Lord of Illusions RC1 DVD

Clive Barker made history in horror film-making in 1986, with the release of his debut film Hellraiser. Lord of Illusions tries to live up to the legend of its big brother by touching a very interesting subject: magic and the fact that it may be more than just an illusion portrayed by phony Las Vegas performers. However, a hole-invaded plot and some sins of excess end up crashing a wonderful idea, turning it into just another horror flick.

The films prologue, set 13 years before the main story, actually gets you hooked up right away. It sets the pace for this dark and insane background that we see the rest of the movie. The whole cult idea is a good example of the lack of spirituality and magic of modern life, and in this climate the character of Nix (brilliantly played by Von Burgen) comes up as an evil prophet who promises to cleanse the world by showing people the power of magic. Only his dearest disciple, a young man known as Swann, suspects his real intentions and rises up against him, binding him inside an magical iron mask. Nix returns 13 years later in search for vengeance, and detective Harry DAmour (a regular figure in Clive Barkers literary works) finds himself deep into the plot of magic, evil, and revenge.

From then on, the movies coherence suffers heavy losses. Barker tries to submerge the spectator in a surrealistic nightmare, but fails in delivering the real gusto that we acquired the first 10 minutes. For our surprise, Swann is no longer the lead, and his actions are shadowed by a superficial love affair between DAmour and Dorothea, a woman that Swann saved from Nix 13 years ago, when she was still a child.

Despite what other people may think, Scott Bakula is not miscast as Harry DAmour. The real problem is that we, as spectators, never really care about this detective character that comes out of nowhere in order to solve a so-called mystery, whose solution is already known to us. In fact, I believe that the real protagonist of the whole story should not have been DAmour, but Swann. His fragility and occasional lack of courage made him a much more interesting character. The fact that he fears Nix so much adds up to the credibility of his persona. Once again, as a spectator, I wanted to know more about Swanns gang, his relationship with Nix, and the love that he felt towards Dorothea, whose presence in the story is not completely justified. The ending, predictable to the bone, doesnt leave a good taste in our mouths either.

For this edition, director Clive Barker includes some deleted scenes now integrated in the film. Most of them are superfluous, but others add a little more punch to the story. The best ones are an extended tour through the Castle of Magic and the sequence where we see all of Nixs followers, 13 years later, gathering for the return of his master. There is also a scene including a weird nightmare that Dorothea has, but this is a failed attempt to give her character more participation. There is not much to say about the Features, since they only include some deleted scenes and some bios.

Anyway, if you are a Clive Barker fan and like some pretty imaginative artwork, then Lord of Illusions will work for you. But dont expect too much from it. This movie sins of pretending a fancy storyline, and lacks the brutal simplicity that makes Hellraiser a much superior film. It will not scare you, but at least youll admit that it could have been a pretty good movie.