Customer Reviews

Lord of Illusions (Unrated Director's Cut)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Private detective Harry D'Amour (Bakula) who is unwillingly drawn to the supernatural travels to LA to investigate an insurance fraud, but finds himself battling an evil cult leader in the Mojave desert after he gets involved with the death of a stage "illusionist". Barker's most ambitious and engaging film to date (based on his short story "The Last Illusion"). Well photographed and a masterful music score, let down by an over-long script and uneven plotting. Barker's attempted horror/detective film noir blend is far too shaky at times. Still, a winner well above genre standards. Be sure to stear clear of the shorter "theatrical cut".

MGM is not known for their great DVD releases but they did a good job with this one. I was not a big fan of the movie when it came out in the theatre. I thought I would give the directors cut a try. The movie is a bit cheesy and I didn't buy Scott as a grizzled detective. The uncut version adds to the story and character development but it's a tad long and I lost interest towards the end of the film. Picture quality is uneven switching between grainy and crystal clear through the whole movie. Sound is awesome though and the disc has some good extras. If you liked the original movie buy it, if you didn't then this version won't change your mind.

This DVD will blow you away. You get the director's cut, almost a half hour of scenes the ratings board would not let into the movie, brilliant commentary through the entire film from Clive Barker himself, deleted scenes, and a great widescreen presentation of a movie that's right up there with all the Hellraiser stuff.

I usually make comments only on the features within a DVD, but this one is a great detective/horror story which Barker explains in the commentary, and it's never been done before. Killer plot, great special effects, some parts to give you nightmares when you're unconscious, and a must collectible for any Barker fanatic.

Don't miss out on this one!

5 STAR RATING FROM SCRAGGY'S TOMB OF HORROR DVD'S, USA.

Clive Barker is a genius, but Lord of Illusions just doesn't work for me. You have this guy Nix who calls himself The Prophet; he can do all kinds of real magic, yet he seems to be content in assembling a handful of incompetent cultists in the middle of nowhere, kidnapping a young girl, and juggling fire. He walks around in a T-shirt woefully incapable of covering his huge beer-belly, so it's hard to take him that seriously. Just as we're getting to know the guy, his former disciple Swann and three other escaped cultists swoop in and manage to bind him, after which they bury him deep in the ground so no one will ever find him. Now we jump ahead thirteen years. The kidnapped girl is married to Swann, and both begin to worry when a member of the Nix vanquishing party is killed, sensing that someone is trying to bring The Prophet back. Here's where private detective Harry D'Amour steps in, stumbling his way around the major events (and deaths) that have to do with Nix's "death" and imminent return. His detective skills and the magical abilities of Swann aren't enough to keep The Prophet in his grave, and the movie ends up coming full circle back to its beginning, featuring a final showdown between Swann and Nix.

Personally, I think Scott Bakula was a bad choice to play D'Amour; he is just not the hard-nosed private detective type, and his character's lack of any real identity or personality makes him seem an illusion of sorts himself (despite the fact he is supposed to be the protagonist). The romantic link that develops between D'Amour and Dorothea Swann (Famke Janssen) is simply lifeless. The clues he finds along the way basically fall into his lap, and I am hard pressed to explain how he figured out where to go and whom to talk to about a subject he knew very little about early on. This serves to highlight the fact that the script just isn't very good, even though Clive Barker himself wrote it. There is very little character development, several discoveries and arbitrary actions are presented without explanation, and there are plot holes each step along the way. You would think that a movie called Lord of Illusions would actually feature some impressive illusions-you'd think so, but you would be wrong. This is most unfortunate because I think the concluding special effects were meant to offset the weakness of the plot. Many of the special effects were patently fake and highly disappointing. It's hard for a movie to succeed with a combination of bad casting, bad plot, and bad effects. At the end, you may well be asking yourself what this movie was really about.

Based on his short story "The Last Illusion", Clive Barker helmed this adaption entitled Lord of Illusions, and offers up a good amount of shocks, scares, gore, and a near excellent plot; a combination that made one of Barker's previous films, the original and classic Hellraiser, such a great horror film. Scott Bakula (TV's Quantum Leap, now he's famous for TV's Enterprise) stars as private detective Harry D'amour, and he gets involved with a bizarre case involving a magician (Kevin J. O'Connor) who years before had killed prophet and mentor Nix (played to perfection by Daniel Von Bargen). However, Nix has seemingly been resurrected, and he and his followers have plans on the destruction of the world. Just about everything about Lord of Illusions is great: the visual effects and Barker's direction and storytelling are great, but there are some plot holes and now and then some crummy acting (courtesy of the beautiful Famke Janssen), but for the most part Lord of Illusions is a great horror film from one of the great masters of horror. The film has gained quite a cult following over the years, and MGM realized this and packed the DVD with some great extras including a commentary by Barker, an isolated music score (most of the music is absolutely creepy and sets a perfect tone), and some never before seen scenes as well.