Lord of Illusions (1995)
MGM DVD (region 1)
d. Clive Barker; pr. Clive Barker, Steve Golin, JoAnne Sellar, Sigurjon Sighvatsson; scr. Clive Barker; ph. Ronn Schmidt; m. Simon Boswell; ed. Alan Baumgarten; cast. Scott Bakula, Daniel Von Bargen, Kevin J. O'Connor, Famke Janssen, Vincent Schiavelli (120 mins)
British author Clive Barker was heralded as the horror genre’s successor to Stephen King.
Indeed, many of the films made from Barker’s work possess a lean dedication absent from many of King’s more ill-fated adaptations. Also, Barker has made the transition to the film director’s chair with considerably more visionary self-consciousness than found in King’s own direct contributions to the screen. That is not to berate Stephen King, merely to suggest that Barker approaches the genre on film with more studied and earnest complexity and that the results are often more intense and disturbing. Indeed, Barker’s directorial debut on Hellraiser made it one of the horror genre’s finest achievements and introduced audiences to what is the author’s obsession with the spiritual and supernatural ramifications of the resurrection myth in contemporary culture. Sadly, Barker has never matched the lean intensity of his debut and after the befuddled Nightbreed made the uneven Lord of Illusions, inspired by a recurring character, a sort-of detective of the supernatural, in his written work. He also attempted a rare combination of genres, the Grand Guignol inspired visceral horror movie and the brooding, fatalistic film noir, a balance that had been previously essayed to extraordinary effect by Alan Parker in Angel Heart. For genre enthusiasts, Barker’s return to the screen was one of the highlights of the decade, although many were let down when the film was cut partly in order to simplify what preview audiences had apparently found too complex.
The film begins in a remote desert, with a strange religious sect preparing for a hellish ritual.
Soon a team of people arrive, led by Kevin J. O’Connor, there to rescue a kidnapped child and kill the sect leader (Daniel Von Bargen). Soon, the leader is killed and buried, although one sexually ambiguous cult member vows revenge. Some time later, Scott Bakula (in the role designed to make the Quantum Leap star’s transition from television to features) is a weary New York detective with a feel for the supernatural. He has just wrapped an exorcism case and travels to Los Angeles for what he hopes will be a more conventional assignment. There, however, he soon becomes involved in a strange murder, which leads him to a noted illusionist, O’Connor, and a romantic interest in the illusionist’s wife, Famke Janssen. Bakula soon learns of O’Connor’s bizarre involvement in the religious cult and that he may be linked to murder. Hired to find out what is happening, Bakula witnesses a magic act gone badly wrong which leaves him open to Janssen’s charms. As he researches more about O’Connor’s involvement in magic and illusionism, he discovers that the religious cult is preparing for the return of the murdered sect leader. When Bakula discovers the plot to resurrect Von Bargen, who would now have almost demagogue-ish powers, he seeks to put an end to the supernatural threat. Once again, the search leads back to the original site of conflict in the desert where the cult has fully assembled once again for the return of their beloved leader.
Although the film is primarily concerned with the horror of the Christian resurrection myth (or fact depending upon one’s outlook) it also manages to be a frightening look at what it considers the difference between magic and illusion.
Where illusion is a trick, an appearance of magic, actual magic is something far more sinister, a connection with another realm that in typical Barker fashion opens a perceptual gateway. The discernment of this realm is through a hallucinatory kind of psychotic insight that can transcend at least the first death as it is considered in Christianity. Indeed, time and again in Barker’s films is there this examination of Biblical ideas concerning the first death as entrance into another spiritual realm and the second death as the real horror of oblivion and obliteration. The collision of two realms results in an ability in uniquely attuned individuals to usurp the powers of one dimension for use in another. However, when illusionism becomes magic, it results in a perceptual instability wherein such psychotic vision forces the other realm into being: in this film, hallucination is both a frightful and a transcendent entry into this dimension. In this theme, Barker takes to task the persistent link between surreal horror and psychotic experience that runs throughout the history of this often despised genre. Thus, the film arrives at its ultimate theme – of what it is like to have the power to change what you, and others, can see and if this power can literally transform the world into another place.
Barker is thus more concerned with the surreality of horror than Stephen King for instance and as a result, his film is heavily imagistic. It is also rife with a kind of religious questing, of the sort that fears the thin line between divinity and trickery as one character in the film is wont to put it.
