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If it fails to make the most of its intriguing premise, In the Mouth of Madness remains a decent enough diversion for horror fans and John Carpenter completists. Read critic reviews
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Movie Info
When horror novelist Sutter Cane (Jürgen Prochnow) goes missing, insurance investigator John Trent (Sam Neill) scrutinizes the claim made by his publisher, Jackson Harglow (Charlton Heston), and endeavors to retrieve a yet-to-be-released manuscript and ascertain the writer's whereabouts. Accompanied by the novelist's editor, Linda Styles (Julie Carmen), and disturbed by nightmares from reading Cane's other novels, Trent makes an eerie nighttime trek to a supernatural town in New Hampshire.
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Rating: R
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Genre: Horror
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Original Language: English
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Director: John Carpenter
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Producer: Sandy King
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Writer: Michael De Luca
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Release Date (Theaters): original
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Box Office (Gross USA): $8.9M
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Runtime:
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Distributor: New Line Home Video [us], New Line Cinema
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Production Co: New Line Cinema
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Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo
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News & Interviews for In the Mouth of Madness
Critic Reviews for In the Mouth of Madness
Audience Reviews for In the Mouth of Madness
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This one asks the question: what if Stephen King became a god because his devoted fanbase really believes in him, and believes in what he writes? Okay, I'll bite, so where does this go from there? While the film certainly is derivative of King's approach this film lacks having a point as King is wont to do sometimes. So yeah, the writing sucks, and sunk this work. Neill and Prochnow deliver worthy performances
kevin w Super Reviewer -
An insurance investigator investigates the disappearance of a bestselling horror novelist whose books have the power to drive men mad. The pioneering meta-horror premise compensates for an ordinary execution.
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Part supernatural thriller, part dark humorous tale, part surrealistic trip, all Lovecraft rip-off. It's fun and interesting while it lasts but it's tonal inconsistencies and unintentionally funny moments kinda ruin the experience a bit. It also looks very dated for a 1995 movie but the story is interesting while it lasts, holding some nice surprises until the end.
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After "The Thing" in 1982 and "Prince Of Darkness" in 1987, director John Carpenter completed his self-titled 'Apocalypse trilogy' in 1994 with "In The Mouth Of Madness". Unfortunately, by this point, Carpenter couldn't get any strong studio backing for his projects and as a result his excellent concepts never really took off as well as they could have. This film is another example of the financial problems that he was facing. When renowned horror writer Sutter Cane (Jurgen Prochnow) makes a sudden disappearance, strange things begin to happen. His ability to describe evil, literally, starts to come to life and effect everyone in society. To investigate his mysterious disappearance, Insurance investigator John Trent (Sam Neill) is sent to a little East Coast town called Hobb's End. However, this little town is actually a figment of Cane's imagination and Trent soon finds himself questioning his own sanity as he is drawn further and further into the dark recesses of Cane's twisted mind. As always with Carpenter, the concept and premise is one of sheer brilliance and it possesses more than few references to real life horror writers Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft but unlike his previous efforts there is something amiss here. Maybe it's because Carpenter doesn't actually write the script himself or even compose the soundtrack with the idiosyncratic and atmospheric style that fans of his will be accustomed to. Despite the excellent premise, I found that the films major issue was a lack of drive. It didn't catch me the way it did when I first seen it. Also, it suffers from a failure to bring a depth to any character other than Sam Neill's investigator. Sutter Cane is a very intriguing antagonist with a lot of potential but he features very little and when he does appear, the films budget is tested in order to realise it's horror. All in all, this struck me as an attempt from Carpenter to appeal to a wider audience and as a result sacrificed the very style that made him a unique filmmaker to begin with. That's not to say that this is a poor film. It's not. It's very cleverly constructed and for the most part, very well delivered. Carpenter is a master at his build up and construction of atmosphere, meanwhile, cleverly unravelling the mystery. However, the film takes a little too long to get going and just when it's hitting it crescendo, it feels rushed and over a bit too soon. For the most part, Carpenter does well to blur the lines between fantasy and reality but ultimately it doesn't quite come together as obscurity and pretentiousness creep in. It's a great attempt, but Carpenter has delivered better. Mark Walker
Verified