In the Mouth of Madness

• Sam Neill: John Trent
• Julie Carmen: Linda Styles
• Jürgen Prochnow: Sutter Cane
• David Warner: Dr. Wrenn
• John Glover: Saperstein
• Charlton Heston: Jackson Harglow

The Mouth of Madness is an American horror film directed by John Carpenter in 1994, while the third part of his apocalyptic trilogy that began with The Thing from Another World began in 1982 and 1987 with The Prince of Darkness was a sequel.

Action

When the novel The Mouth of Madness of the world's most successful horror author Sutter Cane book is nearing publication, Cane is suddenly nowhere to be found. Because of its popularity the mysterious disappearance Canes attracted much attention from the public, especially since no one, did not even get his editor, Linda Styles or his publisher Jackson Harglow, the manuscript of his latest work to face.

Harglow commissioned private investigator John Trent to seek the author. Trent finds a trail that Cane has left intentionally in his opinion, and that leads to a completely secluded village called Hobb 's End. This strange village is also found in the novels of Sutter Cane. Together with Linda Styles makes Trent on the way to the author to look for, he suspected, along with his publisher of fraud. In Hobb 's End arrived, they make Cane identify who is staying in a church. The author is in a euphoric state. He reveals the two is that his books are no longer just fiction, but would reality by the power of millions of fanatical fans. The more people consumed Canes work, the faster his fiction becomes a reality. Also Hobb 's End and the detective Trent themselves are fiction. In the book, at its completion Trent now is present, the people fall gradually from complete madness, while at the same time so that the end of the world will be initiated. Cane itself, as the creator of the event, it assumes the role of the new god.

While Linda madness still falls victim in Hobb 's End, John brings the manuscript under the influence Canes and against his will back to Jackson Harglow. All his attempts to destroy the work during his trip, fail, so that the manuscript finally reaches the publisher and published worldwide as a book and film. In fact, shortly thereafter begins the madness throughout the world to grab. In their right mind John Trent attends a movie showing of " The Mouth of Madness ". He needs to realize that the film focuses on the events that have happened to him even before. From this he concludes that he is actually probably unstoppable just a figment of Sutter Cane and the Apocalypse.

Background

• The shooting took place among others in Markham, Toronto and West Montrose (Ontario, Canada).
• The film budget was $ 14 million, but the film played only $ 9 million in again and was therefore a financial flop, which is partly due to bad reviews.
• Hayden Christensen is seen in a scene as a boy on a bike that strikes Trent ( Sam Neill ), as this manages to escape from Hobbs End.

Reviews

The lexicon of the International film proclaims: "Between fiction and reality resettled horror film to which the minds of the people seasons his critique manipulative powers with aiming at the stomach shock effects. Worth seeing for fans of the genre. "

Roger Ebert makes defects in the drawing of single figures, particularly of Sutter Cane and the publisher represented by Charlton Heston, and weaknesses in the Score ( "it's not enough to send the beleaguered hero on a roller- coaster ride through shocking images" ). The film waiting in the beginning with a lot of fascinating ideas on working around this but for the most part in favor of a special effects concept that seems to be inspired by the Nightmare series ( " starts out with lots of intriguing ideas, and then sidesteps most of them in order to provide a special effects sideshow that looks inspired by the " Nightmare on Elm Street" series "), whose latest film Freddy's New Nightmare treat a similar theme to much more original way and also offer better special effects.

Awards

The film was nominated for a Saturn Award in two categories. John Carpenter won the Critics' Prize of the Festival Internacional de Cinema do Porto, and was nominated in another category.