LORD OF ILLUSIONS (1995)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *drama*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *metaphysical*

LORD OF ILLUSIONS to date is the last feature film written and directed by horror author Clive Barker, and proves the least accomplished after 1987's HELLRAISER and 1990's NIGHTBREED. Like NIGHTBREED, ILLUSIONS came to theatres in an adumbrated studio cut, which is probably what I saw years ago. But since I barely remember anything about the cut version of ILLUSIONS, my review of the director's cut won't be influenced by the earlier viewing-- or by having read, many months ago, the short story Barker used as his template, since Wiki mentions that Barker substantially changed that template for the movie.

The germ of the original idea was that professional detective Harry D'Amour investigated the supposed death of a stage illusionist, Philip Swann, only to learn that Swann was performing his tricks with real magic. To make that bare notion more salable, Barker interpolated the story of a demonically powered cult-leader named William Nix (Daniel von Bargen), who becomes an enemy Swann (Kevin J. O'Connor) seeks to escape and whom D'Amour (Scott Bakula) must try to eradicate. The result is an ungainly blend of noir detection and flamboyant occult menace, with an evil sorcerer who says things like, "I was born to murder the world."

It's not impossible to do a good mashup of hardboiled crime with supernatural investigation, but Barker doesn't have a handle on either genre's boundaries. The story begins with Swann and his allies invading the HQ of Nix's cult, overcoming Nix, and burying him alive so that he can't destroy the world with his illimitable (but unexplained) powers. Thirteen years later, detective D'Amour-- whose experience with occult matters is only vaguely described-- is hired by Swann's wife (Famke Janssen) to protect the magician, since some of Nix's freaky cultists have been swarming about and making trouble. Then Swann apparently dies-- only to have it revealed later on that he faked his death-- and one of the cultists manages to revive Nix. Despite being woefully overmatched, D'Amour pulls a rabbit out of his hat and prevents the apocalypse, and gets the girl to boot, thanks to Swann conveniently dying for real.

Barker's lack of ability to ground his wild characters in reality is oddly presaged by a line spoken by one of his minor characters halfway through the film. A sanitarium attendant, not privy to any of the magical goings-on, states to D'Amour, "We have to agree on what's real and what's not. That's what holds us together." Barker means this ironically, since through D'Amour the audience has already seen that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in the attendant's philosophy. But inadvertently, Barker described his own inability to make either his plot or characters "hold together." He provides only the most cursory motivation at all times, and his big reveal at the climax-- that Nix had a gay thing for Swann and wanted them to be together after mankind's death-- gets zero foreshadowing. Characters pop in and out of D'Amour's orbit without explanation, and most of them are focused on showing how recherche they are. Oddly, Bakula's homespun normality could have been used to Barker's advantage here, and the actor does his best to give the role a dogged, passionate morality. But D'Amour just feels like Barker copying old movie-detectives, not coming up with his own unique take on the form. Barker may have had better luck with the character in prose, where he's not dependent on interacting with performers other than himself.