One of my favorite movies, the one that I can watch over a 1000 times and then 1000 more without ever getting bored by it, the one I don’t tell people about unless they are in my circle of trust, the one I just love despite knowing that its heavily flawed and quite possibly bad as hell.
I have quite many of those guilty pleasures. In the Mouth of Madness (1994, John Carpenter) is amongst the top ones. I started watching this film when I was 13 years old, and now 15 years later, I still watch it on a regular basis. It’s heavily influenced by H.P. Lovecraft stories and the celebrity persona of Stephen King. It’s about things that are so horrible that tey cannot be described or shown, because if you ever see them.. it will drive you mad.
That’s just the kind of stuff a horror fanboy loves. Throw in a little H.P. Lovecraft obsession and a dash of John Carpenter enthusiasm in there and you got yourself a perfect example of a guilty pleasure.
I can in no way review this film in a non bias manner. My reasons for loving it are in no means logical – they are very personal. The themes touch my inner child and make me giggle, simple as that. I know its a very flawed movie, but I don’t think it’s bad at all. I actually think in many ways it contains some of the best scenes and ideas that John Carpenter has put on film. It is flawed, but I love its flaws. Those over-the-top moments, that subtle plot hole that screams at you… these flaws make the movie great… and indeed it makes me a pervert in the cinematic sense.
In the Mouth of Madness trailer on youtube.
