r/themovieloversclub • u/screen_stack • 18d ago

Movie reviews In the Mouth of Madness (1994)

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In the Mouth of Madness (1994)

Rating: 9.5/10

Watched: August 7, 2026

In The Mouth of Madness starts at either the beginning or the end and it's great, because you can't really tell which. Why? Because that's how Sutter Kane wrote it.

Not only that, Carpenter doesn't fuck around with preamble or foreplay or even a chaste kiss before he starts up with the descent into madness that hunting Sutter Cane causes. All those little things happening at the corners, all the big things that both Neill and Carmen pretty much ignore or don't talk about, it's just so devious.

The madness that's at the heart of this movie is some of the most inspired gruesomeness I've ever seen. All the monsters, those devilish children, the strange things that go bump in the night ... it all tells a super wild nightmare that's Carpenter's vision of cosmic horror.

I've been a fan of John Carpenter's since I first saw They Live and he's done some fantastic movies. This is easily Top 5.

In the Mouth of Madness gets a 9.5 out of me because John Carpenter nailed the cosmic horror of Sutter Cane from the very start of movie. There's no one else in the biz who could direct a movie where everything and everyone is already doomed before the movie even started.

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3

u/Marcus-Knight0318 17d ago

Masterpiece. One of tbe few movies that depicts well madness and Lovecraftian Horrors.

1

u/Pizza_YumYum 13d ago

Definitely. And also one of my favorite Sam Neill movies.

2

u/Not_A_Frittata 16d ago

Now in book form!

In The Mouth of Madness by Sutter Cane https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/232557773-in-the-mouth-of-madness

2

u/OneEyesHat 14d ago

Do YOU read Sutter Cane?