This past weekend Meg and I watched In the Mouth of Madness by John Carpenter. We’re both big fans of his work: Meg more on the horror side with Halloween, Christine and others, and for myself anything he’s done with Kurt Russell (Big Trouble in Little China, Escape from New York, The Thing). There are still so many that we’ve never gotten around to watching, and because popular opinion stated that In the Mouth of Madness was actually a pretty decent “nightmarish” film, I thought it was about time we watch it.

The plot is a little complicated - Sam Neill (best known for playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park) is an insurance investigator who is tracking the disappearance of the most successful horror writer ever - Sutter Cane. He tracks the author to a fictional town from his horror novels and begins to see that the characters he has written about are actually real, and goes through traumatic experiences within the town.

In all honesty, I thought the film was scary. Although I’m a big suck when it comes to horror films, I still think that Carpenter was able to create a successful film that really captured that anticipatory horror/suspense feeling that a lot of people look for.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, I really recommend it. Sam Neill does a fantastic job and the plot is engrossing - even I enjoyed it. Unfortunately it seems to be unavailable anywhere you look for it. DVD copies are no longer being made, but if you’re really interested in seeing it, I’m sure there are other means of finding it.