Why is it always a scientist? Also, why do the f*cked up movies (not the derogatory way; more like the types that make you flinch at times) always take place or relate of traveling to Europe?
Leighos, please enlighten us on this. 
Wait, why am I explaining this? I don't know anything about film ;_;
I'm not really sure whether the more f*cked up films really do tend to involve Europe, but if they do, it's probably because Americans perceive the Old World as a place with more history in which there are likely to be more supernatural things and deeper grudges. I mean, much of the US has only been populated by English speakers since the 19th century. The rest has still only been populated for a short amount of time. Maybe that's not enough time to collect a lot of ghosts and demons and curses and scary legends?
And as for scientists: people fear them. Humans have a great fear of people knowing "too much", which usually means "knowing more than they do". They also feel intimidated by the unknown, and the mind of a scientist is a big unknown to a lot of people. Humans also tend to regard certain things as sacred, and science seeks to understand everything, even these sacred things that people don't want to know.
Mix all of that in with some good old religious opposition to science (I've noticed that the "mad scientist" trope is especially popular in the US, the most religious country in the developed world), and a little bit of political correctness (scientists are an acceptable target), and you have a recipe for making scientists into villains.
In the Mouth of Madness
This sounds pretty awesome. It reminds me of a Vonnegut book Breakfast of Champions. Except much more distubing.
I might add that to my netflix queue.
I recommend it! There's a chance you won't like it (I think it's the kind of film that people either find terrifying or not scary at all), but it's more worthy of a couple of hours in front of the screen than most films are.
