In the Mouth of Madness 4K UHD

John Carpenter had already tackled a Stephen King adaptation (the under-appreciated Christine), so he was on familiar ground with In the Mouth of Madness (1995), an H.P. Lovecraft inspired tale about a best-selling horror writer whose work seems to be bending the reality of his avid readers. Sam Neill stars as John Trent, a cynical insurance investigator sent into the wilds of New England to track down the reclusive author and recover his final novel. However, what he finds is the fictional town of Hobb's End (think Castle Rock or Dunwich) has popped up in some inter-dimensional crevasse, a gateway between our world and that of the "Old Ones," a menagerie of monsters who grow stronger with each new reader. And the movie comes out next month!

Written by New Line executive - and horror fan - Michael De Luca, In the Mouth of Madness is a dark but playful journey through Lovecraft Country, blending slimy practical effects and more outré imaginative flourishes well-suited to Carpenter's skill set (the film almost feels like a sequel to the apocalyptic Prince of Darkness). This is the closest the director would get to greatness for the rest of his career; but even here his control is slipping. The shock effects rely heavily on cheap music cues and don't even mention the hard-rock theme song (also composed by Carpenter) used under the opening credits. As a piece of self-aware pulp entertainment, the film is a joy for fans of the horror genre. But for Carpenter aficionados, it was also a bittersweet swan song.

Trouncing the Scream Factory's Blu-ray in almost every way, Arrow’s new 4K UHD looks stunning from the first frame, sporting a new 4K scan of the original film elements amped up by HDR. The old extras get ported over but several new elements are added to the mix, including another commentary, interviews with Sandy King and Jurgen Prochnow, two video appreciations, collector’s booklet and fold-out poster.

 

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hollywood 90028

Image
While everyone praises a film that is timeless, those that are  of their time  an inevitably more interesting. And  Hollywood 90028  (1974) occupies a singular moment of L.A. cinematic history written by the early generation of UCLA film school grads; an urban desert of sleazy peep shows and dashed artistic aspirations populated by Midwest transplants looking to make it big.  Director Christina Hornisher’s obscure addition to this tragic catalog was sold as a sexed-up piece of violent exploitation (and retitled  The Hollywood Hillside Strangler  and  Twisted Throats ) but this low-budget effort is really anything but.   Mark (Christopher Augustine) is a frustrated filmmaker shooting dirty movies to pay the bills, unable to put together a highlight reel that will get him out of the celluloid gutter.  Michele (Jeannette Dilger) is on the other side of the camera, ashamed of her “performances” but lured by the easy money. ...
Read more

School in the Crosshairs

Image
A pop-music confection of psychic powers, first love, and invaders from Venus, 1981’s School in the Crosshairs is a mainline rush of anime aesthetics and pre-MTV aspirations. And if you think that’s a mouthful, wait’ll you get a look at the film itself! Director Nobuhiko Obayashi ( House ) stacks plot devices like Jenga pieces, relying on the charisma of super-producer Haruki Kadokawa’s handpicked pop princess to keep it from collapsing under its own weight. That secret ingredient is star Hiroko Yakushimaru, the cherub-faced schoolgirl who’d break out later that same year in Sailor Suit and Machine Gun . Here she plays Yuka, the most popular girl in school, who discovers her telekinetic abilities have drawn the attention of a power-hungry alien bent on enslaving her fellow students. With help from a mysterious new girl on campus, the villains drain all the fun from Daii Academy, transforming it into a fascist state devoted entirely to academics.   Based on an oft-adapted novel by ...
Read more

Terminus

Image
Road Warrior   rip-offs are legion. After the success of George Miller’s post-apocalyptic actioner, every two-bit producer with access to a stretch of desert and a box of leftover shoulder pads scrambled to cash in. In the U.S., Roger Corman unleashed   Battletruck , Charles Band gave birth to   Metalstorm   (in 3D, no less), while Italy cranked out so many copycat productions it’s a wonder the Colosseum didn’t wind up with a gun turret and a flamethrower. But France—ah, France—they just might have delivered the most bafflingly sideways homage of them all: 1987’s   Terminus . Set in a near future where a tricked-out truck must pass through hostile territory to reach a predetermined “terminus,” the story begins with its hired driver (Karen Allen) captured and killed by rival gangs. That leaves Stump (Johnny Hallyday), a mysterious ex-con, to complete the journey—accompanied by a mute 8-year-old named Princess. Their mission is guided by an AI system called Monste...
Read more