36 Days of Halloween - 1994: In the Mouth of Madness

In this John Carpenter cult classic, Sam Neill investigates the disappearance of famous New England horror writer H.P. Lovecraft... I mean, Stephen King... no, wait, sorry, I mean Sutter Cane. In recent years, Cane's work has become erratic, and his publisher is concerned about the disappearance. Sam Neill (played by actor Sam Neill) tracks the elusive and insane author to the fictional town where his books are set. In the face of the increasing evidence that Sutter Cane's work isn't quite as fictional as he thought, Sam Neill tries to hold onto his sanity and escape from Cane's world. I love this movie so much. How could I not? A famous horror author's works coming to life while a beleaguered investigator tries to make sense of reality unraveling? It's an awesome concept, right? Carpenter definitely plays with the idea in some awesome ways. Since the whole point of the film is that reality has come unhinged in the hands of a psychotic author, Carpenter is able to explore some interesting techniques to mess with the audience's expectations. One of my favorite ways that Carpenter portrays the breakdown of reality is through altering the chronology of the events and the character's perceptions of what has happened. Sam Neill lives through some of the events in the film three and four times. The first time this happens, it's treated as a dream sequence, but the motif reappears many times throughout the film (the most memorable being Neill's attempt to leave the town only to find himself driving back into the center of town). While the film is a little slow to start--contributing to the feeling that the film is perhaps 15 minutes too long--it really picks up once Neill visit's Hobb's End. There are some special effects that look a little dated, 20 years later, but there are also some amazing effects and cinematography that make this a must-see. There's a particularly inspired scene where Sutter Cane has revealed to Neill exactly what is happening and Neill is trying to come to grips, when the scene literally starts to unravel. Neill literally sees the reality behind the page (Sam Neill pulling away a page is another reoccurring motif). As I said, this film is perhaps just a little longer than it should be, and the special effects--especially the creature effects--are a little dated, but despite those flaws, there's a lot here to love. Sam Neill's performance is amazing; nobody else does gradually unraveling sanity quite like Neill. Carpenter clearly had a lot of fun making this, and there are a lot of really clever sequences (in all fairness, some of them probably should have been cut; they're clever, but not all of them are necessary). I strongly recommend giving this a try, particularly if you're a fan of H.P. Lovecraft's work. It's definitely not flawless, but it's still a lot of fun, provides some real thrills, and is a truly creepy film. Carpenter's exploration of madness is five out of five creepy New England horror novels.