Lord of Illusions – Review

The Mojave Desert, 1982: A cult leader Nix (von Bargen) holds fire in his hands while his followers listen to his proclamation to be known as The Puritan. He is to find men and women to cleanse the world together.

Cars pull up outside the cult desert compound and residence. A band of militia led by Philip Swann (O’Connor) are determined to take back a child taken by Nix’s group, who happens to be held captive next to a ravenous baboon.

As the armed militia go inside the dank and creepy cult home, Philip finds the girl. However, he also finds Nix, and terror. “How would you like to see the world how it really is,” asks Nix. Share the power!! After a disastrous opening for many characters, the story shifts a beat.

Jump ahead to 1995 and New York where Private Investigator Harry D’Amour wrestles with an odd case and visual experiences. The newspaper has a story on exorcism drama and a knock on the door from his buddy Loomis gives him a job opportunity on a dark rainy day.

Harry wants the work, looking for something better than his latest jobs which are related to possessions and cults. Loomis’ job takes him to Los Angeles to look for an insurance fraud who’s on the run. There’s 10 grand in it if Harry can catch him in the act. Harry however immediately has an insane horrific vision, yet still flies west for an adventure full of insanity.

Lord of Illusions is full of terrorizing visuals and some bizarre storytelling. It has a mostly lesser-known cast, and is definitely a full-on Clive Barker experience. Despite what was likely not much of a budget, the film looks great. I do however typically find that the story runs out of steam. Regardless, it is not bad and has some good bits for horror fans.

There is about 12 minutes of additional footage in the Director’s Cut version, which adds some exposition and character development, as well as some more gorey bits. I would say it is the better version due to the additional scenes enhancing the story, however the pacing remains a tad slow.