What makes it different from others?

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

It was confusing, boring and aged. It wasn't scary. It's about this evil sorcerer who died decades ago and his body is buried in this desert. A police officer who specializes in crimes with exorcism and black magic investigates the death of the magician Swann who died on stage...or did he? He also falls in love with the magician's ex wife and finds other diabolical characters that are searching for the deceased body. It was just a mess.

A-Z Horror Movie of the Day..."Lord of Illusions" (R - 1995 - US)Sub-Genre: Paranormal/MysteryMy Score: 7.3Cast=7 Acting=8 Plot=9 Ending=7 Story=7 Scare=7 Jump=4 F/X=9 Creep=9 Mystery=7During a routine case in L.A., a NY private investigator stumbles over members of a fanatic cult...who are waiting for the resurrection of their leader."There are two worlds of magic. One is the glittering domain of the illusionist. The other is a secret place, where magic is a terrifying reality." If you are any type of Clive Barker fan, you should have already seen this. But if you haven't or heaven forbid you aren't familiar with Barker's work...this is worth a watch for sure!! A man wanted to become a god and changed his mind to be on DVD instead.

It's one of those movies that come from a certain time and place. But then, it's Clive Barker and he tends to primarily make movies that can really only fit into that beautiful era that opened up and allowed for anything to get the green light and small independent films to make it onto the big screen at your local theater.Man I miss those days.Anyway, Lord of Illusions should be classified as Neo-Noir...at least a little. It has all the right elements, detective, possible feme fatale, LA..you know it, hits most of the cliché's. And even the dress and make-up has throw backs to to the Bogart Era of film making. Subtle throwbacks.The cast is terrific, the soundtrack is awesome...but what stands out the most is how creepy it can get and do so without being over bearing and too serious.It has a Manson Family meets Lucifer himself feel to it while being wound up in an old fashioned detective story...with some of the best lines you'll ever hear come out of a horror movie delivered by some of the more disturbing performances you will see in a genre that is often lacking in serious actors and actresses.And though it is admittedly far from an all star cast, Scott Bakula, Kevin J. O'Connor, Daniel von Bargen, and Famke Janssen consistently deliver good performances and are all at the absolute top of their game for a movie that can't easily fit into any molded horror cliché.Two thumbs up, ten of ten stars, one of the films you should see before you die.

In the Mojave Desert, practitioner of the dark arts Nix (Daniel von Bargen) leads a cult and has kidnapped a girl named Dorothea. His apprentice Swann (Kevin J. O'Connor) leads former cult members to rescue the girl. Nix can't be killed but Swann binds him and buries him. Thirteen years later, Harry D'Amour (Scott Bakula) is a NY private eye specializing in the occult. He travels to L.A. on a case where he stumbles onto Swann, and his now wife Dorothea (Famke Janssen) as followers of Nix try to find the burial site and free Nix.This is a fine Clive Barker story. It has a compelling plot. Scott Bakula is good as the lead. The major drawback is the weak special effects and some weak directing from Barker. The CGI is pretty bad and some get really cheesy. The Nix apparition looks horrible. The final battle has some good parts and some bad parts. The makeup is mostly good. I like the henchman character Butterfield but I wish that he be played by the same actor in both time frame. I don't understand why there are two actors playing that character.