Rish Outfield's reviews
This was a very disturbing film, but it wasn't really scary. Well, it was scary in atmosphere and subject matter, but not really in the traditional killer-on-the-loose, someone-taps-hero-on-the-shoulder, lights-go-out sort of way.
Sam Neill is really good in this as the seen-it-all skeptic investigating the disappearance of the world's most popular horror writer, Sutter Cane. Apparently, his books have a tendency to turn people insane, and in checking things out, Neill finds...well, let's leave it at that. Not because I don't want to give anything away, but because I really don't know how to explain it. It was all so bizarre and confusing and surreal and twisted (but not really in that order).
Neill's come-and-go accent bothered me a little more this time than it usually does, but it doesn't hurt the movie any. It was neat to see Charlton Heston in a movie again, even if he didn't get to call anyone a "damn dirty ape." And I'm always happy to see David Warner appear in a horror film. This had the most unique Horror Film Showing in memory, as there is a scene where Sam Neill goes into a theatre and watches, of all things, In the Mouth of Madness.
Best Scare: A few things jumped up, like a child/old woman on a bicycle--and that did startle me.
I'd Recommend It To: Fans of psychological, twisted storylines dealing with madness. And mouths?
Note: I have to ask myself, since no one else is around to ask, if I would read Sutter Kane's work (were this all not make-believe). Knowing what I know about myself, I'm sure that I would...but tyranist would read it first.
Note 2: Check it out! That spooky bicycle kid would go on to be Anakin Skywalker in the newest "Star Wars" films. Wow. I can say, "You scared the heck out of me way back when..."

The tyranist's thoughts
Aren't John Carpenter movies fun. What do you get when you combine John Carpenter, Sam Neill, H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King? In the Mouth of Madness. Okay, to be fair, Jurgen Prochnow was great. I can't figure out why Rish hates him so much. I've been a fan since he was in Dune.
This is a seriously messed up movie that will be a pleasure to all fans of the genre. We all read Stephen King and understand the power that he has. Some of us read H.P. Lovecraft and know the insanity that he embodies. We've all been fans of John Carpenter's since at least Halloween. And Sam Neill, well he played Damien once. All of this combines to be a journey just as trippy and difficult to follow as New Nightmare. One moment everything is real, the next it is a dream, the next it is the fevered imaginations of a pop writer. For anybody who regularly questions the reality of our world, this book is for you. For anyone who has ever lost themselves so completely in a book that they cannot walk the real world without seeing phantoms. For anyone who appreciates the finer nuances of how thinly our reality is divided from our imagination. This movie is for all of you. Or book. Or reality.