In the Mouth of Madness (1994) is the movie for this Sunday’s “monsterdon” watch party over on Mastodon, our fediverse sibling!

• Just start watching that movie this Sunday, August 9 at 9pm ET / 8pm CT / 6pm PT which is 1am Monday UTC
• and follow #monsterdon over on mastodon for live text commentary. For example, you can follow that hashtag here: https://mastodon.social/tags/monsterdon
• I usually open two web browser windows side-by-side on a computer. But you could follow the mastodon commentary on a phone app while watching the movie on TV or something.

How to watch the movie:

• tubi: https://tubitv.com/movies/715444/in-the-mouth-of-madness
• for info on how to block ads, see: https://ohai.social/@klu9/115245207831850566
• archive: https://archive.org/details/in-the-mouth-of-madness_202510
• archive: https://archive.org/details/in-the-mouth-of-madness.1994
• it’s usually streamed on https://miru.miyaku.media/ at that time
• if you want to pay and/or watch ads, look here: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/in-the-mouth-of-madness
• for trigger warnings see: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/10069

…supernatural horror film directed and scored by John Carpenter … [Sam] Neill stars as John Trent, an insurance investigator who visits a small town while looking into the disappearance of a successful author of horror novels, and begins to question his sanity as the lines between reality and fiction seem to blur. … In the Mouth of Madness pays tribute to the works of author H. P. Lovecraft in its exploration of insanity, and its title is derived from the Lovecraft novella At the Mountains of Madness. Distributed by New Line Cinema, In the Mouth of Madness received mixed reviews upon release, but has gained a cult following.

…

Critics generally commended the film on its technical aspects, particularly its special effects, acting, and directing, but perceived it as being too complicated, confusing, pretentious, and underwhelming. Roger Ebert gave the film two out of four stars, saying that the film has an intriguing premise, but squanders it by relying on hackneyed jump scares and gore, taking the form of “a horror house movie, in which the protagonists creep along while creatures leap at them.”[17] Gene Siskel gave the film the same rating,[citation needed] as did James Berardinelli, who said the film “comes close to doing something interesting but gets cold feet” and is “confusing, weird, and not very involving”, comparing the film to buying an exotic sports car only to drive it slowly.[citation needed] Lisa Schwarzbaum, writing in Entertainment Weekly, gave the film a C rating, remarking that “much of it [is] bloatedly self-indulgent and a small part wicked funny”, with only a smattering of successful moments.[18]

In fully positive reviews from the time period, Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called it “a thinking person’s horror picture that dares to be as cerebral as it is visceral”.[19] John Hartl of the Seattle Times also gave the film a positive review, saying it is “a stylized collection of well-timed shockers, helped along by the contributions of its capable cast.”[20] The Chicago Reader gave it three stars, calling it “a must see”.[21] In a later review, Chris Stuckmann also awarded the film with an “A,” noting its ambition, creativity, and originality alongside Carpenter’s direction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Mouth_of_Madness