History Film / LordOfIllusions

* {{Expy}}: Nix and his cult take some cues from UsefulNotes/CharlesManson and his Family, such as living in a run-down compound in a Californian desert, and committing murders at the behest of a charismatic madman.

* {{Expy}}: Nix and his cult take some cues from [[UsefulNotes/CharlesManson]] and his Family, such as living in a run-down compound in a Californian desert, and committing murders at the behest of a charismatic madman.

Thirteen years later, private detective Harry D'Amour (Scott Bakula) is working an insurance fraud case in Los Angeles when he witnesses the murder of Caspar Quaid, one of the group who helped Swann bring down Nix. With his dying breath, Quaid warns that the Puritan is returning.

* ConspicuousCG: The ghostly figure that attacks Harry [[spoiler:after Swann catches him sleeping with Dorothea]].

* RedEyesTakesWarning: Nix's eyes appear bloody red in D'Amour's mind after Nix hypnotizes him with the "Flesh With a God's Eyes".

* BittersweetEnding; [[spoiler: Dorothea is rescued by D'Amour. Nix and his cultists are gone once and for all. However Swann sacrified himself for the love of Dorothea and his body has also been dragged in the grave along with Nix.]]

''Lord of Illusions'' is a 1995 movie directed by Creator/CliveBarker, based on his own short story "The Last Illusion." A blend of [[FilmNoir noir]] and horror, the story opens in the early 80s at a run-down cult compound in the Mojave Desert. Nix, the leader who calls himself "the Puritan," wields magical powers he promises to share with his enthralled followers. Unfortunately for him, some of the group decide Nix has gone too far by kidnapping a young girl. Led by Nix's prize pupil Philip Swann, the rebels manage to overpower and subdue him. They leave him bound in an iron mask and buried deep under the sands of the Mojave, with the loyal followers scattered to the winds.

* FilmNoir: Blends the traditional elements of [[FantasticNoir a noir detective story with supernatural horror]].

* IronicNickname: The sadistic sorceror Nix names himself "the Puritan". He doesn't even aspire to purity, except maybe [[PureIsNotGood pure malice]].

* OurLichesAreDifferent: Post-resurrection, Nix is a zombified revenant, but no less evil a sorceror. His mission? [[OmnicidalManiac Murder the world]].

* FilmNoir: Blends the traditional elements of a noir detective story with supernatural horror.

* EvilSorceror: Nix was an evil wizard who had actual magical powers. He sees it as his mission to turn the world into a graveyard. He becomes a lich after his cultists revive him.

Thirteen years later, private detective Harry D'Amour ([[QuantumLeap Scott Bakula]]) is working an insurance fraud case in Los Angeles when he witnesses the murder of Caspar Quaid, one of the group who helped Swann bring down Nix. With his dying breath, Quaid warns that the Puritan is returning.

* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Nix shouts ''WILL...YOU...EVER...LEARN ?!'' as he [[spoiler: slowly kills Swann breaking the bones in his body.]]

* LargeHam: Nix.

* DamselInDistress: Dorothea falls into this role [[spoiler:twice - once as a teenager, and again when Butterfield uses her to draw out Swann and D'Amour]].

''Lord of Illusions'' is a 1995 movie directed by Creator/CliveBarker, based on his own short story "The Last Illusion." A blend of [[FilmNoir noir]] and horror, the story opens in the early 80s at a run-down cult compound in the Mojave Desert. Nix, the leader who calls himself "the Puritan," wields magical powers he promises to share with his enthralled followers. Unfortunately for him, some of the group decide Nix has gone too far by kidnapping a teenage girl. Led by Nix's prize pupil Philip Swann, the rebels manage to overpower and subdue him. They leave him bound in an iron mask and buried deep under the sands of the Mojave, with the loyal followers scattered to the winds.

* BadassNormal: Harry D'Amour may not have magic powers like Nix or Swann but he can fight pretty good. [[spoiler: He's also the one who kills Nix (forever this time) at the climax.]]

** When Nix [[spoiler: is resurrected, his body remains ''partially necrotized.'']]

* ConspicuousCG: The ghostly figure that attacks Harry [[spoiler:after Swann catches him sleeping with Dorothea.]]

* DistressedDamsel: Dorothea falls into this role [[spoiler:twice - once as a teenager, and again when Butterfield uses her to draw out Swann and D'Amour.]]

* QuicksandSucks: [[JustifiedTrope Justified,]] as [[AWizardDidIt a wizard]] ''[[AWizardDidIt literally]]'' [[AWizardDidIt did it.]] The freshly-resurrected Nix [[spoiler: kills his followers by turning the ground beneath them into this trope, and waiting for them to sink fully before solidifying it. One manages to survive but is trapped from the waist down.]]

* StageMagician: Swann rises to stardom after the cult breaks up, using the skills he learned from Nix to juice up his "illusions" [[spoiler:and ultimately to fake his own death.]]