Lord of Illusions (1995)

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1. 

   Siskoid

   As Clive Barker's attempt at supernatural Noir, Lord of Illusions has some merit. The convoluted plot, Famke Janssen as a presumptive femme fatale, and his recurring noir detective Harry D'Amour as active observer are all part of the genre, and there's pleasant enough friction between it and the crazy horror stuff. I'm always up for multi-genre. If it doesn't quite work, it's more because Barker is trying to write a novel for the screen - I had the same feeling about Nightbreed - despite the fact that it was loosely based on one of his short stories. There's just TOO MUCH to absorb and not all of it pays off. D'Amour's back story about an exorcism tells us this world is at an odd angle from ours, but plays it as tabloid nonsense and practically pointless one-frame flashbacks. In retrospect, it was probably trying to push for a D'Amour franchise, but over time, you get lost in the details. You could say it's kind of like The Maltese Falcon or its parody The Big Lebowski, but the film-making craft isn't on the same level (except in terms of gore effects). Obviously, there's a lot of imagination on the screen, things you've never seen before, etc. When the third act kicks in, it REALLY kicks in, and one CG skeleton excepted, that's really where the film gets exciting, both in terms of story (which before was at best intriguing) and spectacle. I do unfortunately feel that Scott Bakula was miscast however. His D'Amour isn't edgy, damaged or mysterious enough to really engage the way he's meant to. 3 years 5 months ago
2. 

   shitmovies

   I couldn't quite articulate why this movie fell short for me as it contains some great elements, but Siskoid nailed it. Too much lore with no payoff and a diluted protagonist. 1 year 6 months ago

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