VHS : Warlock [1989]

Rating: - NOT THAT BAD
In 1691, a tiny village near Boston, Massachusetts forces a young man to confess of being a witch. He manages to escape from being hanged by a mysterious cloud, along with a man with the church, Redferne (Richard Grant) tracks him to the year 1991. There, the witch's (Julian Sands) entrance scares a young woman, Kassandra (Lori Singer) and her husband Chas, (Kevin O'Brien) who take in the unconscious man and nurse him back to health. After killing Chas, the Warlock escapes and learns of his reason for being in this particular area of time. Kassandra returns home after learning about Chas and finds Redferne in her home. After his desperate plea to Kassandra for help in finding the Warlock, she doesn't believe him, even after meeting the Warlock face to face. Realizing she needs Redferne's help and protection, she springs him from jail and try to find the Warlock before he reunites the pages of a book that will unleash the Devil from hell.

The Good News: It may take awhile for the plot to get going, but when it does, it does not disappoint. The race against time to stop the Warlock before Kassandra ages to death adds some much needed suspense to the film. As there aren't much in the way of jumps or shocks, the underlying suspense of weather or not they could stop him in time boosted the film up a tad. The gore in the film was pretty well-handled, as their wasn't many deaths in the film, but those that are here are pretty convincing. It does need to be stated that this isn't a body count film in any way, as the Warlock isn't the killing machine he could've been, such as those in other similar movies. That in itself was a refreshing part of the movie, but the most refreshing part is its smartness. The film has a great way of creating a world mixing violence, religious undertones, and a form of black comedy into a very entertaining mixture. It makes you think about what is going on, but it's fault lies in the fact that it never truly goes inside your head like great thrillers, but it does make you think a little more than the average horror film.

The Bad News: While not as blatantly religious as a film like 'End of days,' this film does posses a strong religious undertone that some may not gravitate to. I don not wish to spark debate, but I don't care if a film is religious or not, as long as a film entertains me. I simply wanted to post that. The main weak link in this film is that it misses a great opportunity to have a bit of humor in having Redferne be out-of-touch in modern society. By having him have difficulty in operating gadgets of the 20th century would've been a great comedic device they could've used. Also, Redferne's entrance into our world is never explained. I know it was important to get the plot further, but I don't know how he got into this world. I'm still confused on that part.

The Final Verdict: It could've been done a whole lot worse, but this is still a very entertaining movie, more so than it should've been. If a few parts could've been changed, this would be a more well known movie than it is, but as it stands this is a recommended movie for all those who want to find those hard to find films of any types.

---

Rating: - Ignore the self appointed film critics and watch it!!!
No warlock is not gonna win any oscars. No it's no the most up-to-date action horror out there but if all you want is to be entertained with some good action and a little tongue in cheek horror humour from the brilliant Richard E Grant, then watch Warlock. Julian Sands makes a good job of being loathsome and evil and the films got a pretty decent plot (it was the 80's!!!) Give it a chance it really is pretty good and don't listen to the other over opinionated, pretentious nay sayers who dont know what there talking about.

---

Rating: - before the armageddon
from biting a mans tongue off to stealing a boys life force to enable himself to fly, Julian sands is inimitable as the evil warlock. matched with a great performance by grant. a real must for macabre horror fans. the train sequence where sands has his feet 'nailed' is painfully gripping.

---

Rating: - WARLOCK
OOOOHHHHHH Man. Warlock is a timeless classic. I rate this right up there with Godfather, Schindlers List and Bad Boys 2. And Bad Boys 3, should they make a 3. Msinly because it deals with sensitive issues like relationships between young men and old women and time travel, its truly a manifesto for our times. Especially with all the Sudan War and all that. It really puts into focus how important the world is and we could sort really bad stuff out, like the tusanmi stuff. All we can hope for is a Warlock, not an evil one though, just a wicked modern one like Snoop D O double G.

---

Rating: - Oh stop whining!
Get on!,a good old action flick,battles with good and evil magic,sorcerey and superstition.Allthough a little dated now,I
thought this is a classic 80s dark action movie (reminissant of
films like terminator and the hitcher),if you like good old action movies and are more a film enjoyer than a film critic,go for it,its a good film