In the Mouth of Madness – 4K UHD

Summary

“Do you read Sutter Cane?”

A few years ago, Shout! Factory released an excellent Blu-ray release of John Carpenter’s 1994 horror film In the Mouth of Madness. I had not seen the film despite my adoration for numerous Carpenter films until Shout!’s release, and I was taken with the film from my first viewing. That said, over the years, I have returned to the picture a number of times due to its unique atmosphere and plot. Over the years, it has risen in my rankings of John Carpenter’s pictures to become one of my favorite films from the iconic director. It makes good sense that Arrow Video would choose to bring the film to 4K UHD just in time for Halloween. The film is perfect for watching in October. When my 4K disc arrived, I was more than happy to revisit the town of Hobb’s End.

As the film begins, John Trent (Sam Neill) is forcibly committed into an asylum. He requests a single black crayon. When one of the doctors on staff (David Warner) visits his room, John has covered himself and the room in scribblings of puzzle pieces, crosses, and other markings. The doctor asks John to tell his story of how he arrived in the asylum. Trent explains that he wasn’t always suffering from nightmares and visions. He was a successful insurance investigator. The story flashes back to show John working on a case where a man was attempting insurance fraud. He proves that the man had burned his own property to make a claim. This impresses Robinson (Bernie Casey) who has his own insurance business. He offers John a job to track down the well known horror novelist named Sutter Cane (Jurgen Prochnow.) As he is discussing the job with Robinson over a cup of coffee, a crazed man with an axe walks from across the street and smashes out the window to the shop. He looks at John and asks, “Do you read Sutter Cane?” As the man lifts his axe, he is shot to death by policemen from behind. At home, John watches the news. Sutter Cane fans are rioting at book stores over too few copies of his latest novel being on the shelves. Sutter Cane’s novels are having a bizarre effect on their readers. John meets with Sutter Cane’s publisher Jackson Harglow (Charlton Heston) as he begins to investigate Cane’s disappearance. After talking to Cane’s editor Linda Styles (Julie Carmen) John begins to read Cane’s novels. He discovers a link between the novels’ covers that forms a map. When overlaid with the outline of Massachusetts, John believes he has found where Cane will be hiding. Using the map he takes Linda with him to Hobb’s End, a town that exists in Cane’s novels but does not seem to exist on any traditional map. Inside the town they encounter strange occurrences that may be directly tied to Cane’s fiction.

The script penned by Michael De Luca is one of the stronger entries in Carpenter’s oeuvre. De Luca had worked as the president of production at New Line Cinema when he produced his script. His script that pays homage to H.P. Lovecraft’s fiction has a few moments of underwritten dialogue but overwhelmingly has inspired moments of strange occurrences for the characters to experience. In the Mouth of Madness is memorable because of the setting and atmosphere of the fictional town of Hobb’s End, Massachusetts. It is a fantastic setting that will linger in the mind of the viewer. De Luca fills the town with interesting inhabitants, ominous locations, and bizarre events. There are a number of horror tropes that are thrown into the film – evil kids, Lovecraftian monsters, shapeshifting pictures, and more. It almost feels like a buffet of numerous horror ideas, but it works. I can see how Carpenter was drawn to the project and I am very glad that he helmed the picture. While this film is different from some of Carpenter’s films that he wrote himself, it has many of the enjoyable attributes of Carpenter’s best films that he didn’t pen. There is a sly sense of humor to the film at times and it never fails to be interesting for the duration of its run-time. While the picture is a love letter to H.P. Lovecraft, it also plays as a love letter to the other master of New England horror, Steven King. It is obvious that Sutter Cane is meant to be a stand-in for Stephen King, and the script has a few enjoyable jokes that point towards that.

The acting in the film is generally pretty strong. Sam Neill is enjoyable as the leading man of the film. He plays the role somewhat ham-fisted in a few scenes late in the picture, but I still really enjoyed his take on the character. Julie Carmen does solid work as Linda. Jürgen Prochnow is a great casting choice for Sutter Cane and plays his part well in the film. Despite only being on-screen a limited amount of time, he is extremely memorable. It was also fun to see Charlton Heston, David Warner, and John Glover in their smaller parts. The cinematography by Gary B. Kibbe, a frequent collaborator to Carpenter, serves the film well. Certain scenes in the film are really visually exciting. The production design by Jeff Ginn helps to bring the world of the picture to life. The film relies on some excellent practical effects and creature effects from Greg Nicotero and his team. I am so thankful that Carpenter didn’t use the CGI that would swarm the industry in the years following this film to create the vast majority of the effects in this film. It looks so much better because of the practical effects.

