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Lord of Illusions
Lord of Illusions
Credits
Title: Lord of Illusions
Director: Clive Barker
Writers: Clive Barker
Producers: Steve Golin; Sigurjon Sighvatsson; JoAnne Sellar; Clive Barker
Composer: Simon Boswell
Cinematography: Ronn Schmidt
Editors: Alan Baumgarten
Production
Production company: United Artists
Seraphim Films
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Released: August 25th, 1995
Rating: R
Running time: 109 min.
Country: USA
Language: English
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Lord of Illusions is an American feature film that blends elements of crime noir with that of supernatural horror. It was written and directed by Clive Barker and is based on the short story "The Last Illusion". The movie is a Seraphim production and produced by United Artists. It was released theatrically in the United States on August 25th, 1995. The film stars Scott Bakula as private detective of the supernatural Harry D'Amour with Kevin J. O'Connor as Philip "The Lord of Illusions" Swann, along with Famke Janssen as the femme fatale Dorothea Swann, Barry Del Sherman as weirdo bad guy Butterfield, and Daniel von Bargen as the ultimate evil -- Nix.

Plot[]

Cast[]

Actor Role
Trevor Edmond Young Butterfield
Daniel von Bargen Nix
Kevin J. O'Connor Philip Swann
Joseph Latimore Caspar Quaid
Sheila Tousey Jennifer Desiderio
Susan Traylor Maureen Pimm
Ashley Lyn Cafagna Young Dorothea
Michael Angelo Stuno Lead male cultist
Keith Brunsmann Snakeman
Barbara Patrick Lead female cultist
Scott Bakula Harry D'Amour
Wayne Grace Loomis
Mikey LeBeau Exorcised boy
Robb Humphreys D'Amour's demon
James Brandon Shaw Motel bellboy
Johnny Venokur Tapert
Jordan Marder Ray Miller
Barry Del Sherman Butterfield
McNally Sagal Detective Eddison
Famke Janssen Dorothea Swann
Joanna Sanchez Clemenzia
Joel Swetow Valentin
Stephen Weingartner Stage manager
Daniel Edward Mora, Jr. Stage technician
Billy McComb Walter Wilder
Vincent Schiavelli Vinovich
Lorin Stewart Billy Who
Barry "Shabaka" Henley Doctor Toffler
Bergen Lynn Williams Nurse
Mike Deak Apparition in repository
Carrie Ann Inaba Dancer
Sarah McAfee Dancer
Laurie Kanyok Dancer
Jason Yribar Dancer
Sebastian LaCause Dancer
Luca Tommassini Dancer
Yuri Mageoy Dancer
Joseph Daniel Daley Cultist
Stephen Earnhart Cultist
Dana Fatigante Cultist
Nick Hunter Cultist
Tannis Kobrin Cultist
Crystal Lujan Cultist
Alan McFarland Cultist
Ava Stander Cultist
D.F. Swatter Cultist
Michael L. Swearingen Cultist
Colette J. Toomer Cultist
Rasool M. Visram Cultist
Heidi Wolfe Cultist

Notes & Trivia[]

