Any horror movie list needs to have at least one or two John Carpenter movies on. I thought about throwing Halloween on the list but that is just too simple and everyone has seen it. I’also have to say I’m a bigger fan of In the Mouth of Madness than of his other horror movies. Carpenter manages to create a modern H.P. Lovecraft classic story. In my mind it is fairly easy to create a world where a serial killer is stalking people but it is not so easy to create a terrifying descent into madness caused by reality being broken. In the Mouth of Madness is just one such movie and it is bizarre, creepy, humorous, terrifying and extremely compelling all at the same time.

Sam Neill is John Trent, a private investigator who specializes in Insurance Fraud. He is hired by the Arkham (Arkham in H.P. Lovecraft stories is a New England Town) Publishing to track down Sutter Cane (Jürgen Prochnow). Sutter Cane is basically Arkham’s version of Stephen King. Sutter Cane has gone missing and the company wants to find him so that he can finish his latest novel which is sure to be worth millions. Trent agrees and heads home to start reading Cane’s works so that he can try to figure out where Cane might be. Shortly after he starts to read the novels he experiences nightmares for the first time. We have already been told that Cane’s novels can “affect” less stable people. Eventually Trent heads off to find the town of fictional town of Hobb’s End as he becomes to believe that the town actually exists. On his journey he is accompanied by Linda Styes (Julie Carmen) who works for Arkham. On his journey a lot of weird things happen. I could mention a few of them but they really have to be seen. My favourite of them all though revolves around an innkeeper and her husband.

In the Mouth of Madness really plays with the aspect of the world just not being right. In essence it is broken and the people you normally meet are in fact monsters. An example would be something along the following: while you might think your neighbor is just the average person he is really in effect a deranged deformed killer who has been abusing his family. You just were unable to see him for truly what he is. Are you actually insane and just believe this or is he really that evil monster. This is just an example I made up but I feel it covers the themes of the movie fairly well.

When we first meet John Trent we know right off the bat that he has been locked away insane but we do not know why or if he is actually truly insane. What we witness throughout In the Mouth of Madness is John Trent’s downfall once he enters into the world of Sutter Cane. It is a fun disturbing journey that really is worth taking and while it is not as simple as the typical slasher horror it is much more compelling in my mind.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for Day 9 of the 31 Days of Horror.