Yet what remains intriguing is that what is considered psychosis, illusion or hallucination is a more accurate perception of a hidden spiritual realm in all its horrifying complexity. Indeed, in its plot of a resurrected cult leader, the film functions as a bizarre Christ allegory, almost inverting the Christian myth to expose the truly monstrous underside behind the very notion of transcending death. Such is the unanswerable paradox for Barker – the obsessional desire to transcend death but finding only a monstrous and horrifying world beyond it. To physically reconstitute oneself is an act of monstrous aberration to Barker and he is an expert at conveying the repugnance that underlies this form of transcendence. In its way thus, the film is arguably an attack on the foundation of Christianity. It is the desire of man to be God and to transform reality through perception that impels one to the desire to transcend death and yet beyond this barrier is the loss of humanity. Religion is arguably the ultimate illusion, hiding a far deeper spiritual malevolence.
DVD DETAILS:
Vision
The visual transfer on this Unrated Director’s Cut DVD is quite effective at preserving Barker’s often visionary approach and his subtle evocation of cinema as an alternate means of perception and thus another illusion. Expressionist color and shadow use abounds, making for a dynamic visual style that descends into the bizarre and grotesque with a true passion for morbid and shocking imagery. Although there is a slight murkiness to the background clarity in this transfer, its bold design is preserved, especially in the contrast between stylized set-pieces and a surrounding sunny California naturalism: again as if two worlds were colliding (the real and the cinematic illusion if one sees the self-reflexive context here). The mix of horror and film noir is also most capably handled, the shadows common to both genres making for a sense of increasing malevolence. Indeed, the key visual design stresses, as indeed is usual for Barker, the blending of two realms or two modes of perceptions, one of which is disturbingly hallucinatory. Yet Barker is driven to find what might philosophically be called the inner truth behind so-called hallucination and it is this that impels the film. That the world of magic is inherently evil seems a given to Barker who also makes sly menace out of a sexually ambiguous character and uses the desert settings for other-worldly effects. The repugnant graphic horror of physical resurrection is conveyed in unflinching, fascinating detail as the unnatural essence of religious horror. Likewise, the final scenes approach a sense of surreal chaos.
Sound
The sound transfer on this DVD is available in a gripping 5.1 surround mix and is absolutely crisp for the most part. From the beginning, it establishes a sense of pain and torment through an unnerving score and the directional distribution of diegetic sounds. Unusual noises abound and there is both a love of cacophony as well as a disciplined treatment of the way in which chaos gradually subsides to “safe” levels before erupting once more – again this helps modulate the sense of reality segueing into another perceptual realm. Often, ominous silences are broken by an abrupt, jarring score. Yet all the while, realistic details come back to anchor the film at least in part in an everyday reality until it is again disturbed by odd noises and a mounting, barely repressed cacophony. The impossible suppression of chaos thus becomes a motif in this sound mix. Religious music is also used for most ironic effect, signaling Barker’s intent to test the limits of faith. Just as the dialogue constantly refers to the distinction between reality and illusion as well as magic, the visual design intends to convey the blending of such perceptual realms (but is arguably only partly successful). Voices seem weary and always pained and the sly distortion of sounds suggests a mounting hallucinatory quality, which peaks in the surreal visuals of the main set-pieces. There are ultimately no stable re-assurances in this film of any longevity, as the perception of so-called reality is revealed to be precarious. This sense of aural unease is perfectly rendered in the directional possibilities offered by home theatre, wherein it is a powerful experience, ideal for a thoughtful and ambitious, if flawed, horror film.
Special Features
There are numerous special features including a theatrical trailer, an isolated music track and several deleted scenes with optional director’s commentary (explaining in part why they were removed even from the restored director’s cut as present on this DVD). Of main interest is the audio commentary track by writer-director Clive Barker. In it he talks of the importance of distinguishing magic and illusion, and of his intent to disturb the viewer through deliberately shocking imagery. He admits his subject is death and illusion and of his desire to use effects to create a hallucinatory sense of delirium. He talks of his fondness for the character played by Bakula (whom he considers a troubled everyman), his disappointment when the MPAA ratings board insisted that the film be cut and is quite eloquent about what he considers the important visceral bond between the horror movie and the horror movie viewer, with the horror movie as a uniquely surreal stimulus to the imagination. Mention is also made of his fondness for ambiguity and on the deliberate use of sunny California to counter expectations of a dark and brooding world. He also discusses his interest in film noir, detective stories and police procedural narratives and how this influenced his conception of the movie. He says that the theatrical cut of the film made it more of a horror movie whereas he hopes that the director’s cut restores both horror and detective story to equal prominence. He admits he finds the grotesque beauty in so-called repulsive imagery. Few people who work in the horror genre approach it with the reverence and intelligence of Barker, and this comes through in his commentary track.
