Lord of Illusions (1995)

“Lord of Illusions” is perhaps one of the most stylish, beautiful horror movies I’ve ever seen. If I could have listed my top ten favorites instead of only seven, this would have been there. It’s dark, elegant, engaging, and totally Barker. This is the fourth and final film that Barker directed and it’s his finest moment as a film maker in my opinion. The mood and pacing is perfect, the cast is made up of strong known actors, the plot is eerie and feels true to Barker’s style, and the special effects are just right. Part film noir and part horror, "Lord of Illusions" is the perfect movie to watch over and over again.

There is a devoted cult who is following the “Puritan” named Nix out in the desert (a natural place for a cult of course!). Nix has a student named Swann, the only one from the cult who can perform real magic like himself. Unfortunately Swann doesn’t have dreams of godhood like Nix and betrays him with three other former followers when they learn that Nix is going to sacrifice a young girl. They save the girl and kill Nix, binding his soul within his body and burying him deep in the ground. Nix’s assistant Butterfield is able to get away but plans for the future…

13 years later private detective Harry D’Amour, who has a habit of working on cases that involve the occult, stumbles across the murder of one of Swann’s conspirators at the hands of Butterfield and a bald man. After seeing a new article about the murder and a picture of D’Amour, Swann’s wife hires him to find out if the Puritan and his cult were behind the murder and if her husband, now a famous illusionist is in trouble. D’Amour takes the job and learns the difference between illusions and real magic.

As I mentioned, the cast of "Lord of Illusions" is quite impressive. Scott Bakula stars as Harry D'Amour, Kevin J. O'Connoras Swann, and Famke Janssen as Dorothea. Besides being strong actors, each one was perfect for their role in this film. 

Favorite moment – I love how Nix is bound; heavy black pieces of forged iron with screws that turn by themselves when blood is applied. It’s medieval and gnarly. 

Author's Note - Clive Barker

Clive Barker is one of the horror industry’s most recognizable names in the world today. First and foremost, Barker is a prolific writer, having completed several collections of short stories and dozens of novels. He is also passionate about painting and his drawings, sketching out and visually creating the worlds and characters that he is writing about. But Barker is perhaps best known for directing two movies that introduced the world to his creations Pinhead and the Candyman, two devilish beings that come directly from his writing. Even though he has been involved in over a dozen major movies, he has only directed three of them;”Hellraiser”, “Candyman”, and “The Lord of Illusions”.

I am truly delighted to be reviewing the work of one of my favorite horror director/writers of all time, Clive Barker. I began to read his work when I was 16 and found that I could not get enough of it. Over the years I’ve the majority of his work and even had the privilege to meet him at a book signing for his book “Sacrament”. One of the aspects about his work that I really enjoy is how he melds horror and fantasy together and how he isn’t afraid to deal with the metaphysical and intangible. His work goes beyond “Hellraiser” or “Candyman”, so I understand how some people who love those films are at times put off by his other less than outright horrific stories. Barker is a man with range and vision, an explorer who is untethered to everyday limits and boundaries.

I follow Clive on Facebook and he had the most insightful quotes. I love that he is so open and commutative with his fan base. Here are a few recent examples.

“Before I did Hellraiser, I went to my local library to find a book on film directing, and they had two but they were both checked out and I thought, "Oh, I'm so fucked, I don't even have a book!"

“Our lives are full of miraculous little things that happen. It's difficult to remember the miraculous moment when you first realize that you're in love, or the miraculous moment when you hear a piece of music for the first time, which moves you in an extraordinary way.”

“I want to be remembered as an imaginer, someone who used his imagination as a way to journey beyond the limits of self, beyond the limits of flesh and blood, beyond the limits of even perhaps life itself, in order to discover some sense of order in what appears to be a disordered universe. I'm using my imagination to find meaning, both for myself and, I hope, for you.”