BOOK REVIEW: In The Mouth of Madness (Sutter Cane)

John Carpenter's cosmic horror magnum opus In The Mouth of Madness came out in 1995 and almost immediately devotees were calling it the greatest Lovecraftian movie that's not based on an HP Lovecraft story.

I don't know when I first saw it, but it was almost certainly the Lovecraft vibe that drew me to it and I was immediately smitten.

In The Mouth of Madness is quite possibly my all-time favourite horror movie.

At its heart, the story concerns a hunt by insurance investigator John Trent (Sam Neill) for a missing best-selling horror author, Sutter Cane (Jürgen Prochnow), and his much sought-after final manuscript, In The Mouth of Madness.

Fans have long demanded a novelisation of the movie - which in a turn of mindbending metafiction is the novel that forms the heart of the film - and finally this year it came to pass.

Published by Echo On Publications, the novel of In The Mouth of Madness fully embraces its cinematic provenance, being authored by the fictional Sutter Cane (actually Christian Francis) and "published" by Arcane (the publisher of Sutter Cane's work in the film). It even uses the front cover artwork shown on the book when it's onscreen.

But, sadly, there my fanboyish excitement ends.

For the most part this is a very pedestrian adaptation, only really grabbing the reader in the final act when it seeks to expand the world we know from the film.

Sutter Kane is a contemporary reimagining of HP Lovecraft - in a world where his Great Old Ones were actually real - with a heavy dose of Stephen King mixed in for good measure, so I had high expectations for this book (fuelled by the several decades' wait for it to be announced).

Yet, given that - in-universe - this is supposedly a book written by an author who outsells Stephen King tenfold, it instead reads in large part like fan-fiction.

Was this actually a hurriedly released unedited first (or early) draft? 

That might explain the most frustrating thing about the novel, which can't entirely be blamed on the author (unless this was self-published and he was expected to edit it himself). 

The text is riddled with typos and missing words, which isn't a dealbreaker but is immensely frustrating for a professionally published book.

The name of Cane's publisher, Jackson Harglow (played by Charlton Heston the film) changes spelling several times within a few pages, for instance, and there are even TWO inexcusable typos in the blurb on the back cover of the dust jacket.

Did nobody proof this?

On the other hand, there are some delightful additions to the story - such as interjections in the text, often directed at the reader, from Cane himself.

Another interesting inclusion was the discussion between Trent and Cane's editor Linda Styles over Cane’s approach to writing.

For the most part the book sticks to the film script, but there are some minor tweaks to the narrative, alternative takes as it were, and one major element slipped in that, as far as I was aware from multiple viewings of the film, adds a whole new level of existential horror to the story.

Sutter Cane's In The Mouth of Madness is at its best when it captures the cosmic horror of the movie, but ultimately serves primarily as a novelty artefact to sit on your shelf and spark conversation with those 'in the know'.

It certainly isn't the Lovecraftian/Stephen King assault on sanity that we'd all been waiting for.

The Portable Door (2023)

Desperate for a job to cover his rent, bumbling Paul Carpenter (Patrick Gibson) - through a series of unlikely coincidences - stumbles into an interview at London's mysterious J.W. Wells and Co.

Somehow acing the interview, he and fellow interviewee, Sophie Pettingel (Sophie Wilde), are taken on as interns.

It is only then that they truly discover what the company does: magically shift reality to create beneficial coincidences for their clients.

Paul, it seems, has a gift for "divining", which company CEO Humphrey Wells (Christoph Waltz) seeks to use to find his missing "portable door" (which turns out to be a brilliant magical device capable of opening portals to anywhere the user desires).

However, there are forces within the company seeming set upon blocking Paul's progress.

Overall, The Portable Door is a fun, fantasy adventure, with an amazing cast of distinguished actors, such as Sam Neill and Miranda Otto, bringing their A-games to a variety of supporting roles.

Based, apparently, on the first in a series of books by Tom Holt, the twists and misdirections in Leon Ford's script (directed by Jeffrey Walker) are impressively orchestrated, if occasionally obvious.

However, while I'm all in favour of weirdness and inexplicable goings-on in my films, for what is essentially a "young adult" story there's a bit too much obfuscation and confusion in the narrative, hindered by the common problem that a lot of the action takes place in poorly lit environments.

There is also the issue of the story's obvious comparisons to the Harry Potter franchise, with JW Wells feeling like a corporate Hogwarts - with a dash of Warehouse 13 craziness thrown in for good measure.

Paul is a Harry/Ron surrogate, the gifted Sophie is a Hermione, Sam Neill's hostile Dennis Tanner is Snape, Miranda Otto (drawing upon her Zelda Spellman from Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) as Countess Judy is Professor McGonagall etc

The way the story employs supernatural goblins is also an obvious similarity (not that JK Rowling has a copyright on "goblins", of course).

Nevertheless, for all the Potterisms on display, ultimately the world of The Portable Door remains intriguing and full of possibilities.

Running for almost two hours, the film doesn't drag, but could also do with tightening its belt a bit. It certainly doesn't need to be that long.

I've never heard of Tom Holt's J.W. Wells & Co. book series, and this didn't make me want to rush out and read them but I'd certainly be interested in seeing further adaptations in this "corporate magic" style of adventure.

Now You CAN Read Sutter Cane

Sutter Cane's Most Anticipated Novel Has Arrived

In the Mouth of Madness is the long-lost novel fans have been waiting for.

Readers of his earlier books (The Hobbs End Horror, The Thing in the Basement, The Breathing Tunnel, Haunter in the Dark, The Feeding and The Whisperer of the Dark) will recognize his signature blend of psychological terror and cosmic dread.

Sutter Cane has always been a figure shrouded in mystery. Critics have called his writing "dangerously immersive" and "deeply infectious." Although sales records are incomplete or missing, many believe he has outsold every living author.

The story follows John Trent, an insurance investigator assigned to find Sutter Cane after his sudden disappearance. What begins as a simple missing person case soon spirals into a nightmare. Trent learns that Cane's fiction doesn't just reflect reality, it may shape it.

Will you read Sutter Cane?

John Carpenter's In The Mouth of Madness is one of the greatest horror movies of all time, a loving homage to the cosmic horror of HP Lovecraft (the grandfather of modern horror) that also embraces Stephen King (the father of modern horror, whose own work was heavily influenced by Lovecraft).

The film follows insurance investigator John Trent (Sam Neill) in his pursuit of missing author Sutter Cane (Jürgen Prochnow), who has vanished just ahead of the publication of his latest work, In The Mouth of Madness.

Trent believes the whole thing is an elaborate publicity stunt, an idea reinforced when he realises that images on the covers of previous Cane novels form a map to Cane's fictional town of Hobb's End.

For years, fans of the 1994 movie have been wanting a 'real' version of Cane's novel, In The Mouth of Madness. And now, as of October 1, the book can be yours!

Ghost-written by Christian Francis, the book is being released by Echo On the horror-centric publisher  masquerading as Arcane Publishing (Sutter Cane's 'in-universe' publisher).

Arcane's website bears this warning:

"Cane’s works have an undeniable effect on those who dare to read them. If you have experienced disorientation after reading any his books, please contact our support team immediately."

Below is a gallery of the covers of Cane's novels as depicted in the film: