Blu-ray Review: IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS Foams With Glory

Scream Factory's love affair with John Carpenter continues with this Blu-ray relase of In the Mouth of Madness. If you're a Carpenter fan of any kind, this one is an essential addition to your collection. The film has never looked or sounded so amazing, thanks to the new 4K scan and the 5.1 sound track.

Sam Neill (Jurassic Park, Dead Calm, Daybreakers) stars as John Trent, an insurance investigator who loves to catch people in the act of fraud. Here, he's tasked with finding a publishing company's bestselling horror author --- Sutter Cane --- who's disappeared, along with his latest manuscript and the hottest commodity seemingly anywhere. 

The publisher (Charlton Heston in an odd role) sends Cane's editor Linda Styles (Julie Carmen --- Fright Night Part 2, Gloria) along on their recon mission to find the mysterious author, played by Jürgen Prochnow (Das Boot, The Seventh Sign, Dune), a perfect casting.

Styles and Trent find themselves in Hobb's End, New Hampshire, a fictional or lost town in Cane's books. They're not quite sure how they found the place, but the supernatural is hard at work in delivering them where they need to be.

Since this is a horror movie heavily influenced by the work of H.P. Lovecraft, nothing is as it seems and there are plenty of deformed townspeople and tentactles on display. Some false awakenings in dream sequences lend to the percolating madness bubbling up within Trent and society at large. Cane's books become reality, and that means a free-for-all land for monsters and madness.

It's really great fun, and this release of In the Mouth of Madness has my highest recommendation. The special features are great, too; FX rockstar Greg Nicotero and Julie Carmen give new interviews, and watching the film with the commentary from Carpenter and producer/wife Sandy King Carpenter is like sitting down with your parents, if only your parents made horror films. There's a funny story about a location guy quitting because Carpenter found that amazing black church you see in the film, and wanted that location instead of whichever ordinary church the guy proposed.

In the Mouth of Madness is out on July 24 here in North America. Check out the trailer and order your copy over at Scream Factory here. They've made some clips from the film available, and so I've posted one below. Hopefully, you've seen this fantastic film, but if you haven't, grabbing this release is the absolute best way to rectify that.

Bonus Features

• NEW 4K Scan Of The Original Film Elements
• NEW Audio Commentary With Director John Carpenter And Producer Sandy King Carpenter 
• NEW Horror’s Hallowed Grounds – A Look At The Film’s Locations Today
• NEW The Whisperer Of The Dark – An Interview With Actress Julie Carmen
• NEW Greg Nicotero’s Things In The Basement – A New Interview With Special Effects Artist Greg Nicotero Including Behind The Scenes Footage
• NEW Home Movies From Hobb’s End – Behind The Scenes Footage From Greg Nicotero
• Audio Commentary With Director John Carpenter And Cinematographer Gary B. Kibbe
• Vintage Featurette – The Making Of In The Mouth Of Madness
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots