Review of In the Mouth of Madness (1995) by Christian G — 09 Aug 2012

This is one of Carpenter's most stylish movies, it is interesting mix of satire in a world of successful authors like Stephen King is one example, fantasy, horror, thriller and black comedy. Sam Neill gives an Oscar Worthy performance as a insurance investigator, he is outstanding in this movie.

This is one of Carpenter's best work as a film director here, a very underrated movie. The script by Michael DeLuca is very good but Director Carpenter and Screenwriter DeLuca are more interested in giving the audiences strange, horrific horror, things that don't (or we) in the audiences don't understand. It is one of those movies, you have to accept for what it is. Because Carpenter makes the audiences to think about the story. Which it does raises more questions than answer. If this is one flaw in this movie, although Carpenter and Neill truly makes this movie entertaining. It is not as scary or creepy as you would like it to be. Which I would give it a five star rating. Also they were inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. Which B-Movie filmmaker Stuart Gordon made an couple of those, most memorably "Re-Animator".

KNB make-up effects are great and some of the CGI work of Industral Light and Magic has some terrific effects. Most memorably, when Cane (Jurgen Prochnow) rips himself like a piece of paper. Some audiences might consider this movie to be a real letdown by the third act, but I think, it is a great movie. I think the bizarre ending, when Neill watches himself (!) in the nearly empty movie theater is one of the highlights. It is a truly funny scene as well. "In the Mouth of Madness" is one of these fascinating horror movies, you certainly don't watch for logic. Just accept it for what it is and enjoy the madness.