Review of Lord of Illusions (1995) by Elijah F — 30 Dec 2012

Written and directed by Clive Barker, based upon his 1985 short story The Last Illusion from Books of Blood: Volume 6. Barker had intended this to be a modern day film noir touching on the supernatural.

Like his previous film Nightbreed (1990), it was a troubled production, which took ages to get funded then it was re-cut by the studio, although Barker got a director's cut on video later on. It's a good horror film with some good old fashioned scares.

In 1982, cult leader Nix (Daniel von Bargen) can use real magic and calls himself 'The Puritan', but he's defeated by Swann (Kevin J. O'Connor), who buries Nix's body so deep it won't be found.

13 years later, New York detective Harry D'Amour (Scott Bakula) is sent to California to look for Quaid (Joseph Latimore) in connection with insurance fraud. He finds Quaid after a stabbing, who tells D'Amour that The Puritan is coming.

D'Amour's investigations lead him to Swann, now a stage magician living with wife Dorothea (Famke Janssen), who Swann had saved from Nix all those years ago. It's a very complex plot, but there's something old school about it, with the effects and the make up.

It has a colourful cast (in some cases literally), but this is the sort of thing you'd expect from Barker, who hasn't directed again since. Pity.