In the Mouth of Madness is one of my favorite John Carpenter films. It is a great later entry in the master director’s canon, and becomes even more enjoyable on repeat viewings. 

Video

Arrow Video have done a commendable job on their new 4K scan of the 35mm negative of In the Mouth of Madness with HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Grain is present, but that is to be expected with an Arrow 4K transfer. Color timing is true to the source and fine detail is improved from the prior Shout! Factory release. That said, the Shout! Factory Blu-ray release was also very well done, so the amount of improvement is not as substantial as with some of Arrow’s other recent 4K releases. For myself, I am beyond excited to have this film in as pristine a quality as we are likely to see for this film.

Audio

Arrow Video has provided the DTS-HD MA 5.1 track from Shout! Factory’s prior release. It will give your surround system a good workout. This track has excellent clarity but you better be prepared for a loud track. The score by John Carpenter and Jim Lang adds a lot to this film. Fans are going to love how good this sounds. Arrow has also provided a stereo 2.0 audio option for purists, which is a nice inclusion. The 5.1 track wins my clear recommendation.

Supplements:

New Supplements:

• Making Madness, with producer Sandy King Carpenter – this is an excellent in-depth interview. She discusses her early start working on Roger Corman productions, her job in the script/continuity department, and her long collaboration (and marriage) with her husband John Carpenter. She also dives into the production of In the Mouth of Madness. Definitely check out this feature.
• Do You Read Sutter Cane?, with actor Jürgen Prochnow – this brief but enjoyable interview finds the actor happily looking back on his experience working for John Carpenter and his overall satisfaction with the film overall.
• We Are What He Writes – this featurette is divided into three sections hosted by three critics.  Part I – Madness for Mass Consumption hosted by Camille Zaurin, Part II – Not the Carpenters Too! hosted by Tom Rutter, and Part III – God Shouldn’t Be a Hack Horror Writer hosted by George Lea.
• Reality Is Not What It Used To Be – film scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas always has an interesting point of view, and this piece focuses on cursed texts as a trope in films.
• New audio commentary with filmmakers Rebekah McKendry & Elric Kane, co-hosts of Colors of the Dark podcast

Ported over from Shout! Factory’s Blu-ray:

• Audio Commentary with Director John Carpenter and Producer Sandy King Carpenter – this  commentary track features Carpenter and his wife who produced the film. I love any tracks with Carpenter and enjoyed hearing his recollections twenty four years later.
• Audio Commentary with Director John Carpenter and Cinematographer Gary B. Kibbe – this archival commentary track was originally recorded for the 1995 LaserDisc. It was featured again on Warner’s 2013 Blu-ray. This is an extremely informative commentary on the techniques used in the film. The cinematographer and Carpenter give tons of great insight into how the film was made. Absolutely fantastic.
• The Whisperer of the Dark – Julie Carmen discusses working with John Carpenter, her fear of Jürgen during filming, her experiences on the film, and her general feeling about the world’s insanity today.
• Horror’s Hallowed Grounds – A Look at the Film’s Locations Today – Sean Clark does a good job of exploring the locations where they shot the film in Toronto.
• Greg Nicotero’s Things in the Basement: Monsters, Make-up, and Mayhem of In the Mouth of Madness – Greg Nicotero discusses the elaborate effects they produced for the film and his enjoyment he felt working on the project while behind-the-scenes footage is occasionally displayed. Really neat.
• Home Movies from Hobb’s End – some behind-the-Scenes footage taken by Nicotero of some of the effects.
• Vintage Featurette – The Making of In the Mouth of Madness – a short EPK for the film from 1995.
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.75/5

Audio – 4.75/5

Supplements – 5/5

Overall – 5/5

In the Mouth of Madness is a great later entry in Carpenter’s filmography. The characters and the world they inhabit are consistently engaging. The atmosphere and setting of the film has kept me revisiting it every year or two to revisit Hobb’s End. While the film is not perfect, it deserves a space on the shelf of any horror fan – especially fans of Lovecraft and Stephen King. This is one of Carpenter’s best later entries in his filmography, and it has grown in my estimation each year. Arrow Video has done a great job on their new 4K transfer and they have added a few new supplements on top of the wonderful features from the prior Shout! Factory release. Overall, this release earns our highest recommendation!