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In the Mouth of Madness

Play trailer Poster for In the Mouth of Madness R 1995 1h 35m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
61% Tomatometer 57 Reviews 73% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
When horror novelist Sutter Cane (Jürgen Prochnow) goes missing, insurance investigator John Trent (Sam Neill) scrutinizes the claim made by his publisher, Jackson Harglow (Charlton Heston), and endeavors to retrieve a yet-to-be-released manuscript and ascertain the writer's whereabouts. Accompanied by the novelist's editor, Linda Styles (Julie Carmen), and disturbed by nightmares from reading Cane's other novels, Trent makes an eerie nighttime trek to a supernatural town in New Hampshire.
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In the Mouth of Madness

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Critics Consensus

If it fails to make the most of its intriguing premise, In the Mouth of Madness remains a decent enough diversion for horror fans and John Carpenter completists.

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Critics Reviews

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Ryan Gilbey Independent (UK) Jul 16
John Carpenter makes a partial return to form with this eerie horror. Go to Full Review
Jake Cole Slant Magazine Oct 13
With 1994’s In the Mouth of Madness, John Carpenter again drew on cosmic horror traditions, like he did for The Thing and Prince of Darkness, but ramped up the metatextual vibes. Go to Full Review
Adrian Martin The Age (Australia) 03/02/2024
Carpenter's work with music and sound design has never been so radical and the film's set pieces are breathtakingly executed. Go to Full Review
Bryce Hanson Horror Movie Talk 6d
7/10
The idea takes center stage and isn’t handled preciously. It presents itself as a cool thing and lets the audience take a little ride without delving deep into the psychological or taking itself too seriously. Kind of like a Stephen King novel actually. Go to Full Review
Dennis Harvey 48 Hills Jul 15
It’s a movie with more promising (if borrowed) ideas than it can comfortably develop in 95 minutes, on probably a tighter budget than would have been ideal. Still, Carpenter and his cast seem to be enjoying themselves, and the viewer will too. Go to Full Review
John Scalzi Fresno Bee Jun 9
B-
Carpenter's directorial panache makes the material seem fresh, even when it's not. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Tim M @tgmacman 3d While its literary inspirations make for some memorable visuals, In the Mouth of Madness and its scary story is hardly a page-turner. See more Max M @Househuntermax 5d I remember seeing this in the theater and not liking it. Just watched it again and still don’t like it. It just didn’t seem too scary or compelling to me. It’s popular so you might wanna check it out, but my personal recommendation is skip it. See more Jay A @PistolPackingPresley Jul 21 It just didn't keep my steady attention. Movie was just to all over the place. See more Jonathan O @RT41230270 Jun 18 It not be the best John Carpenter's trilogy of apocalypse but the ending is a great twist of horror movie and what really surprisingly little Anakin Skywalker is in the this scene as a paperboy. See more Christian K @ckacar May 25 The ending does a great job re-contextualizing the entire film, particularly Sam Neil's insane roller coaster of a performance. See more Wayne K @RT88290232 Apr 30 The concluding episode of John Carpenters ‘Apocalypse Trilogy’, made when the legendary director’s career was very much on the downslide, the glory days of Halloween and The Thing firmly in the rear-view mirror. It’s a fun film, albeit an inconsistent one, with a commanding central performance from Sam Neill who gives it his all while struggling with a muddled screenplay. It’s hard to buy a lot of what’s happening because the film makes it so obvious that its not, despite its whole ‘fantasy becoming reality’ concept. The ambitions of the special effects far outstrip the budget, looking very 90s in the worst way. It’s similar to Prince Of Darkness in a lot of ways, lacking much of the tension and horror that made Carpenter great but with a compelling bizarre appeal. It’s an enjoyable film for sure, but you’ll miss nothing by skipping it. See more Read all reviews
In the Mouth of Madness

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Movie Info

Synopsis When horror novelist Sutter Cane (Jürgen Prochnow) goes missing, insurance investigator John Trent (Sam Neill) scrutinizes the claim made by his publisher, Jackson Harglow (Charlton Heston), and endeavors to retrieve a yet-to-be-released manuscript and ascertain the writer's whereabouts. Accompanied by the novelist's editor, Linda Styles (Julie Carmen), and disturbed by nightmares from reading Cane's other novels, Trent makes an eerie nighttime trek to a supernatural town in New Hampshire.
Director
John Carpenter
Producer
Sandy King
Screenwriter
Michael De Luca
Distributor
New Line Home Video [us], New Line Cinema
Production Co
New Line Cinema
Rating
R
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 3, 1995, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA)
$8.9M
Runtime
1h 35m
Sound Mix
Surround, Stereo