Lord of Illusions

From the imaginative and twisted mind of Clive Barker comes another surreal tale of good versus evil - and this time also directed by Barker.

Scott Bakula stars as a detective Harry D'Amour, who is sent to Los Angeles to catch a guy commit insurance fraud. However, this simple mission is about to plunge him into the depths of hell - literally! Soon after arriving in Los Angeles he finds himself on the run from crazed people destined to kill him. As he investigates, he gets drawn deeper to the Dark Side, where evil awaits him.

Years ago the magician Nix was a sect leader and called himself the Puritan, who abducted a young girl to be tortured. One of his disciples and fellow magician, Swann, and a handful of people saved the girl and brought an end to Nix's rule. The girl is now Swann's wife, Dorothea, who hires Harry to investigate a tragic accident during one of Swann's magic shows.

Essentially a fantasy horror, 'Lord of Illusions' also serves as an interesting mystery thriller. The film has a great production design, with excellent visuals and make-up. Scott Bakula is in perfect shape, and dishes up enough eye candy for his fans. Thankfully Barker uses every excuse to show off Bakula's great physique. I enjoyed Famke Janssen as Dorothea, who also serves as the love interest.

'Lord of Illusions' is a great blend of action, adventure, horror and mystery, with a good climax. This is one of my all-time favourite horror movies.

Clive Barker, the writer and director, has not made one regrettable step in his career. Lord of Illusions is a phenominal film unlike anything ever seen. Barker is, without fail, the only truely original and visionary man working in an otherwise lackluster industry. His films are bold, original, breathtaking and oddly quite beautiful. Lord of Illusions does not disappoint. The slithering plot is engaging, dramatic, frightening and indeed morbid spinning a tale of a detective who has a lingering tie to the darkside. This is an adult nightmare and is not intended for younger audiances at all. It is intelligent, opulant, impressive and twisted. Georgeous and repulsive at the same time. Though Hellraiser and Nightbreed are wonderful in and of themselves, it is Lord of Illusions that is Clive's masterwork... that is until Tortured Souls comes out.

Legendary Clive Barker skillfully combines the elements of detective story and horror into a mystery thriller that, although of mediocre quality, remains carved into memory. This is not a typical horror that will upset your stomach and raise the hair on your head, nor a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, but a dark adventure that leaves an impression similar to reading Barker's books. The relatively well-known cast gives quite believable performances and there's just enough amount of demonic and gore scenes not to disappoint horror fans. I am satisfied.

7/10

If you liked the first two films of the series "Hellraiser" and appraised "Nightbreed",you will have a thankful surprise with 1995's "The Lord of Illusions", the last film that Barker directed ( he is currently re-writing his story "The Thief Of Always" for the screen), and that carries his characteristics and basic ideas. The film is morbid, violent and very frightening as well as "Hellraise" was, back in the eighties.It explores delicate themes as mysticism, demons and sects. One of the great qualities of Barker's last project is to dare, telling a tense and complex story in an imaginative and bloody way. The homosexual context of the work is evident, Clive Barker once again tried to join the concepts of pain, fear, horror, pleasure and meat, but he didn't obtain an excellent result as he achieved in "Hellraiser" . However, "The Lord of Illusions" is a more sophisticated film, with a tuned cast, formed by Scott Bakula and Famke Jansem,just to mention a few,and with an above-the-average production. The atmosphere, and the scenery, in this English movie-maker's filmography, is quite significant element, if in "Hellraiser" the atmosphere was dark and sordid, "The Lord of Illusions" is punctuated by clear, stunning and luminous sceneries, exalting the whole magic and madness' aspects. The story is very intricate, and it involves a rich and famous magician who sold his soul for the devil and who is now sorry, his temptress and reluctant wife and an ambitious detective who will find himself a prisoner in a tissue of murders, strange creatures and homosexuality.So, if you like Clive Barker's ideas, watch this film today!! "The Lord of Illusions" is rated R for strong violence, gore, language and sexuality and it runs 108 minutes.

Alright, so maybe this wasn't a great adaption of his short story, the Last Illusion, but it was one hell of a ride. The special effects aren't overdone, the acting was up to par, and the direction was marvelous. This movie is so gritty, its tone is perfect. Bakula may have been a bit too emotionless in a scene or two, but overall he was wonderful as the detective who gets caught up in the trickery, and the evil. There is also one or two funny moments, very very well placed. Of course, to fully appreciate the movie, you must watch the directors cut, with a couple extra scenes, that actually add a lot to the plotline, and the surreality of it all. Great stuff Clive!