In the Mouth of Madness (1995)
I’m not a piece of fiction!
THE SUMMARY: Dr. Alan Grant from Jurassic Park gets hired to find a missing Stephen King-like horror novel author, and discovers he is actually just a character in the writer’s twisted story as the world goes crazy around him. On paper, that might sound boring and confusing. In practice, it’s a unique concept presented in wonderfully aged ‘80s John Carpenter cheese, even if it’s actually a ‘90s movie.
FROM MOVIE-PICKER ALEX M: One of my favorite horror movies because I think it’s one of the few to do cosmic horror properly and it does so without relying on giant monsters or space. An all around great movie and one of my favorites by John Carpenter who is one of my favorite directors.
JAMIE AND JEANNE’S SHOW AI ART FOR THE WEEK: Just when we thought the video faceswaps were dead - they’re back! At least for now.
If Blonde and Shining Nicholson had a baby…
Heeeere’s… a different Johnny!
THE BEST:
I’ve never heard a story quite like this one: Whether I enjoy it or not, uniqueness is worthy of praise. How many times have you heard a similar story dressed up in a different setting or style? Mouth of Madness doesn’t have that problem. At least as far as I’m aware, it’s a fresh and unrepeated concept: the idea of the movie character becoming self-aware and realizing he’s just a puppet of someone else’s story, completely unable to escape it.
Is that what makes this movie entertaining, or does it automatically make this movie good? Not necessarily - I just appreciate something I haven’t seen before.
Delightful John Carpenter cheese: It’s probably a style you either love or hate, and for me it’s mostly love. This is the fourth John Carpenter movie I’ve reviewed, after They Live, Big Trouble in Little China, and The Thing, and by now it’s clear: comically slimy, visually absurd monster cheese is the ingredient that binds all these different stories together.
Mouth of Madness has a little more than just slime though - these monsters offered some real comedy that wasn’t just their looks. Special recognition for the out-of-nowhere ‘f**k you!’ lady who for some reason passes on the easy chance to put an ax in Trent’s face, the undead cyclist (even cars can’t kill him, which is truly frightening), the double dream jump scare, and Styles’ body-contortions. Each one earned an out-loud laugh, and a knee slap from me. Was I supposed to be scared instead of laughing? Maybe, but I’m entertained either way.
The ‘they/them’ bit: There’s a striking line from Trent when he’s explaining himself at the mental institution to start the movie (I can’t find a video clip, but it’s in the script): ‘You’re waiting to hear about my ‘them,’ aren’t you? Your what? My ‘them.’ Every paranoid schizophrenic has one. A ‘them.’ A ‘they.’ An ‘it.’’
Now of course in context, there’s no reason to suppose the writers were talking about transgenderism or gender identity pronouns. But it is amazingly, even if almost certainly accidentally, prophetic. Every mentally ill person has a ‘them,’ indeed.
To what degree are we actually just characters in some author’s story?: I know I’m scraping this movie’s barrel a little too hard to find meaningful philosophy in it, since I don’t think that’s its intent, but there are a few themes that keep me thinking about it. Mouth of Madness is one big story about free will versus determinism, and in this case, determinism wins. As shocking and maddening as it may be to realize you are actually someone else’s pawn, and your own will is an illusion, could some of this reality exist for us already? I’m a big believer in free will, of course - I think it’s necessary for any system of morality to exist - but to the extent I also believe each human life has a purpose, is it possible the broad trajectory of that life has some pre-determined direction to it?
What makes this move a horror story is really the idea that it’s another human being pulling your puppet strings, and not God himself, because human beings are flawed, fallible, and sometimes even evil. That’s why it’s also interesting that to process this revelation, Trent turns to God (or at least that’s how I interpret his new love of crucifix décor and fashion). The point is if every man needs a ruler, and the choice is between other men or God, choose God. Even better - choose God when the times are good. Don’t wait for a horror story to scare you into it.
Trent learns the truth
Why do I love this sort of nonsense?
THE WORST:
You have to like the cheese/the cheese cuts against the scare: While I love the cheese, if you don’t, I can’t imagine liking this movie. John Carpenter is a lot like pizza or ice cream. If you’re lactose intolerant, there just aren’t many ways to salvage it. Love of ridiculous monster makeups and prosthetics is mandatory.
Likewise, for a ‘horror’ movie, I can’t honestly say I was scared or felt a nervous tension at any point. Carpenter always presents as a unique brand of comedy to me, which I love, but I’m not sure that ‘horror’ is the appropriate genre. If you watch this movie expecting scary, you will likely be disappointed.
It’s not actually that deep: I know I just wrote a lengthy section about big ideas like free will versus determinism and following man versus following God, but I actually don’t think Carpenter and company intended as much. Mouth of Madness is not some psychological thriller. It’s more about the popcorn than the philosophy, and that’s fine. It entertains throughout. I just don’t want to give the impression this movie is some big thinker when it’s more likely I’m inserting my own thoughts into its broad, general themes.
The knock-off Enter Sandman intro: You couldn’t get the rights from Metallica - we get it. They’re notorious sticklers about that sort of thing. No - I’m not just guessing that’s what happened based on the intro song being an obvious knock-off deliberately written to toe the copyright line. That’s exactly what happened, by Carpenter’s own description.
By trying to recreate the song without actually recreating the song, he killed the vibe of the intro. I’m not even a music aficionado, and when I heard it, I immediately thought ‘what is this - royalty-free Enter Sandman?’ Look it up, and yep. It doesn’t sound cool. It just sounds like a ripoff, because it is.
Even at its ‘scariest,’ it’s really just cheese.
Really toeing the copyright line.
THE RATING: 4/5 Wickies. It’s a cool concept I’ve never seen before, the monster bits kept me laughing throughout, and even if I’m adding more philosophical value than it deserves, I was entertained throughout.
YOUR RATING: Vote here ⬇ Note: if you get a notification saying you have already voted and you haven’t, this is because of an issue with iOS (Apple mobile devices). Try voting on a desktop or laptop computer.
NEXT WEEK: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). This is a random selection from IMDb’s top 250 list, since the nominations were rejected in last week’s vote.
AFTER THAT? YOU PICK - VOTE! December’s nominations are from listener Stephen. I’m told that Return of the Living Dead 3 is its own independent story, hence we’ll allow the sequel. Note: if you get a notification saying you have already voted and you haven’t, this is because of an issue with iOS (Apple mobile devices). Try voting on a desktop or laptop computer.
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