Has anyone ever seen this psychological horror movie made by John Carpenter in 1994? The plot concerns private investigator John Trent (played by Sam Neill) who is asked to search for missing writer Sutter Cain, the author of a number of highly popular horror books, by Cain's publishers. Trent then goes on an increasingly surreal and nightmarish journey to find Cain who is in the process of writing his latest work "In the Mouth of Madness", and it is implied that Cain has the ability to alter reality via his fiction. To those who've seen the film, what are your opinions of it?
In the Mouth of Madness (possible spoilers)
- Thread starter EJA
- Start date
One of the most mind-bending, twisted horror movies I have seen in my entire life.
Definitely a confusing and creepy film. One thing I don't entirely get is near the end, when Trent is back in the office of Jackson Harglow (played by Charlton Heston), who tells Trent that he delivered the manuscript of Cane's book "In the Mouth of Madness" to him months ago and it has been available for the last seven weeks - but then why send Trent to look for Cane in the first place? And wouldn't Trent have seen the book when he bought Cane's previous stuff earlier on in the film?
Then there's the movie of "In the Mouth of Madness" that Trent watches in the theatre, which is the very same movie that WE are watching! (It even lists John Trent as starring in it, which is absolutely impossible) And what happens after the end?
Then there's the movie of "In the Mouth of Madness" that Trent watches in the theatre, which is the very same movie that WE are watching! (It even lists John Trent as starring in it, which is absolutely impossible) And what happens after the end?
Also, there was such a big deal made about Trent being the one who was supposed to bring Cane's book to society and thus cause the apocalypse (Its said that all of Cane's fans had to read the book in order for his plan to free the demonic Old Ones to work), but if Cane could simply wish the book into the public as is implied, why was Trent needed at all? Cane was already capable of altering reality when he and Trent first met, as evidenced by the presense of the town of Hobb's End, drawn from his own mind. As much as I enjoy the film, it just seems to me to be a little disjointed and self-contradictory at times. And I'm kind of curious to learn what all you other guys who've seen the movie reckon.
I saw it at the theater way back when and I've watched it a few times since. I thought it was a really good movie. It's Carpenter's hidden gem.
"Like the book?"
"I love it."
"Good. Then this shouldn't come as a surprise."
[Trent kills the guy with an Ax]
I love the movie. I really like that scene with the old ones chasing Sam Neill down the tunnel. Charleton Heston is always good and Jurgen Prochnow is an enjoyable villain.
"I love it."
"Good. Then this shouldn't come as a surprise."
[Trent kills the guy with an Ax]
I love the movie. I really like that scene with the old ones chasing Sam Neill down the tunnel. Charleton Heston is always good and Jurgen Prochnow is an enjoyable villain.
Nardpuncher
Rear Admiral
One piece of trivia: Hayden Christiansen (Anakin Skywalker) is in at one point, probably only about 11 or 12 years old. He's on a bicycle on a dirt road or something I seem to recall.
Meh, the movie is rather silly in places and rather disjointed all in all, but I liked the last segment when Neil's character wanders through the ruined mental asylum and then slowly drifts out into the outside world, soon discovering that civilization has ended (with a creepy emergency broadcast playing over the segment).
Why exactly did Cane need Trent to deliver the book to achieve his goal? It seemed like he was already fully capable of warping reality, as shown in the scene on the bus where he changes everything to blue. And why exactly did Cane's agent (the guy who attacks Trent with an axe in the diner at the beginning) go insane?
And yes, the scene with the demons chasing Trent down the passage was just mindblowingly awesome. I love the whole nightmarish, apocalyptic vibe of this film.
I was actually just thinking that some elements of the film aren't all that dissimilar to those of the classic sci-fi movie Forbidden Planet. That film centred around the ancient civilization of the Krell on Altair VI who, it gradually emerges, became extinct when a machine they had built to turn thought into reality tapped into the race's dark subconscious and released savage id monsters that destroyed them. In Forbidden Planet the apocalypse was brought about by the Krell machine; in In the Mouth of Madness it was Sutter Cane and his books.
And yes, the scene with the demons chasing Trent down the passage was just mindblowingly awesome. I love the whole nightmarish, apocalyptic vibe of this film.
I was actually just thinking that some elements of the film aren't all that dissimilar to those of the classic sci-fi movie Forbidden Planet. That film centred around the ancient civilization of the Krell on Altair VI who, it gradually emerges, became extinct when a machine they had built to turn thought into reality tapped into the race's dark subconscious and released savage id monsters that destroyed them. In Forbidden Planet the apocalypse was brought about by the Krell machine; in In the Mouth of Madness it was Sutter Cane and his books.
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Interestingly, In the Mouth of Madness is the third and final part of Carpenter's "Apocalypse Trilogy", following The Thing and Prince of Darkness. All three movies deal with a dark, insidious, alien force threatening to destroy the world as we know it, and in In the Mouth of Madness it finally happens.
The only reason I remember this film is because there was a segment on one of those making of specials (Masters of Illusion i think it was called) that showed off Stan Winston's work on the films special creature make-up/puppets. Of course when you actually see the film they're barely visible and only on screen for a few seconds.
When it comes to Lovecraft inspired films, they never seam to get it quite right, which is a shame. Still, I have high hopes for GDT's "At The Mountains of Madness".
When it comes to Lovecraft inspired films, they never seam to get it quite right, which is a shame. Still, I have high hopes for GDT's "At The Mountains of Madness".
^I don't think that movie's happening now; I've not heard anything about it for ages, which is a shame as it's one of my all-time favourite Cthulhu Mythos stories.
I just love anything to do with horrible monsters older than humanity lurking in dark places. That's why I like the part in the movie where Trent is reading from one of Cane's books about the area of Hobb's End once being home to "a murderous race of creatures whose vile existence and sadistic wickedness contaminated time itself."
I just love anything to do with horrible monsters older than humanity lurking in dark places. That's why I like the part in the movie where Trent is reading from one of Cane's books about the area of Hobb's End once being home to "a murderous race of creatures whose vile existence and sadistic wickedness contaminated time itself."
Well GDT is probably up to his neck in Hobbit pre-production right now, so you're probably not going to hear anything about it until those two films are in the can.
The truth is of course there are few, if any Lovecraft stories that can be adapted for film "as is". For mainstream cinema that is; that period silent movie of 'CoC' is really one for fans only. 'Mountains of Madness' come close, but even that would need some work to keep it interesting, otherwise it'll just be a bunch of blokes, stumbling through some old ruins, intercut with some otherworldly flashback before they hear a funny noise and run off.
I liked the approach the 'Dark Corners of the Earth' game took. Essentially fusing together 'Shadow Over Innsmouth' & 'Shadow Out of Time' into a single narrative and would love to see an adaption along those lines.
The truth is of course there are few, if any Lovecraft stories that can be adapted for film "as is". For mainstream cinema that is; that period silent movie of 'CoC' is really one for fans only. 'Mountains of Madness' come close, but even that would need some work to keep it interesting, otherwise it'll just be a bunch of blokes, stumbling through some old ruins, intercut with some otherworldly flashback before they hear a funny noise and run off.
I liked the approach the 'Dark Corners of the Earth' game took. Essentially fusing together 'Shadow Over Innsmouth' & 'Shadow Out of Time' into a single narrative and would love to see an adaption along those lines.
Is this him? It doesn't look much like him as an adult.
And the film is pretty enjoyable; it's feels like lousy Twilight Zone kitsch for most of it's runtime, but the final decent into metatextual mindfuckery in the last scenes made the rest of the movie worth it.