In the Mouth of Madness: John Carpenter's Lovecraftian Thriller Makes Its 4K Debut (Limited Edition 4K)

The Film:

Renowned master of horror John Carpenter has been known for a number of memorable works throughout his incredible career, including "Halloween," "The Thing," and "The Fog," but one of his later works that seemed to slip through the cracks was his 1994 supernatural thriller "In the Mouth of Madness." It was another one of those films that didn't exactly wow critics at the time, and hardly made a dent at the box office, but in the 30 years since its release, there have been fans of Carpenter's that have grown to appreciate it, giving it something of a cult following.

To celebrate its recent milestone, Arrow Films is giving the film a grand 4K upgrade and packing it with extras both new & old to give fans the ultimate edition of this lesser-discussed work of the beloved director. So now, as usual, it's time to delve into it to see if we can discover why critics dismissed it way back then, and perhaps see if it's actually worth it for viewers to give it another shot.

The film centers on John Trent (Sam Neill), an insurance investigator whose job is to find fraudulent claims. After surviving an attack by a crazed man with an axe, he is hired by a publisher to investigate the disappearance of famed horror author Sutter Cane (Jürgen Prochnow), whose massive fanbase is eagerly awaiting his new book. John soon discovers that the covers to his novels form a map to the fictional town, "Hobb's End," that Cane writes about, leading him to set out with Cane's editor, Linda Styles (Julie Carmen), to investigate. They soon find themselves in the town, where everything appears to be straight from the books, and while John thinks everything is a hoax at first, it becomes quite clear that something far more sinister is going on, something that will ultimately put the entire world in danger.

"In the Mouth of Madness" comes to us from screenwriter Michael De Luca, who is mainly known as a producer, but has dabbled in writing from time to time with films like "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" and "Judge Dredd." For this outing, he clearly took a lot of Lovecraftian influence to form his nightmarish tale of reality vs. fiction, and indeed, it does start off well enough as it establishes its mystery of a disappearing writer and the strange town that seems to have sprung up right out of his books, tantalizing the audience with its odd happenings & peculiar characters as it keeps them guessing as to what's really going on.

However, from there, it sadly becomes another unfortunate case of the writer not really knowing what to do with their scenario. In fact, it becomes fair to say that, by the time the third act roles around, De Luca ends up writing himself into a corner that becomes rather difficult to get out of, ultimately forcing him to conclude the film in the only way open to him, one that's pretty obvious to those who've been paying attention to what's been going on all along. That said, you could also say that it's an appropriate climax & ending, but you're left with the nagging feeling that something far more compelling & intriguing could've happened if De Luca had tried a little harder and not taken it down such an easily-predictable path.

Overall, it's hardly a terrible effort on Carpenter & De Luca's part. As mentioned, it has the start of an interesting mystery in there, and you get treated to some neat creature special effects work along the way, but by the end it just feels like something is missing to bring it to a truly memorable close and give it the solid oomph that a story like this should have. With a little more thought in that regard, it could've delivered the grand impact that they clearly wanted it to have, instead of an ending that merely fizzles out, ultimately leaving the film on a lower tier of the popular director's filmography as one that just couldn't make it across the finish line.

Video/Audio:

"In the Mouth of Madness" comes to Limited Edition 4K in a 2.35:1, 2160p Ultra High Definition transfer of excellent quality. The new 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative has cleaned up the picture quite well, making it beautifully sharp & clear throughout its entire 95-minute duration. Likewise, the 5.1 DTS-HD MA & 2.0 Stereo audio tracks are fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in outstanding quality. Overall, Arrow Films has done a marvelous job in both departments for the film's 4K debut.

Special Features:

Audio commentary with director John Carpenter and producer Sandy King Carpenter

Audio commentary with director John Carpenter and director of photography Gary B. Kibbe

Audio commentary by filmmakers Rebekah McKendry & Elric Kane, co-hosts of Colors of the Dark podcast (New)

Sandy King Carpenter Interview (22 Minutes) (New)

Jürgen Prochnow Interview (7 Minutes) (New)

Julie Carmen Interview (10 Minutes)

Greg Nicotero Interview (17 Minutes)

We Are What He Writes (33 Minutes) (New)

Reality Is Not What It Used To Be (11 Minutes) (New)

Horror's Hallowed Grounds (12 Minutes)

Home Movies From Hobb's End (12 Minutes)

The Making of In the Mouth of Madness (5 Minutes)

The film comes with an incredible collection of extras that includes multiple informative commentary tracks, as well as just over two hours of extensive featurettes that feature several interviews, appreciations, and other behind-the-scenes goodies. All of the great material here will no doubt please any fan of the film looking to delve deeper into it.

Conclusion:

John Carpenter's "In the Mouth of Madness" has the start of an intriguing mystery embedded within, but sadly loses its way as screenwriter Michael De Luca writes himself into a corner and escapes via a rather obvious, predictable path, ultimately leaving us with a mostly middling supernatural horror outing that doesn't quite achieve the major impact that it's clearly going for.

Score: 3/5

Available on Limited Edition 4K starting today.

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