In The Mouth Of Madness

We return with a tribute episode honoring Sam Neill, reflecting on his legacy from Jurassic Park to Possession and Dead Calm, and how his passing at 78 hit us.

For this tribute, we dive into John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness (1994), the final entry in Carpenter’s “Apocalypse Trilogy,” and a Lovecraft-inspired, reality-bending horror film built around books, belief, and cosmic dread.

We break down Sam Neill’s performance as skeptic insurance investigator John Trent, the film’s surreal structure, meta ending, and plot-heavy descent into Hobbs End, where fiction bleeds into real life.

We also highlight Carpenter’s signature direction and score, the stacked supporting cast (including Charlton Heston and David Warner), and the standout practical creature effects that make this one a pretty good.

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In The Mouth Of Madness (1994)

Episode 502, 2 Guys and a Chainsaw Horror Movie Review Podcast

Todd: Hello and welcome to another episode of Two Guys and a Chainsaw. I’m Todd.

Craig: And I’m Craig.

Todd: Well, it is time for another tribute episode. We haven’t done one of these in a little while. Seemed like there for a bit we were doing one every other week. This July, last month, Sam Neill died at the ripe old age of 78 years old. New Zealand actor that probably most people recognize immediately from his big role in Jurassic Park.

Although he was in quite a bit of stuff. Hunt for Red October before that, Event Horizon we will see one of these days. I mean, we’ve seen it, but we’ve gotta do it- Yeah … here on this show at some point. And he got his start in horror, actually. Well, I mean, he got his start on the stage doing other stuff, of course, but as far as international breakthrough roles, he was in the third Omen movie-

Craig: Right

Todd: playing Damien. And then, uh, in 1981 was in Possession, which we did on this show, which was a very intense film that I still think about an awful lot, and I think his performance in that was absolutely fantastic. So yeah, so, uh, fast-forward several roles later, here we are in the Mouth of Madness, 1994, a movie I’ve seen a few times before this.

When I was a teenager, this had recently been released on video, and I think we probably rented it two or three times, and I know I saw it at least once or twice from a sleepover with some friends. And the thing that I remembered the most about it from that time was that I pretty much nodded off about halfway through each time I watched it.

I don’t think as a kid I really appreciated it as much as I do now. It’s definitely not that kind of fast action, spooky, jump scare horror movie that I was expecting, you know, when we were renting movies for these sleepovers. A little slower, a little long, a little bit of a, I don’t know, you could say cerebral in a way.

It just takes its time. I call it maybe a little more adult horror movie, I would say, based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, which has his own mythos and his own style, too, and I feel like more or less this movie stuck to it pretty well. How about you, Craig? Uh, I’m sure you’ve seen this one before.

Craig: Yeah, a bunch of times.

But I think you’re getting jaded in your old age. An hour and 34 minutes is not long .

Todd: It feels long, man. The movie-

Craig: I didn’t think the movie felt long at all. Really? Like, I… Yeah. Ugh. Not at all. I still think it

Todd: felt long . I guess that’s just me.

Craig: Oh, gosh. I mean- I mean, it’s, it’s fairly action-heavy and, like-

vision-heavy. You think so? Uh, yeah. The, the… In fact, as I was watching it last night, because I, I told you this, but I, I… I’ll say it now for everybody else’s benefit. I, out of nowhere one night, decided I was gonna watch In the Mouth of Madness. I, you know, I was just scrolling, trying to find something to put on so I…

to, to go to sleep at night. And I came across it. I hadn’t seen it in a long time, so I put it on and I watched most of it. I did fall asleep before the end, but that was my goal. And then I woke up the next morning to a text from you that Sam Neill had died, and, and that was so weird. It was so weird to me ’cause I hadn’t r- I mean, we’ve talked about doing the movie before.

Yeah. But I, I hadn’t really given it much thought. I, I hadn’t really given Sam Neill much thought. I mean, I’m, I’m a fan. I’ve always been a fan of him, but I hadn’t given him a lot of thought in a long time. I knew that in fairly recent past years that he had had cancer and that it was bad, and they didn’t know if he was gonna make it through that, but he did, and I think that he’s been cancer-free for a little while.

So I was surprised. I was kind of shocked to learn of his death, though, uh, y- I think you said he was 78. I mean, that’s, you know, that’s a, a pretty good run.

Todd: Yeah,

Craig: it is. Um, I’ll, I’ll feel fortunate if I make it that far, but he seemed, you know… Cancer can get anybody, but y- despite that, he seemed vital and, and healthy and, and he was a cool guy, so sad to see him go.

Most people know him from Jurassic Park and of course I do, too. Dr. Alan Grant, I mean, it’s an iconic… Those are iconic movies. It’s an iconic character. I think he kind of cemented a legacy there. I, I, I think, you know, probably generations of people, our generation and our kids are gonna know who he is from those movies.

I knew him before that because inappropriately I grew up watching a movie called Dead Calm-

Clip: Hmm …

Craig: with him and Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane, and they’re basically the only three people in that movie and it’s more of like a psychological sexual thriller. Again, completely inappropriate for kids. But I grew up watching it.

And it’s a great movie, and he’s great in it. But I think that he’s been good in everything that I’ve seen him in.

Todd: Yeah.

Craig: Um, and beyond that, he just seems like… Well, I mean, he’s handsome and talented. He’s got those things going for him. But he just seemed like a really affable, kind, thoughtful person. And what I’ve seen, you know, people say about him, you know, people who’ve worked with him, it just seems like he was a very down-to-earth-

Todd: Scandal-free.

Craig: Scandal-free, you know, kind of a family guy. I mean, there’s cool stories about his family. I guess when he was a, a teenager or, or in his very early 20s, I don’t remember, he was very young, he and a, a young lady got pregnant and the, the baby was put up for adoption. But he looked for his son and, and found that his son was looking for him.

And as when his son was, like, 25 or something like that, they reunited and, and developed a, a, a solid relationship that was ongoing. And he, you know, he was just a cool guy. He owned a couple wineries. I think he was really chill.

Clip: Yeah.

Craig: But I think that he was just a good guy and a cool person to work with.

Laura Dern played opposite him, played his romantic counterpart in the Jurassic Park films, specifically the first one. And I don’t think at the time, I think looking at it in hindsight, some people have kind of questioned the age difference. I think she was only in her very early 20s, and he was already, I think, in his 50s.

So pairing them as a romantic duo was potentially questionable. However, she said that she just had the most wonderful time with him. She released a statement after he died, a very heartfelt and sentimental statement You know, commenting on their bond and, and how that would not change and stuff. So I, I, I think he was just…

I’ve just been a, a fan. It’s, it’s nice. You, you said scandal-free. And who knows? You never know what’s going on in people’s personal lives behind the scenes. But by all appearances, he really seemed to be a good guy, and it’s nice to have people that you can kind of look up to. And he, he was always that kind …