Warlock (1989) Reviews

• "My Dad hates all that stuff about Jesus and the 12 apostrophes"

  Backlash0072002-10-30

  It usually takes a special audience to love most of the movies I review. But there's something truly wrong with you if you can't sit back and enjoy Warlock. It's nothing but pure fun. Warlock is a Steve Miner classic. Like his previous film, House, it's loaded with inventiveness. David Twohy's (Pitch Black, Critters 2) script is marvelous and gives us many memorable moments. My favorite occurs when Lori Singer is hammering the Warlock's tracks in the train yard; extremely original. Another great sequence is when the Grand Grimoire is finally assembled. The acting is stellar for the genre. You have gotta love Richard E. Grant's (Bram Stoker's Dracula) accent: "Witches loathe salt." Julian Sands is always superb but is at his most evil in this role. He truly is the Warlock (which is why I'll never watch the third Warlock installment). Steve Miner has brought us some good genre flicks and this is, without a doubt, one of his best (forget about H20). Note for genre buffs: Look for Ian Abercrombie (Army of Darkness) and Mary Woronov (Deathrace 2000) in small roles.

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• Warlock is Fun, Mystery, Drama and Supernatural. Just great

  gooelf502007-03-09

  I rarely watch any thriller type movies that involve the supernatural and and sort of monster or witch. They all tend to have similar plots and fail to challenge the imagination. I only saw this movie because my wife and daughter had just tuned it in when I arrived home one day. I watched simply to spend some time with them and chat during commercial breaks. I was caught up in this story very quickly and remained glued to my seat until it was over. Basically a male witch, played by Julian Sands, who wishes to reverse creation by finding a long hidden biblical document, makes the leap from the 15th century to present day to search for it. He is pursued by an equally determined witch hunter, played by Richard Grant. The movie is comical one moment and bone chilling the next. It's well presented and thrilling from start to finish. The witch chaser pursues the warlock across country, with the assistance of a young lady who falls into the story, with the chase culminating in a Graveyard in a very old section of Boston. Lots of excitement, drama, comedy and horror along the way. A delight to watch.

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• The sinners are much more fun!

  Odysseus-51999-06-19

  This movie actually is a pretty fun film with a lot more going for it than most people might think just looking at the cover. Sands is perfectly cast as the warlock, an evil-to-the-core witch who works for nothing less than the uncreation of the cosmos. Fighting him is an out-of-his-element witch-hunter who has chased him to the present (Grant) with a peculiar confidence. He knows his enemy and knows what he needs to do to prevent the warlock from completing the Grand Grimoire, but is lost in the present. Tagging along is a modern-day girl who is acceptably portrayed by Lori Singer caught between the warlock's unbelievable powers, her newfound friend from the past with an obsession, and her now blasted view of "how things work in the real world." Two things really make this film though. The first is that the explanations that are given actually don't bog the momentum down (and the filmmakers decide to leave some things unexplained or give the most cursory explanations to catch the audience up in the wild ride that Kassandra (Singer) has found herself in) and that although both the warlock and the hunter have powers, they are closly matched and totally obsessed, making for a very interesting conflict. There's also enough tongue in cheek to keep people interesting and to break occasional tension. Very watchable - go and try it on for size.

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• An 80's horror movie thats GOOD!!

  MadRaina1999-12-04

  This is to me one of the most overlooked 80's horror films yet. Its also one of the best. The characters are well developed, and there's even an actual plot! The cast was perfect as well as the special effects which arn't cheesey at all. You don't see the typical teen girls getting butchered along with their boyfriends. You don't see undeveloped unlikeble characters. What you do see is a really good movie, that is totally underrated. Underrated is the key word to describe this movie, Lori Singer is a brilliant actress who is far too overlooked as well as Julian Sands. Its a "must see" movie for fans of quality horror movies.

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• A fun, rather than frightening, late-80s horror film.

  BA_Harrison2007-02-03

  An evil warlock (Julian Sands) travels from the 17th century to modern times, in search of the pages of the Grand Grimoire (the Devil's bible), which, when assembled together, will reveal God's true name and allow creation to be undone. Hot on his heels is a witch-hunter, Giles Redferne (Richard E. Grant), who enlists the help of Kassandra (Lori Singer), a pretty girl who has been cursed by the warlock (for every day that passes, she ages 20 years). Written by David Twohy (Pitch Black) and directed by Steve Miner (Friday the 13th Part 2 and 3, House), Warlock is a fun, if unexceptional, slice of supernatural horror. Twohy has obviously done his homework and fills the script with interesting little snippets of witch lore: Redferne uses a witch compass to track his foe, uses salt as a weapon (witches hate the stuff) and creates a potion (from the boiled fat of a boy!) to enable him to fly. Miner's direction is similar in style to his earlier movie, House, with the emphasis on fun rather than fear. The film is workmanlike but not particularly memorable visually, and is unfortunately let down by some poor special effects. Warlock is diverting enough entertainment while it lasts and worth checking out if you're a fan of all things 'witchy'. Just don't expect anything exceptional.

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