Post by Fickle81 on Dec 22, 2010 23:25:11 GMT -5
Ahhh good ol John Carpenter...no other film maker that I'm a fan of has a body of work that resonates more with me than him (probably helped by the fact that I was introduced to him at a very young age). Although he's most revered for his contributions to the horror genre,he's dabbled in damn near every genre there is (except for musicals). While he has made some undeniable classics (most notably Halloween,Escape From New York,and The Thing),a good lot of his filmography is VERY underrated (despite the fact that he has also made his share of crap too)...probably the most CRIMINALLY under appreciated of all is without question his most unique film and his last truly great one before his decline (with his last GOOD film being Vampires),In The Mouth of Madness.
Here's the most basic setup of the plot,and trust me I'm gonna try to be as vague as possible...John Trent,played by the great Sam Neill,is committed to a loony bin. He is visited by a doctor where he begins to tell the story of how he ended up in his white padded cell. Prior to being committed,he was a PI that specialized in insurance fraud. For his next case,he is hired by a publishing company known as Arcane Publishing to find prolific horror writer Sutter Cane,their most profitable commodity. Cane has mysteriously vanished before turning in the manuscript for his hyped magnum opus novel,entitled In The Mouth of Madness,and the company wants Trent to find Cane and/or the manuscript. During the investigation,Trent concludes that there is a possibility that Cane has retreated to Hobbs End,a fictional town featured in Cane's novels. While it doesn't show up on any map, Trent is convinced the town exists,and with a female Arcane representative,Trent journeys to and through bizarre circumstances,actually winds up in Hobbs End where he begins his search for Cane.
And it's at this point where I'm not gonna get into anymore actual plot details,not only because I don't want to spoil the movie for those that might be interested,but because I really can't put the detailed happenings in the film into words even if I wanted to. The only thing I can really say is that the line between reality and fiction within the film doesn't just get blurred...it gets disintegrated into oblivion...reality and fiction blend together to the point where not only can the viewer not tell which is which,but the characters in the film can't either. The existence of people and places are called into question,experiences of deja vu are constant (this film uses deja vu as a plot device better than any film I've ever seen),people actually get afflicted by the film's "fiction",and time and space is manipulated like a motherfucker...all of it building to an ending that is guaranteed to make your head explode into a chaotic inferno.
Here we have Carpenter...doing a surreal mindfuck film?! That's right,Carpenter not only bravely journeys into territory where legendary film maker David Lynch reigns supreme,but he also manages to actually OUTSHINE the master of surrealism?! Carpenter actually creates a film that feels like it's literally alive...self aware if you will,and I don't mean in the sense that the movie knows what it is and doesn't try to be anything else (like a purposefully bad movie)...I mean self aware in that it knows it's a movie,so it decides to use it to its advantage to fuck with its audience. If you think reality gets thrown out the window in an average Lynch film,wait till you see what happens here... that is of course,if you're a fan of these kind of films,which sadly,not many people are.
Of course,there's more to the movie than playing with the viewer's perception of reality within the movie. The movie also pays tribute to the influential horror novelist H. P. Lovecraft. Not only do creatures that resemble "The Old Ones" from Lovecraft's "Cthulhu Mythos" appear in the film,among other details like character names,but the title itself is a playful reference to one of Lovecraft's most well known works,At The Mountains of Madness (an adaptation for that is currently in the works helmed by Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro and produced by James Cameron). Insanity is also a major theme in the film,just like in Lovecraft's work. It also plays as a tribute to modern iconic writer Stephen King...seriously,tell me the name of the novelist within the film,Sutter Cane,doesn't sound similar to Stephen King. Not to mention the town of Hobb's End is said to be in the New England area in the film,which is where a lot of King's stories take place.
There are just a few nagging issues that keep the film from being an outright masterpiece. Firstly, as a horror film,it's really not that scary. Actual tension is sacrificed in the name of raping the viewer's perception...I'm sure Carpenter thought that would suffice AS the fear and tension device,but it personally didn't work for me. Second,I'm not a fan of parts of the film's score at all,which is especially disappointing considering one of Carpenter's signatures in his films are their great distinct soundtracks...hard rock pieces really had no place in this movie at all. Finally,one plot point near the end about the manuscript didn't make complete sense to me considering the circumstances of what happened before that point. I kinda get why it was written that way,but at the same time I didn't. This is probably my third favorite Carpenter film (behind The Thing and Halloween of course). Hell, it even served as one of the main influences for my Trojan Horse film story treatment that I wrote while taking film writing/making courses in college (shameless plug HERE). While I do think this film is tragically underrated,I understand why it is. The average movie watcher would be baffled by something like this and would automatically dismiss it as nonsensical and pretentious. Most people need a clearly explained plot in order to be entertained. I,however,enjoy the art behind film making as well as the entertainment value,and am able to critically see things hidden under the surface of certain films like this (I HAVE seen films of this nature that were weird solely for the sake of being weird and I HAVE dismissed them as nonsensical and pretentious),so this is right up my alley. If you have an open mind,give this movie a watch...but be warned,be prepared to have your grey matter stimulated till it hurts. Watching this movie is like staring into the abyss,and not only does the abyss stare back at you,it winks.
Do you read Sutter Cane?
4.5/5