Lord of Illusions

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John C I'm a big fan of Clive Barker's 'Hellraiser' series (and even the not so well respected 'Nightbreed'), so I was only too happy to check out 'Lord of Illusions.' And, pretty much from the off, you can tell it's got Barker's fingerprints all over it. If it was made today you'd probably be forgiven for thinking that there's some sort of 'Marvel-esque' shared universe of Barker films and 'Lord of Illusions' is happening roughly at the same time as 'Hellraiser.' Sadly, it's not as good. It's about... er, well, it took me a while to work out exactly what it was about. And that's one of the drawbacks - its lack of focus. You think you have a pretty normal set-up, i.e. a private investigator (Scott Bakula) looks into a case which involves, er, stuff. Yeah, by the time the film got going I kind of forgot how our protagonist got involved. There's someone practicing 'dark arts' kind of stuff and he's the antagonist. Or is he? There's a fake-out and another 'proper' threat that has to be dealt with before the credits roll and the overall feeling of the film is that it's a bit all over the place (a criticism also leveled at 'Nightbreed,' but I wasn't bothered with that!). In short... I wasn't really enjoying it. Although the practical make-up effects are good and, if you're into your Clive Barker movies, then you'll be expecting some pretty gory stuff. This doesn't disappoint. However, as much as it's all over the place, the final act was actually pretty entertaining. There's action, tension, good gore and a general feeling of a conclusion. Because of the ending I couldn't totally feel that I wasted my time with this film. If only the pace of the ending could have been maintained throughout the whole story this may well be up there with Pinhead's exploits. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 04/30/25 Full Review Jay H Of the three feature films directed by Clive Barker, this one is my favorite. I highly recommend the Director's Cut. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/22/24 Full Review James B While lord of illusions is faithful to the short story the last illusion it is unfortunately let down by bad CGI which is a shame because this is a great movie with awesome characters and it definitely one that I will be rewatching quite a few times. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/19/24 Full Review Dallas H Clive Barker has a distinct way of showing graphic violence in his horror movies. This one is no different. However, the visual effects that are more CGI-based than practically designed appear to be extremely dated. I wish it were all matted visuals or practical effects to give them a more tangible element. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/23/24 Full Review Alec B An enjoyable supernatural Noir. Whenever the characters or plot start to get dull, there's usually some striking imagery to distract you. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/09/24 Full Review sally b all style no substance, it really felt like a bunch of random disjointed ideas the director thought would look cool but without any real narrative purpose or connective tissue to make any of the scenes much more than shock factor. Some of the shots were genuinely cool looking, but the storytelling fell short. The dialogue was unimpressive and often felt very stilted and artificial. It almost feels like a story cobbled together from the doodles one would find in the margins of a bored hormone addled highschool aged boy's notebook in a way that makes me feel like I can see the director through the film like the organs of a glass frog in the least flattering way possible. There were also tons of tits for no reason! But hey! Some of the imagery was actually sick as hell it's just a shame it wasn't used with more intention. Worth watching for inspiration if you're someone who likes picking movies apart to analyze what works and what doesn't. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/28/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Lord of Illusions

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