THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 9, 1995 TAG: 9502080087
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
``IN THE MOUTH OF Madness'' begins with an intriguing premise.
Sutter Cane, ``this century's most widely read author,'' is missing. His cynical publisher seeks out John Trent, a missing-persons tracer, to find the writer. The publisher is most concerned that the manuscript for Cane's next novel, called ``In the Mouth of Madness,'' has not been delivered.
The writer is so reclusive that few people have met him. His fans are wrecking book stores because they can't get advance payments processed fast enough.
Cane's agent, who looks more like Frankenstein than someone who could read, takes a look at the several existing chapters and promptly goes crazy.
The trail leads to Hobb's End, a small town in New Hampshire. There, most of the characters from Cane's horror novels come to life - roaming the streets with axes, guns or threatening glares.
It is at this point that what might have been a palpable psychological thriller falls almost totally apart and becomes just another special-effects display. Gooey monsters with latex heads melt all over the place. It makes no sense whatsoever and eventually becomes more annoying than frightening. There were even some boos when the final credits rolled.
Everything in this convoluted plot becomes quite silly. The author is found, but he is obsessed with some sort of plan to take over the world - particularly since he thinks there's been a mistake and human beings shouldn't be in this world anyway.
It's too bad that director John Carpenter, who is returning to the horror genre for the first time since 1988's ``They Live,'' couldn't have maintained the dark, brooding, thriller-mystery qualities from the first half of the film. The man who gave the genre the first ``Halloween'' has fallen on lean times.
An obvious spoof of Stephen King and his supposedly fanatic fans, the film flagrantly mimics both King's demeanor and style - seemingly daring him to call his lawyers.
Sam Neill lends some levity to the role of the investigator - although we expected he would find more important vehicles after starring in the hits ``Jurassic Park'' and ``The Piano.'' Here, he merely broods.
Charlton Heston, who visited Norfolk to star in Virginia Stage Company's ``Love Letters,'' has his best screen role in awhile. Julie Carmen, though, is easily forgotten as Neill's tagalong date.
Jurgen Prochnow (the German skipper in ``Das Boot'') is the writer, complete with pock-marked face and ominous airs.
One strongly suspects that the studio required Carpenter to add a liberal amount of gore so the film would meet its commercial demand - thinking that the audience expects and demands monsters. If so, it was a foolish decision. This movie really has the audience going until it sold out to techincal rather than imaginative means to find an ending. ILLUSTRATION: SHANE HARVEY
New Line Cinema
John Trent (Sam Neill, center) is driven mad while searching for an
elusive writer in John Carpenter's ``In the Mouth of Madness.''
MOVIE REVIEW
``In the Mouth of Madness''
Cast: Sam Neill, Charlton Heston, Jurgen Prochnow, Julie Carmen,
David Warner
Director: John Carpenter
Screenplay: Michael De Luca
MPAA rating: R (violence)
Mal's rating: *1/2
Locations: Chesapeake Square in Chesapeake; Janaf, Main Gate in
Norfolk; Columbus, Kemps River, Lynnhaven 8, Surf-N-Sand in Virginia
Beach
by CNB