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Lord of Illusions

Play trailer Poster for Lord of Illusions R 1995 1h 48m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
54% Tomatometer 28 Reviews 53% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Private eye Harry D'Amour (Scott Bakula) travels to Los Angeles and meets with a new client, Dorothea Swann (Famke Janssen). Swann reveals that she and her husband -- famed magician Philip Swann (Kevin J. O'Connor) -- have been targeted by a religious cult experimenting with reincarnation. After Philip dies on stage in the midst of a dangerous trick, D'Amour must struggle to protect Dorothea from the ruthless cult members and their newly reanimated religious leader, Nix (Daniel Von Bargen).
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Lord of Illusions

Lord of Illusions

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Critics Consensus

Lord of Illusions may come as something of a disappointment in the context of writer-director Clive Barker's best work, but genre fans should be reasonably diverted.

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Critics Reviews

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Anthony Puccinelli Chicago Reader 06/07/2022
0/4
These days the horror film is practically a bankrupt genre... Go to Full Review
Mike Clark USA Today 01/01/2000
2.5/4
Barker's visual side dominates its literary equivalent this time out, resulting in a time-killer that may amuse fans until illusion is shattered by the rolling of the end credits. Go to Full Review
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 01/01/2000
3/4
Barker, who directed as well as wrote, establishes an effective rhythm in these scenes, and Bakula finds just the right note to play them. Go to Full Review
Brian Orndorf Blu-ray.com Jun 20
D+
Barker is ambitious with this tale of violent magic and noir-ish adventuring, but he's not skilled in the art of storytelling this time, preferring to transform the bizarreness of the material into a leaden viewing experience. Go to Full Review
David Nusair Reel Film Reviews May 1
2/4
Clive Barker’s Lord of Illusions‘ ultimate downfall is triggered by a lackluster midsection and somewhat interminable climactic stretch... Go to Full Review
Trace Thurman Horror Queers Podcast 12/30/2020
3/5
From the mind of Clive Barker comes....one weird-ass horror noir. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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comrade L. @comradelandback Nov 12 plz release for purchase on digital See more thiago s @Thiagostone Jul 8 Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas de terror são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom See more Korra N Jun 27 While not a great movie, the Director's Cut of the film is a good, strange & wonderfully weird horror movie that makes some bold choices. Maybe some day we'll get more adaptations of Clive Barker's wildly inventive works. See more John C Apr 30 I'm a big fan of Clive Barker's 'Hellraiser' series (and even the not so well respected 'Nightbreed'), so I was only too happy to check out 'Lord of Illusions.' And, pretty much from the off, you can tell it's got Barker's fingerprints all over it. If it was made today you'd probably be forgiven for thinking that there's some sort of 'Marvel-esque' shared universe of Barker films and 'Lord of Illusions' is happening roughly at the same time as 'Hellraiser.' Sadly, it's not as good. It's about... er, well, it took me a while to work out exactly what it was about. And that's one of the drawbacks - its lack of focus. You think you have a pretty normal set-up, i.e. a private investigator (Scott Bakula) looks into a case which involves, er, stuff. Yeah, by the time the film got going I kind of forgot how our protagonist got involved. There's someone practicing 'dark arts' kind of stuff and he's the antagonist. Or is he? There's a fake-out and another 'proper' threat that has to be dealt with before the credits roll and the overall feeling of the film is that it's a bit all over the place (a criticism also leveled at 'Nightbreed,' but I wasn't bothered with that!). In short... I wasn't really enjoying it. Although the practical make-up effects are good and, if you're into your Clive Barker movies, then you'll be expecting some pretty gory stuff. This doesn't disappoint. However, as much as it's all over the place, the final act was actually pretty entertaining. There's action, tension, good gore and a general feeling of a conclusion. Because of the ending I couldn't totally feel that I wasted my time with this film. If only the pace of the ending could have been maintained throughout the whole story this may well be up there with Pinhead's exploits. See more Jay H 08/22/2024 Of the three feature films directed by Clive Barker, this one is my favorite. I highly recommend the Director's Cut. See more James B 08/19/2024 While lord of illusions is faithful to the short story the last illusion it is unfortunately let down by bad CGI which is a shame because this is a great movie with awesome characters and it definitely one that I will be rewatching quite a few times. See more Read all reviews
Lord of Illusions

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Movie Info

Synopsis Private eye Harry D'Amour (Scott Bakula) travels to Los Angeles and meets with a new client, Dorothea Swann (Famke Janssen). Swann reveals that she and her husband -- famed magician Philip Swann (Kevin J. O'Connor) -- have been targeted by a religious cult experimenting with reincarnation. After Philip dies on stage in the midst of a dangerous trick, D'Amour must struggle to protect Dorothea from the ruthless cult members and their newly reanimated religious leader, Nix (Daniel Von Bargen).
Director
Clive Barker
Producer
JoAnne Sellar, Clive Barker
Screenwriter
Clive Barker
Production Co
Seraphim Films
Rating
R
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 25, 1995, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 16, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA)
$12.4M
Runtime
1h 48m
Sound Mix
Surround
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