Crazy Refrain: In The Mouth of Madness

Does it pay to be crazy?  As I've discussed in the past, I have a misleading History with John Carpenter.  I love the guy's work- I just happened to have Reviewed more Films of his that I didn't like than those I do.  This will help even the odds.  Today's Film is In the Mouth of Madness, a 1994 Film inspired by Lovecraft and Stephen King.  He considers it to be the final part of his 'Apocalypse Trilogy'- following The Thing and Prince of Darkness.  Good company, right?  Throw in Sam Neill (fresh from Jurassic Park)- why not?!?  The Story involves an Insurance Claims Adjuster (Neill) investigating a claim made about Sutter Cane, an eccentric and missing Author.  While you're out, could you find that Norliss guy?  He's been missing since like 1975!  What the man finds, however, is something much weirder than he could have ever expected.  To find out more, read on...

A crazy man is brought into an Asylum and does not seem happy to be there.

The man- Neill- recounts the tale of how he got here to a man- David Warner (aka Ra's Al Ghul)- after meeting with the Superintendent- John Glover (aka The Riddler, Floronic Man and Lionel Luther).

Nice face markings.

He is working on the case of the missing Sutter Cane, since his Employers are insuring the man and the Company he writes for.  He runs afoul of some craziness, including the axe-wielding Editor of Cane's last book!

He figures out that Cane's fictitious Town of Hobbe's End is real(ish) and goes there to find Cane.

He does.  Unfortunately, he's Jurgen Prochnow, so he's crazy and eccentric.  Things get weird now...

In Hobbe's End, the people aren't very friendly.  Even 'Vigo' here is kind of a crazy jerk.

Hey, did you know that he was a Professional Wrestler?  I sure didn't.  Thanks, IMDB!

Neill and the woman working with him (from the Publisher) discover that...they are Fictional.  They take it about as well as Will Ferrell did.

They run through a tunnel and are chased by some monsters...

...and Neill discovers that he was actually Cane (or something) & he's far too late to stop the final Story (In the Mouth of Madness) to be turned into a Film (by John Carpenter) and set up humanity's destruction.

After the Story, he wakes up later to find that all sorts of shit has gone down.

He wanders down the empty Streets and goes to see this Film as the world burns.  The End.

Strange, trippy and good.  This is certainly not for everyone.  Half of the Film seems to be setting up random moments of strangeness.  On the plus side, Greg Nicotero worked on this one, so the Make-Up work is quite good.  The Narrative is certainly bizarre.  I can't say that it all makes 100% sense to me...but I can live with that.  It is all about the crazy, random things that happen as part of the investigation.  It is interesting seeing Neill go down the crazy road and go crazy himself.  He really pulls off the role.  All of the Supporting Players- including Warner, Prochnow and Glover- do a good job.  Hell, even Charlton Heston wasn't bad in his 2 Scenes.  He was still Heston, so bear in mind what the standard is.  All in all, Madness is a confusing and trippy ride, but a good one.  As a bonus, they include Footage from Robot Monster...

Next up, a freaky tale of love, loss and disembodied organs.  As a bonus, this wraps up the Directing Career (so far) of another Director.  Stay tuned...