Into the Mouth of Madness

[lopeynat53 0]

Into the Mouth of Madness is probably the worst horror movie I've ever seen

[Nasher 29]

I wanted to love it... Lovecraft.. Carpenter.. whats not to like...

and then we get a slow, muddled horror with a flat performance from Sam Neil and monsters who don't quiet do the grandeur of Lovecraft's creation justice.

[thefarstairs 0]

The problem with In the Mouth of Madness as a topic for the podcast is that it's kind of supposed to be a campy B-movie. I think Carpenter was trying to capture the absurdity of Lovecraft as well as the horror. After all, Lovecraft essentially wrote pulp stories, and anyone who loves his work knows that it often strays into silliness. In many ways, I think In the Mouth of Madness is the best Lovecraft adaptation so far.

[jarshall 25]

this movie knows what it is, and it's awesome. Carpenter didn't really take that downhill slide for another few years.

[Skeevins 322]

I really loved the final scene. I'm not sure it was bad, just middle of the road with a few shining moments. I think the shining moments make it a movie you could have a decent discussion about, but the bad parts weren't quite laughably bad.

[Corman 1]

Actually, I think this is Carpenter's last great movie. I found the slimy, malformed monster puppets he used to be sufficiently Lovecraft-esque. And yes, that final scene is supremely chilling. You want bad John Carpenter? Dig up "Cigarette Burns" from the Masters of Horror series.

[Nasher 29]

It's easy to be disappointed in a psychological horror from another decade. The production values, the things that get to you change and its harder to identify with people with archaic haircuts and clothing. Oddly enough i disliked the movie when it came out but a recent re-watch i found i like it a lot better.

 

Movies like The Thing still work because straight up body horror is still icky, frightening and easy to identify with, plus they are in a location where hair and clothing styles are negligible and don't date as badly. When watching a movie it can really help to know what kind of horror movie it is as well as when it was made.

 

I recently watched the original Straw Dogs and while much of it seems visually tame compared to any 90's gore flick the psychological element of home invasion still resonates.

 

A lot of studios like to use the generic lables to fool people about what kind of movie you are being offered too.. like The Tourist pretending to be a thriller until its stupidity was called out and they switch to comedy for home sales. I really pisses people off when the go to a movie because X is a comedy actor... so lets pretend this is a comedy movie to get in that actors fans by default. thats my twopenneth.