Review of Lord of Illusions (1995) by Ken B — 25 Mar 2010

Ix-nay. Iâ??m entertained by these sort-of occult films. If you like Hellraiser and/or The Exorcism of Emily Rose check it out. A minor annoyance is that guns are decorative. The detective pulls out a pistol, walks around with it, but doesnâ??t shoot. Someone can attack him repeatedly, be a serial killer about to ice his latest victim, and still he treats the piece of metal in his hand like a bracelet. In the opening scene a group comes in armed, a perfect set-up to kill everyone in the cult but doesnâ??t. If the enemies are somehow empowered so bullets are ineffectual against them thatâ??s fine but if bullets kill the good guys enemies and they donâ??t shoot thatâ??s stupid.

Clive Barkerâ??s gayness comes through in small things like the villainâ??s sidekickâ??s clothing and the camera favoring the male dancers in a troupe. A guyâ??s post-coitus position. But he also shows prostitute boobies so he keeps the straight audience in mind.

A lot of the musicâ??s typical, suspense-enhancing drama. But thereâ??s also a light song called, â??Magic Momentsâ?? thatâ??s comically out-of-place. Thereâ??s a cut between scenes made before the final note of the score has finished playing.

One odd plot hole is that the detective asks Billy about a symbol he saw on the PCP guy. Later, we see a similar symbol tattooed on the detectiveâ??s back. Another is the SPOILER time delay between when the detective meets Swann and when they return to his home. They meet in the daytime, during the funeral, but donâ??t go to Swannâ??s place until night. What did they do all day?

Itâ??s odd the audience runs away as if theyâ??re in danger instead of surging to try to help Swann. I anticipate he staged his own (illusory) death and is helping the detective (through things like the machine killing the PCP guy). I also expect the detective will bang the widow. When he kissed Jean Grey, it was at a random moment.

END SPOILERS.