The year: 1948. Magic is everywhere, the hallmark
Matt Golden
The year: 1948. Magic is everywhere, the hallmark of progress. Hardboiled gumshoe Philip Lovecraft is a PI for hire, but his latest case, a search for a…
The year: 1948. Magic is everywhere, the hallmark of progress. Hardboiled gumshoe Philip Lovecraft is a PI for hire, but his latest case, a search for a missing book called “The Necronomicon,” leads him down darker alleys than he’s ever traversed before, filled with black magic and hideous creatures intent on doing him harm. Charged with protecting a virtuous dame, finding a magical tome, and unravelling a murderous mystery, Lovecraft will have only his wits, his fists, and a trusty pistol to come out alive. And in this world, coming out undead is a distinct possibility…
Supernoirtural would be the perfect word for this film. Cast a Deadly Spell is a fascinating anomaly, a rare treat and a helluva fun ride. It was made for HBO in 1991, directed by Martin Campbell (GoldenEye, Casino Royale, The Mask of Zorro) and starring Fred Ward (as Lovecraft), Clancy Brown, David Warner, and Julianne Moore as Lovecraft’s ex-lover and current gun moll, Connie Stone. And since it’s inexplicably never been released on DVD, it’s never seen the audience that it deserves. This is a pitch-perfect blend of film noir, droll comedy, and Lovecraftian horror. The script (by Joseph Dougherty) is smart, funny without being silly, and filled with perfectly-placed nods to H.P. Lovecraft’s oeuvre.
Fred Ward is fantastic as the gruff, acerbic detective, turning in one of the best modern-day performances of a noir PI. He has great fun with the über-noir dialogue. Case in point:
> Hackshaw: You don’t believe in magic?
> Lovecraft: I believe it, just don’t use it.
> Hackshaw: Why?
> Lovecraft: Personal reasons.
> Hackshaw: And they are?
> Lovecraft: Personal.
or
> Olivia: That’s quite a tie.
> Lovecraft: Oh, thanks.
> Olivia: Did it put up much of a fight?
> Lovecraft: No, I snuck up behind it.
Clancy Brown makes a magnificent gangster heavy, Julianne Moore would fit perfectly alongside Barbara Stanwyck as a classic noir dame, and David Warner is in prime form. Director Campbell fully embraces the tale’s pulpy roots and directs with the most stylish flair I’ve seen out of him; it’s almost as though he filmed it in the style of the old Roger Corman shlock films, with exaggerated shots and colors cranked up to 11. The performances ground the film and the direction gives it more class than its origins as a cheap made-for-cable movie should warrant. It’s a heady, exuberant pairing.
With the talent both behind and in front of the camera for this made-for-TV flick, it’s incredible that it’s never seen a DVD release. It managed an ugly VHS transfer (and, thanks to the internet, a rather cruddy but serviceable copy can be downloaded) but it’s high time for HBO to release this gem on home video. Two-fisted, brawny action, horror-tinged, a tad campy (in all the right ways)…this is a magnificently fun film that needs to seen. Highest recommendation.
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★ 10 / 10
I guess the sequel to this is Witch
GenerationofSwine
I guess the sequel to this is Witch Hunt, which I loved, and saw BEFORE Cast a Deadly Spell. It doesn't much matter only instead of the guy Dennis Hopper, you…
I guess the sequel to this is Witch Hunt, which I loved, and saw BEFORE Cast a Deadly Spell.
It doesn't much matter only instead of the guy Dennis Hopper, you got Fred Ward, who is probably known to everyone as either "That guy from the Right Stuff" or "Remo Williams."
And I grew up in a life surrounded by pulp trash novels. Westerns, mysteries, just dime novels that most people don't proudly display on a book shelf, but were more or less everywhere in my childhood home. There was always one laying around to pick up and devour.
So when Cast A Deadly Spell and Witch Hunt hit my radar, they became insta-classics. Sam Spade set in a world of magic. Hard Boiled Detective trash novels meets HP Lovecraft horror trash novels... the perfect merging.
Pure pulp entertainment.
And ultimately chock full of references to both genres that only a family that loves it's trash can really appreciate.
I'm kind of upset there wasn't a third film.
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★ 7 / 10
"Dark comedy" ... unique and entertaining ........
merklekranz
Fred Ward is excellent as the 1948 private eye hired to find a stolen witchcraft book, the "Necronomicon". It had to be a unique film that blends noir…
Fred Ward is excellent as the 1948 private eye hired to find a stolen witchcraft book, the "Necronomicon". It had to be a unique film that blends noir, monsters, virgins, zombies, and magic into a "black comedy", and that film is "Cast a Deadly Spell". There are at least a bunch of surprises along the way, as our hero tries to locate the book. The sharp tongued dialog is perfect, droll, and often hilarious, as Fred Ward, the only one who doesn't use magic, tries to survive witches spells, gangsters, and solve the case. This movie proves that you don't need CGI, if you have a creative mind behind the script, and some excellent makeup for the monsters. - MERK
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· 500 ratings
6.3/10
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Wow, I haven't seen this since I was a kid. I remember it was a movie made for HBO and to be honest the only thing I remembered from it was a seen where Fred Ward opens up the hood of a truck to see why it's not running and finds a Gremlin chewing up the wiring inside. Always been facinated by the folklore of the Gremlins. Always thought they were a really old mythical creature but as it turns out they were created by Rold Daul and other than a couple Looney Toons cartoons, a never produced Disney movie and of course the movies from the 80's this was the only flick to use them in there mytho's. The movie kinda gave me a Roger Rabbit kinda vibe when I first saw it. Can't wait to see it again and finally get the thought of what the heck was the movie about out of my head.