Warlock , a review by samuelrichardscott
Warlock (1989) R2 UK
OverviewA sinister 17th century warlock summons satanic intervention to escape a death sentence finds himself transported 300 years into the future. Arriving in modern-day Los Angeles his quest is to find the scattered remains of a satanic bible, containing the true name of god and with it the power to destroy mankind. He has not been transported alone however and in steadfast pursuit is the witch-finder who brought him to trial and must now hunt him down once more.
Julian Sands and Richard E. Grant give superbly matched performances as the enigmatic, battling adversaries in this classic supernatural horror.
Shortened Review:Having never seen this before, after I had read the above blurb, I was expecting something very similar to Highlander and although there are many similarities, the two films are very much a different experience. The film starts in a courtroom where "Warlock" (played by Sands) is on trial for witchcraft. Escaping 300 years into the future he crashed into the living room of the house the beautiful young Kassandra (Singer) is living. After Warlock casts a spell on Kassandra aging her twenty years, she joins forces with witchhunter Giles (Richard E. Grant) who has also travelled forwards in time. As the story progresses we are treated to what is essentially a very fun film. The first thing that struck me is just how well the cast play off each other. Obviously enjoying themselves the chemistry gives the characters that extra little kick which ignites your interest into this supernatural battle. This isn't to say that some of the acting isn't flawed, but it doesn't take away from the movie. Despite being a horror, we aren't given much gore and instead the majority of horror scenes are quite mild and filmed in a way to imply something horrific is happening. This coupled with some reasonably good special effects for a film of this ilk and budget actually adds to the overall enjoyment of the film and if it had gone for out and out gore it would have a very different feel to the overall product. The direction is solid with well organised action scenes and some nice sweeping shots throughout later locations which was to be expected from Miner whose previous film "House" is a favourite of mine. The script is definately a highlight and although being very far from special, contains some excellent moments, especially the scene in which Warlock is talking to a young boy on a swing who proclaims "My Dad hates all that stuff about Jesus and the twelve apostraphes" and "You're a witch? Only girls are witches". Add together the chemistry of the cast, the solid direction, good speial effects and fun script and you get a very enjoyable, and overlooked, movie that's certainly worth seeking out for fans of the genre, or fans of the cast, director or writer.
Full Review:http://www.dvdcompare.net/review.php?rid=2360(This is out April 25th. Yay for advanced copies)
(From Never Ending Movie Marathon (short reviews) on February 28th, 2011)
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May 19, 2024, 12:26:47 AM
