[.ca] Lord of Illusions (Widescreen) (ISBN 0792839706)

THE REAL WORLD:
Clive Barker's books have always mystified me...he is definitely one imaginative soul, but at the same time so "soulless." In this movie, which he wrote, produced and directed, is soulless. Filled with campy gore effects, MTV style direction, and uneven performances, LORD OF ILLUSIONS is not a fully satisfying horror film. Daniel van Bergen's Nix is well done, but where did he get his powers and why did he lay dormant for thirteen years, and who is responsible for all the bad stuff going on now? And Kevin J. O'Connor, flat as a pancake, seems to be just as bad but why? And HOW did he escape the swords? And why does Scott Bakula act so bored (looking quite buff, though), and Famke Janssen in her pre X-men days looks like a refugee from the Great Gatsby. Nonsensical fun, but Barker continues to be overhyped.

So Much Suffering.....:
Initially I saw this film when it was first released and had mixed feelings about it. I have been reading Barker since I was eleven years old he is to me unequaled in his writing. There is simply noone that I have come across then or now who has the depth to create such lore with ease and abandonment as he does. What seals it for me is that his stories and ideas and monsters and people all the things he writes and paints never focus on one specific emotion or notion for that matter. Nothing is just good or evil. Barker knows that there are many avenues to explore which is probally why his movies never translate well to the screen. Lord of Illusions works as well as it does because one he had his hands all over it ie.screenplay direction etc. and two because he actually found actors who could grasp the idea of the world and people he was trying to create. I watched this film for the 1st time in 9 years last night and was blown away. Scott Bakula has got to be one of the most underrated actors alive. The man can carry a film just as well as a one hour tele drama..easy. He is very beleivable as private dick Harry D'Amour a man trying to understand the evil that men do in the world to the world etc. The whole concept of magic and illusions and otherwordly forces and the power one can hold over someone desperate enough to beleive in them unfolds across the screen like white lightning. If you have a taste for the macabre and are not easily swayed or impressed by the onslaught of recent fright films like the Ring or Gothika or the hundreds of others that followed in the superior Sixth Sense then this might actually be a movie you should look into. A good double feature would be Lord of Illusions and Angel Heart two very good films in general but the fact that they use such horrific mediums to really drive home their points is what really makes them both unsettling to watch. Make sure that you get the unrated directors cut of both though.

One of his best!:
I have seen the first clive barker film Hellraiser and I have to say that I wasn't impressed much. I was pretty hesitant to see this one but being a huge Diamanda galas fan, I decided to check it out. Overall, I think it's one of his best films as the storyline was good and the effects were not corny at all. The only complaint is that the acting was a bit underachieved in certain parts of the film. It seemed like madonna could've done a lot better. And that's not a good thing! All in all a good film.

Disjointed and senseless:
OK. "I was born to murder the world." Why? Are we expected to simply accept that statement? Of course it comes at the very end of the movie, so we're left wondering just who the heck this Nix character is, and what his nature is through the entire film. The problem is, if that was supposed to create dramatic tension, it didn't. Ambitious? Sure. Did it succeed? No. There was unquestionably a story here, but telling the story mainly through the eyes of a private detective wasn't the right way to go about it. This is a problem, sometimes, with writers. They find a story, but then can't find the vessel. I think that's what happened here.

An overlooked gem from Clive Barker.:
New York detective Harry D'Amour ( Scott Bakula) who has an interest in black magic heads to Los Angeles for a special job. He gets involved with Dorthea ( Fame Jannsen from " X-Men") who is the widow of a late magician ( Kevin J. O'Connor)and finds out the terrifying secrets of a mysterious cult who wants to resurrect a powerful dark magician. Way much overlooked but great supernatural horror thriller from famed horror novelist Clive Barker ( Creator of "Candyman" and " Hellraiser"), Bakula does a fine performance as teh detective who tracks down the cult. Great special effects and gore by Steve Johnson also help the movie's scariness and gruesomeness but worth watching only in the unrated Director's Cut which is on this DVD. Also recommended: End of Days, Freddy Vs. Jason, Hellraiser, Candyman, Making Contact ( a.k.a Joey), City of the Living Dead ( a.k.a. The Gates of Hell), Evil Dead II, Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday, Sleepless, Suspiria, Phenomena, Tenebre, Vampire Hunter D, The Mummy ( 1999), Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, Sleepy Hollow, From Hell, Fallen, House By The Cemetery, Burial Ground, From Dusk Till Dawn, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Ninja Scroll, Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend, Demons, Cemetery Man, Silence of the Lambs and The Beyond.