  • The tagline for this film is "Trust nothing except your fear".
  • This movie adapts the short story "The Last Illusion" by author Clive Barker, which appeared as the fourth story in the Books of Blood, Volume 6 anthology novel published by Sphere Books in 1988.
  • There are a total of fifty credited cast members in this film. Cast members are credited in order of appearance.
  • Production on Lord of Illusions began on July 27th, 1994. The movie was shot on-location in key locales throughout the film including the actual Pantages Theater in Hollywood, the Mojave Desert and The Magic Castle & Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles.
  • The original cut of the film ran 121 minutes. Test audiences felt that the movie was too long so MGM/United Artists forced Clive Barker to excise 12 minutes of footage. Specifically, they made remove dialogue sequences that would have strengthened the narrative that Barker was trying to construct. They wanted the film to focus more on the horror element and less on the hard-boiled film noir flavor. Barker only agreed if they allowed him to retain an uncut version of the film for laserdisc release.
  • At its widest release, Lord of Illusions was screened in 1,533 theaters. It had remained in release for a total of 18 weeks (129 days).
  • Lord of Illusions grossed $4,800,258 over its opening weekend from August 25th-27th, 1995. It grossed $13,294,422 over its entire domestic run. The film was not released internationally.
  • Lord of Illusions came in at #5 at the box office. It was beaten by new release Desperado at #2, which fell behind Mortal Kombat, which still dominated the box office in its second week.
  • Lord of Illusions was released as a Collector's Edition Blu-ray by Shout Factory on December 16th, 2014. This version includes an additional twelve minutes of scenes that MGM/United Artists forced Clive Barker to cut from the theatrical release.
  • Actor J. Trevor Edmond, who plays Young Butterfield in the 1982 intro, is credited as Trevor Edmond in this film.
  • Actress Ashley Tesoro, who plays young Dorothea in the 1982 intro, is credited as Ashley Lyn Cafagna in this film.
  • Actor Jimmy Shaw, who plays a motel bellboy, is credited as James Brandon Shaw in this film.
  • Actor Daniel Edward Mora, who plays a stage technician, is credited as Daniel Edward Mora, Jr. in this film.
  • Actress Bergen Williams, who plays a nurse, is credited as Bergen Lynn Williams in this film.
  • Actor Nicholas Hunter, who plays a cultist, is credited as Nick Hunter in this film.
  • Actor Tannis Korbin's name is mis-spelled as Tannis Kobrin in this film.
  • Actor J. Trevor Edmond is also known for playing Danny Dixon in Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings.
  • Actress Ashley Lyn Cafagna will go on to play Eleanor Crane in The Werewolf Reborn! in 1998.
  • The iron torture device mask that Philip Swann uses to bind Nix in the 1982 sequence was inspired by a similar death mask worn by the character of witch Asa Vajda, played by Barbara Steele in the 1960 film Black Sunday by director Mario Bava.
  • In "The Last Illusion", the girl that Harry D'Amour performs an exorcism over is named Mimi Lomax. The character is not named during the flashback sequence from this film.

Ratings[]

  • On the Internet Movie Database, Lord of Illusions has a Starmeter rating of 6.0 out of 10 based on more than 19,000 user submissions.
  • On the movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Lord of Illusions has a Tomatometer score of 58% based on twenty-six posted critic reviews. It has 15 positive reviews and 11 negative reviews, averaging 5.10 out of 10. The film has an audience score of 53% based on more than 10,000 verified user ratings, averaging 3.3 out of 5. There is only 5% variance between the Tomatometer score and the Audience score.
  • On Letterboxd, Lord of Illusions has a weighted average rating of 3.09 out of 5 based on 11,280 user votes.
  • On TMDB, Lord of Illusions has a user score of 60% out of 100 based on 298 ratings.

Body Count[]

  • Caspar Quaid: Stabbed multiple times in the throat and chest by Butterfield with knives.
  • Ray Miller: Harry D'Amour impales him on the sharpened tongue-piece of a backstage statue prop.
  • Jennifer Desiderio: Committed suicide by leaping in front of an oncoming car.
  • Swann's maid: Stabbed in the throat with a knife; presumably by Butterfield.
  • Valentin: Tortured and stabbed to death by Butterfield.
  • Numerous cultists: Drowned/Trapped in place by magic fast-hardening quicksand by Nix.
  • Butterfield: Electrocuted when he punches a wall with an iron weapon and strikes an electrical panel.
  • Philip Swann: Succumbs to injuries after having his brain & skull telepathically crushed by Nix.
  • Nix: Pushed into a bottomless pit by Harry D'Amour and then explodes.

Recommendations[]

See also[]

External Links[]

References[]

1980s | 1982 | 1990s | 1995 | Automobile accident | Bel Air | Birds | Bondage | Brainwashing | Brooklyn | Buried alive | Burn victims | California | Cemetery | Chickens | Coffin | Cult | Cult leader | Cultist | Dead animals | Demons | Disfigurement | Doll | Drinking beer | Drowning | Electrocution | Exploding bodies | Falling from a great height | Female topless nudity | Flashbacks | Fortune teller | Funeral | Gunshot victims | Hallucinations | Handgun | Head injury | Hearse | Hollywood | Hologram | Illusion generation | Illusions | Immolation | Impalement | Knife | Levitation | Limousine | Los Angeles | Los Angeles County | Los Angeles Police Department | Magic spells | Male partial nudity | Male rear nudity | Mandrills | Mask | Mental health facility | Mojave Desert | Monkeys | Motel | Mutilation | New York | New York City | Obscene finger gestures | Occult | Piano | Pickaxe | Pistol | Police car | Possession | Profanity | Pyrokinesis | Resurrection | Revolver | Rifle | Self mutilation | Shot in the head | Skeletons | Skull | Smoking | Snakes | Sorcery | Stabbings | Suicide | Sword | Tarot cards | Taxicab | Telekinesis | Torture | Van | Warlocks

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