Tonight on Amazon: Explosive New Film from the Creator of Cult Classic Hellraiser!

Clive Barker, a 72-year-old British multi-talent barely known to the general public, has led a unique career for decades. As a novelist, playwright, comic book writer, video game designer, painter, and filmmaker, Barker has crafted a niche often veering towards BDSM and tormented flesh.

He is a leading figure in what has been dubbed Splatterpunk; a horror fiction movement characterized by its graphic and often gory nature, descriptions of violence, a countercultural aspect (through punk), and a boundary-pushing approach to depicting horror. Clearly, Barker’s bold choices don’t appeal to everyone…

In the realm of cinema, he made a major impact with the cult classic “Hellraiser” in 1987, which unfortunately spawned increasingly weaker sequels. Another notable film, “Cabal” in 1990, depicted the struggles of a group of monsters/mutants fleeing from a serial killer, played by none other than David Cronenberg. Unlike its predecessor, “Cabal” was a commercial flop but also earned its status as a cult film.

Physical Pain and Bodily Transformations

In 1995, Clive Barker directed his third film, “The Lord of Illusions,” which remained unreleased in theaters in our regions. This film, unfortunately, was also heavily edited and even butchered by its studio, MGM.

Blending elements of neo-noir and magic with the Splatterpunk style’s unhealthy excesses of violence that established the writer’s reputation, “The Lord of Illusions” tells the story of Harry D’Amour (Scott Bakula), a New York private detective specializing in occult-related cases, who investigates threats against the life of a famous illusionist, Philip Swann.

After Swann dies violently during one of his performances, Harry initially suspects Dorothea, Swann’s wife (portrayed by a then virtually unknown Famke Janssen, who would break out later that year in “Goldeneye”), before his investigation leads him to a group of fanatics wanting the return of Nix, their leader and guru, neutralized by Swann thirteen years earlier. Harry D’Amour must dive into a paranormal world and dodge the growing number of corpses on his path to the truth…

Remaining true to his obsessions, particularly physical pain and bodily alterations which result in rather intense gore scenes, “The Lord of Illusions” is nonetheless one of Barker’s more accessible works, definitely worth discovering.

It is currently available in the Prime Video catalog. However, it’s worth noting a slight disappointment: this is the “short” version of the film, not the full-length version which is 20 minutes longer and was released on Blu-ray in 2018 by Le Chat qui Fume. This initiative was particularly welcome since the version released on DVD locally at the time was the censored version. But given the film’s relative rarity, there’s not too much to complain about.