When horror writer Sutter Cane mysteriously disappears, insurance investigator John Trent is hired by the company who publishes Cane's book to find the missing man. Trent starts looking for clues to where Cane could've gone to, and his investigation leads him to a small town that is Hobb's End. Now, Hobb's End is not supposed to exist for real, but only in Cane's books. If that wasn't enough, there are more things from Cane's books that should not exist in reality either, but they do, something that Trent soon is about to find out.
John Carpenter's flicks are always, if not great, at least very entertaining, and In the Mouth of Madness might one of the best things that Carpenter has done to date. Personally I think that it has more real horror in it than most of Carpenter's other flicks, is more eerie, and features some creepy atmosphere. Although, it features some black humour as well, and Sam Neill does a good job delivering it. Actually, I'm no fan of Sam Neill, I usually think he's decent at best (no, Omen 3 was not a good flick), but here, the man is actually really good and it's definitely the best movie I've seen him in.
John Trent is an insurance investigator, he's really good at what he does and he has confidence in himself. One day, a big publishing company wants his services since they seem to have lost their best writer, a man named Sutter Cane. The writer sell loads of his books, and these books also seem to have a weird effect on people. Trent doesn't believe the hype and thinks that Cane is just a horror hack, but accepts the job and starts an investigation. After that, strange things starts to happen. For example; Trent is attacked by a maniac with an axe when having lunch with a friend. He later finds out that the same man worked for Cane, and in bookstores everywhere, there have been things happening, violent outbreaks, people all of a sudden going berserk etc.
Trent starts to read Cane's books, and soon after starts having nightmares that seems extremely real. Shortly after, when putting all of Cane's books together, he sees something and starts cutting the covers of the books out. The pieces eventually form a map, a map that leads to a sleepy little town called Hobb's End, that is featured in Cane's latest writings. So Trent sets course, following the map, to Hobb's End together with Linda Styles, Cane's editor. They soon find the town, which is an odd thing since it shouldn't exist to begin with, but that's not the only thing they find...
In the Mouth of Madness basically deals with a horror book that comes alive, what's in the book turns into reality, and since it's horror, it's a scary reality. There are monsters, twisted images and stuff, but no real gore. But it doesn't really need gore to work, it's how bizarre it is that actually makes it work. Creepy kids all over the town, people who mutates into monsters, and a bunch of people driven to absolute madness. Sounds great eh? It pretty much is. The acting is good and belivable from all the cast, but Sam Neill definitely stands out. The movie has a really good atmosphere. and a creepy and somewhat eerie feel to it. Don't expect to be scared Ringu-style, but it still works as a scary horror flick.
Easily one of Carpenter's best that makes you think of Lovecraft, but that still manages to stand on its own. Sam Neill delivers a great performance as the insurance investigator who stumbles upon this ghostly town that is Hobb's End. The scares are pretty decent, but there are really no sudden scares, it's more that the whole movie is quite eerie and has a creepy feel to it. Definitely recommended.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness
MOVIE YEAR: 1995
DIRECTOR: John Carpenter
WRITING CREDITS: Michael De Luca
GENRE: Horror, Fantasy, Thriller
CAST: Sam Neill, Julie Carmen, Jurgen Prochnow
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 95 min
RATING: 9/10
In the Mouth of Madness Website/IMDB Click here
In the Mouth of Madness Trailer Click here
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