Lord of Illusions

Clive Barker very loosely adapts his own short story “The Last Illusion” (1984), but the result is rather disappointing.

Numerous aspects are less than compelling, starting with a rambling screenplay built on trite dialogue, a loose relationship between cause and effect, and scenes that feel rushed, or even downright disjointed. The superficially sketched characters are played by a weak cast: Famke Janssen is lovely but not credible in the least, Daniel von Bargen brings us a wooden villain, “illusionist” Kevin J. O’Connor looks bewildered, and Scott Bakula in the role of the detective pointlessly deludes himself into thinking he’s Mickey Rourke in “Angel Heart” (1987), but despite some superficial similarities, the two movies aren’t even in the same league.

Among the most depressing moments, we would cite the Mephistophelian Nix’s raving soliloquy, a sort of exhausting rant overflowing with nonsense, rubbish like: “[I’m a] man who wanted to be a God, then changed his mind! I’m going to be rotten shit from now on […] I’m going to show the world what’s waiting at the end. And I am going to make it despair“).

There’s no lack of blood and guts… cold comfort considering the directing talent Barker demonstrated in the past.