John Trent may be an insurance investigator but he’s a kindred spirit to Philip Marlowe, a seen it all kind of guy who’s always ready with a snappy comeback. The thing is Marlowe never had to face the sort of reality warping high jinks that Trent does, although he might have if he’d been written by H.P. Lovecraft instead of Raymond Chandler.
In the Mouth of Madness is the film that gives me hope that Carpenter may still give us another classic, or a least a good film, before he calls it a day. I know it was made over ten years ago, but sandwiched as it is between two of his biggest disasters – Memoirs of an Invisible Man and Village of the Damned – it shows that even when you think all hope is lost he can still surprise you.
In the film Sutter Cane is an author of H.P. Lovecraft style horrors but with sales figures that Stephen King would sell his soul for. Cane’s books get inside the readers head, messing with reality or our perception of it and driving people nuts. Carpenter’s film does much the same thing, leaving the viewer unable to trust their eyes and putting them in the same boat as Trent. It’s the films sense of paranoia and madness that make it a horror gem, although Carpenter delivers plenty of jump out of your seat moments as well.
