Remember John Carpenter? Yeah, the guy who did Halloween, The Fog, Escape from New York, They Live, Big Trouble in Little China, and about a bajillion other iconic films? Well, the 90s were not totally bereft of awesomeness from ol' JC. This movie is a sleeper hit, though it was a serious box office failure. 
Written by Michael De Luca, who was the producer on basically every New Line Cinema film you've ever even mildly enjoyed from The Mask to Dark City. He was also the EP behind Last Man Standing, which was Bruce Willis' attempt to star in a remake of Yojimbo (though Clint Eastwood's effort was markedly better). 
This film is ideal for the horror reader as it pays homage to two legends: HP Lovecraft and Stephen King. The film surrounds a publisher seeking a status on their famed writer, Sutter Cane, desperate to get his manuscript on his next book. Cane's writing style seems to mimic that of HP Lovecraft, dealing with cosmic horrors and ancient gods like Cthulhu. The writer's mythos and pop culture impact seems to be modeled after King, who has basically been at the forefront of horror literature through five decades. 
The film stars Sam Neill, fresh off his romp with Steven Spielberg and those dinosaurs in Jurassic Park (Fun Fact: The CG dinosaurs in that film are only onscreen for six minutes and the practical effects dinos are only onscreen for 14 minutes). The effects on this film are predominantly practical and are unfairly overlooked. Special effects were by ILM, with KNB Effects doing the practical effects. One of the creatures, "Monster Mass," was 18" wide and 18" long, requiring multiple puppeteers, but only ever appears in the background of one shot. 
There are some interesting narrative tricks in the film, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality and time itself. As people try to flee Sutter Cane's fictional town of Hobb's End (akin to King's Castle Rock), they find themselves trapped on a carousel. 
This week's "Hidden Track" is At the Mouth of Madness by The Cult Sounds. Their music can be found here: https://thecultsounds.bandcamp.com/ ; https://www.facebook.com/cultsoundsofficial/
If you ever have feedback or recommendations on future episodes, please let us know at slasherspod@gmail.com. You can always find us on our social media: Instagram, Twitter, Slasher App: @slasherspod Facebook: /slasherspod Reddit: u/slasherspod https://www.youtube.com/c/slasherspodcast
Theme song is I wanna Die by Mini Meltdowns. https://open.spotify.com/artist/5ZAk6lUDsaJj8EAhrhzZnh ; https://minimeltdowns.bandcamp.com/

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