinion, is a criminally underrated John Carpenter film and a criminally underrated horror film. I will say that this is probably my third favorite John Carpenter film. I would also put this movie on my list of favorite horror films of all time. In the Mouth of Madness's premise is very similar to a recent horror film called Cabin in The Woods, but, in my opinion done much better. For one thing I like the characters more. I will say that this is probably Sam Neil's best roll and performance since the first Jurassic Park. This movie has a great cast of characters, great premise, very stunning visuals, and a great ending.

The story is as follows. An insurance investigator named John Trent (Sam Neil) is hired to find a missing author of many bestselling horror novels named Shutter Cane. Trent, accompanied by a Cane's editor named Linda Styles (Julie Carmen), is on case when they find themselves in a seemingly nonexistent town where they continue to come across things that seem to be things right out of Cane's novels. They soon realize that they might have stepped into another world which seems to be a product of Cane's stories.

This film, like many of Carpenter's works has pretty much everything going for it. The film has an amazing premise. What if stories from famous horror writers like Stephen King became real? The film is clearly John Carpenter's love letter to horror legends like H.P. Lovecraft and he does a good job capturing their style. The film has an amazing atmosphere and the score is great and really adds to atmosphere the film sets up. The effects are amazing as well. They are not as good as say The Thing, but they are still above average. I will say the effects are better here than in say Cabin in The Woods, which is sad really.

The cast is great. Sam Neil, who is probably one of the most underrated actors out there, gives one of his best performances ever. Seeing him trying to keep his grip on reality and in the end him finally snapping is great. Sam Neil just nails every note. The rest of the cast is fine as well.

Overall, In the Mouth of Madness is a very fun ride and a great love letter to classic horror. If you are a fan of H.P. Lovecraft's work like Tales from the Crypt, a fan of John Carpenter and his other films, then this is definitely up your ally.