Retro Review: Lord of Illusions (1995)

Revisiting Clive Barker's Lord of Illusions, it made me pine for what could've been.

Which has nothing to do with the movie itself. It's still a solid genre entry, filled with all the things we'd want from a Clive Barker movie. It's got the occult, gore, special effects, violence and mystery; which hold up really well almost 25 years after it was released.

What could've been -- nay, should've been -- is a series of Harry D'Amour movies. And, although I didn't care much for his performance back in '95, Scott Bakula should've stuck with the role.

Bakula was coming off Quantum Leap at the time, and it was hard to distance him from that role. But he does well as Barker's P.I. with a knack for finding supernatural trouble. He's surprisingly good in the tortured-tough-guy role, and roles with the material, taking seriously, but not too seriously.

I'd forgotten a pre-Bond Famke Janssen was in this. I liked and believed her relationship with D'Amour, and she has the kind of femme fatale presence one would expect from a vintage P.I. movie.

Movies like this are only as good as their villain, and Daniel von Bargen's Nix is one hell of a bad guy. He has very little screen time, but his presence is quickly established, and felt, throughout the film. He's a menacing character as only Barker could imagine, and has some great lines too.

Lord of Illusions is a Good. And who knows, maybe we'll get another D'Amour adventure on the big screen one day.

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