In the Mouth of Madness
Director: John Carpenter
Year Released: 1995
Rating: 1.5
Thought I'd revisit this after a decade of seeing it (by sneaking into the theater with friends, no less), and unfortunately it hasn't lived up to my own memory of it. Instead of being creepy like I thought it was, it now comes across as a lot of editing trickery and Boo! gags (the make-up also never quite convinces). My one and only complaint 'back then' was the ending, but with full knowledge of what happens ahead of time allowed me to pick up hints (the end-of-the-world/end-of-the-novel scenario is telegraphed repeatedly) and as of this second viewing, seems to be the most appropriate conclusion for this kind of horror picture. Sam Neill's performance is surprisingly good - but then again, he's quite adept at playing insane: see his role in 1981's Possession for verification.
