Django
08-31-03, 06:46 PM
Lord of Illusions: A Review
I saw this movie on VHS some years ago. It's a pretty campy movie--not all that great--but it addresses some pretty profound themes, in my opinion, such as the line of demarcation between illusion and reality--fact vs. fiction. Basically, the movie deals with the world of Las Vegas stage magicians and magic shows--stage illusionists. Scott Bakula is a private investigator who gets caught up in this world when, apparently, a stage magician dies in a mishap in his own show.
What really stuck in my mind from this otherwise average movie were a couple of things. One of them was something one of the characters, a stage magician named Vinovitch, says: "Magicians walk the fine line between trickery and divinity." This guy is a pretty funny character who talks in a really strange foreign accent. Bakula, upon hearing the accent, remarks, "Interesting accent. Brooklyn?" That made me laugh.
The other noteworthy element of this movie is the whole theme of what is real vs. what is an illusion. That's something the characters constantly have to confront--the shifting sands of illusion vs. reality. I thought the movie addressed this theme pretty well--really made you think about the world we live in and how much of it is, in fact, real, as opposed to being illusory or deceptive. Setting the movie in the world of Las Vegas illusionists was a nice touch. It also addressed the issue of how terrifying some illusions can be, even though they are completely insubstantial. In one segment, Bakula is confronted by what appears to be a completely horrifying monster, which scares his sidekick out of his wits. But Bakula is able to recognize that it is only a hologram being projected out of a tiny hidden projector on the ceiling. In another sequence, a woman Bakula is investigating becomes so filled with superstitious terror that, running away in a fit of hysteria, she gets run over by a car--thereby enacting a self-fulfilling prophecy, as it were. Her fear at becoming the victim of some bogey-man results in her own death.
Basically, the movie has many really insightful segments in an otherwise pretty campy story, and is worth seeing for those segments, if not for the story as a whole.
Here's a review of the movie from http://movieweb.com/movie/lordillusions/ :
Master storyteller Clive Barker is back again with the supernatural horror thriller LORD OF ILLUSIONS.
Popular film and television actor Scott Bakula (television's "Quantum Leap") stars as Harry D'Amour, a New York private detective who has frequently appeared in Barker's novels and short stories.
Harry is on a routine case that takes an ominous turn when he stumbles upon a mystery involving the world-famous magician, Philip Swann (KEVIN J. O'CONNOR), and his beautiful wife, Dorothea (FAMKE JANSSEN). When something goes fatally wrong during a performance of Swann's spectacular magic show, Harry is drawn into a frightening spiral of secrets, deceit and unimaginable terrors. As his world steadily darkens, Harry finds himself falling in love with Dorothea. Only then does he unearth the horrific secrets of her past...and come face to face with her enemy, Nix (DANIEL VON BARGEN), the diabolic power who gave Swann his dark magic. In the climactic final battle, Harry confronts the monstrous Nix and learns that illusion is trickery...but magic is real.
Clive Barker directed the film from his screenplay, based on his own short story, "The Last Illusion."
I saw this movie on VHS some years ago. It's a pretty campy movie--not all that great--but it addresses some pretty profound themes, in my opinion, such as the line of demarcation between illusion and reality--fact vs. fiction. Basically, the movie deals with the world of Las Vegas stage magicians and magic shows--stage illusionists. Scott Bakula is a private investigator who gets caught up in this world when, apparently, a stage magician dies in a mishap in his own show.
What really stuck in my mind from this otherwise average movie were a couple of things. One of them was something one of the characters, a stage magician named Vinovitch, says: "Magicians walk the fine line between trickery and divinity." This guy is a pretty funny character who talks in a really strange foreign accent. Bakula, upon hearing the accent, remarks, "Interesting accent. Brooklyn?" That made me laugh.
The other noteworthy element of this movie is the whole theme of what is real vs. what is an illusion. That's something the characters constantly have to confront--the shifting sands of illusion vs. reality. I thought the movie addressed this theme pretty well--really made you think about the world we live in and how much of it is, in fact, real, as opposed to being illusory or deceptive. Setting the movie in the world of Las Vegas illusionists was a nice touch. It also addressed the issue of how terrifying some illusions can be, even though they are completely insubstantial. In one segment, Bakula is confronted by what appears to be a completely horrifying monster, which scares his sidekick out of his wits. But Bakula is able to recognize that it is only a hologram being projected out of a tiny hidden projector on the ceiling. In another sequence, a woman Bakula is investigating becomes so filled with superstitious terror that, running away in a fit of hysteria, she gets run over by a car--thereby enacting a self-fulfilling prophecy, as it were. Her fear at becoming the victim of some bogey-man results in her own death.
Basically, the movie has many really insightful segments in an otherwise pretty campy story, and is worth seeing for those segments, if not for the story as a whole.
Here's a review of the movie from http://movieweb.com/movie/lordillusions/ :
Master storyteller Clive Barker is back again with the supernatural horror thriller LORD OF ILLUSIONS.
Popular film and television actor Scott Bakula (television's "Quantum Leap") stars as Harry D'Amour, a New York private detective who has frequently appeared in Barker's novels and short stories.
Harry is on a routine case that takes an ominous turn when he stumbles upon a mystery involving the world-famous magician, Philip Swann (KEVIN J. O'CONNOR), and his beautiful wife, Dorothea (FAMKE JANSSEN). When something goes fatally wrong during a performance of Swann's spectacular magic show, Harry is drawn into a frightening spiral of secrets, deceit and unimaginable terrors. As his world steadily darkens, Harry finds himself falling in love with Dorothea. Only then does he unearth the horrific secrets of her past...and come face to face with her enemy, Nix (DANIEL VON BARGEN), the diabolic power who gave Swann his dark magic. In the climactic final battle, Harry confronts the monstrous Nix and learns that illusion is trickery...but magic is real.
Clive Barker directed the film from his screenplay, based on his own short story, "The Last Illusion."