Lord of Illusions (1995) Movie Review
Written by: ML
Edited by: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Clive Barker
Producers: Clive Barker, Steve Golin, Joanne Sellar, Sigurjón Sighvatsson
Writers: Clive Barker
Date Released: August 25, 1995
Cast:
Scott Bakula as Harry D’Amour
Kevin J. O’Connor as Philip Swann
Famke Janssen as Dorothea Swann
Daniel von Bargen as William Nix
Vincent Schiavelli as Vinovich
Barry Del Sherman as Butterfield
Sheila Tousey as Jennifer Desiderio
Joel Swetow as Valentin
Joseph Latimore as Caspar Quaid
Rating = 3/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
The story is about an illusionist protégé named Swann who went back to the cult hideout to rescue a young girl from getting sacrificed by an evil magician named Nix. Nix was killed but 13 years later, his loyal cult member avenged him. With the accidental discovery and involvement with a death, detective Harry D’Amour became engrossed in solving the mystery with Swann’s wife, the kid from 13 years ago. Nix was brought back to life and it is up to D’Amour to help bring this evil magician to hell.
Gore Factor
There were a lot of blood and weird gore in this movie. The most notable ones include the way the evil cult leader inserts his fingers through the side of the head of his victims, the cult members inflicting pain, the cult leader’s resurrection sequence, the throbbing hole in his forehead, the squirming creatures that came out of his body, and Swann’s skeleton transformation, among other bloody deaths.
The Grave Review
This story from Clive Barker is very promising. It’s a combination of detective mysteries and the occult. Too bad, it did not have any follow-up movies.
Even so, all the actors were good. Even the cult members were effective in showing creepiness in their actions.
To match the tension, there were several jump scares in the movie involving the sudden appearances of killers. Though these were not scary, the unexpected jumps can jolt the viewers. The prosthetics were also good, especially the burn victims, the bald cult members, and Nix’s transformation in the end.
The only problem was the lack of backstory especially about the falling out of Nix and Swann in the very beginning, and where Dorothea came from before she was taken captive. Some effects were also lame including the fire chase scene in the mansion where the ghost becomes weird shapes. It would also be interesting if the Magic Castle’s involvement was discussed.
Nevertheless, the ending was good in the sense that it seemed never ending. The involvement of illusion was tricky enough to think that the villain was already dead after the gunshot. Swann turning into a skeleton is an indication that the evil is truly dead and gone.
Overall, this movie is recommended if you are into mystery and magic.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Lord of Illusions (1995) three out of five graves.
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