Greetings all my witches, warlocks, zombies, and fellow vampires, I am Josh your host and guide this evening or morning or afternoon depending on what time you are reading this.
Horror Hangouts is just what it sounds like, a place where everyone is welcomed to hangout and explore your love of horror. Consider this a quaint bar and grille with a menu full of your favorites and everyone knows your name.
I not only celebrate my love of horror but celebrate why I love horror. So please have a seat wherever you like. The journey is about to begin.
For the first part of this series, I am writing, The Summer Horror Trilogy Series, I am starting off with the Warlock trilogy, which is one I quite enjoy and just recently revisited as I will with the other trilogies I plan on covering.
I will give a brief breakdown of each film and give that film a rating. This will be followed by my overall view of the characters, themes and the series as a whole.
Warning!!!! There may be a few spoilers. With that said, lets put on our holocaust robes or go skyclad if you are into that, cast yourself a protection spell because its time to confront Satan’s servant.
Warlock (1989) Directed by Steve Minor and starring Julian Sands as the Warlock, Richard E Grant as Redferne and Lori Singer as Kassandra.
The movie begins in 1691 Boston, where the Warlock has been captured by the witch hunter, Giles Redferne, and is chained down in a jail cell. The Warlock has been sentenced to death. But with some supernatural assistance he escapes his deaths entrance and is projected 300 years into the future in Los Angeles. Redferne is able to follow him through this portal into the future. The movie doesn’t exactly explain how this happens. It just does so the accepts it and we move on.
The Warlock crash lands into a house where our other protagonist, Kassandra, and her roommate lives. After recovering from his crash, the Warlock kills the roommate taking a ring he is wearing. The Warlock communes with Satan through a fake psychic and is instructed to rebuild the book called the Grand Grimoire which will bring Satan to Earth and end creation as we know it. Using the psychics eyes as a roadmap he locates one of the pieces of the Grand Grimoire at Kassandra’s house. Later on, he places an aging spell on Kassandra in which she will age 20 years every day. Why, you may ask? Because he’s the Warlock that’s why.
Redferne soon follows and is able to track the Warlock’s movement and both he and Kassandra go on a cross-country adventure that leads them to Boston where we get the final showdown. Kassandra is desperate to reverse the aging spell before she dies and Redferne who wants to help Kassandra but is intent on stopping the Warlock as it is not only his mission but personal as well. It is alluded to that the Warlock is responsible for the death of Redferene’s true love.
The two protagonists are able to kill the Warlock and soon afterwords, Redferne is teleported back to the 17th century.
The first Warlock movie was something different for the time it came out. There hadn’t been a whole lot of witchcraft related movies since the 1970’s so I would like to think that the moderate success of The Warlock which has its cult following (no pun intended) may have led to other witch themed movies.
Julian Sands is both charming and unapologetically evil in his performance. Sands was already an established actor before the Warlock and whether you like the movies or not . Most will agree that his performance is iconic and underappreciated.
There aren’t many kills. The most disturbing is off screen where the Warlock kills a un-baptized boy and used his fat to conjure up a potion allowing him to fly. I will admit some of the CGI used has not aged well at all, but it was 1989.
Richard E Grant is great as Redferne and makes you believe that he could be a worthy adversary to the Warlock. He really doesn’t have much of an arc. By and large ge is the same character he was at the end then he was at the beginning. Perhaps being able to adjust to a different time in history. Though is motivations are two dimensional. On one hand he is trying to stop the warlock because that is his job and calling but there is another layer to that. It is mentioned that he had a love who fell prey to the Warlock, so he is after both justice and revenge. I do wish we could have learned more about his lost love, Marianne.
Lori Singer is ok as Kassandra, there are times her character is a bit dimwitted but other times she’s fairly likeable. She does have a bit of an arc in that she does come across as being self-absorbed. She even states that she is only helping Redferne so the aging spell can be reversed. Otherwise, she wants nothing to do with this age-old battle. Which might be more about self-pre4servation than selfishness. When she does get the spell reversed, Kassandra does intend to go her own way but changes her mind after Redferne pleads with her that he still needs her help. She reluctantly agrees and ends up becoming a pivotal factor it defeating the Warlock and becomes a stronger character.
There is some humor in this movie, regarding Redferne coping with the modern world. especially as he has to board a plane. But the humor normally lands and doesn’t take away from the horror of the movie. It is probably a little longer than it needs to be which hurts some of the pacing but otherwise a great watch.
I give Warlock an 8/10
Warlock: The Armageddon (1993) Directed by Anthony Hickox and Starring Julian Sands as once again the Warlock, Chris Young as Kenny, Paula Marshall as Samantha, Steve Kahan as Will (Kenny’s father), Bruce Glover as Reverend Ted (Samanta’s father) and RG Armstrong as Franks.
This time the Warlock is back to bring about the end of the world once again. Do you see a pattern developing? According to this story every six hundred years a Warlock returns to bring about Satan himself to end the world. It is up to a line of druids to defeat the Warlock. Ever notice God is no where to be seen during all of this. Talk about an absentee landlord.
Shortly into the film we witness a young woman in New York City preparing for a date. She has a necklace with a special ancient stone which we find out is called the Borth stone. Suddenly she goes into labor and a tar like fetus jumps out of her belly devours her little poodle and instantly grows to a full adult Warlock. Talk about instant Warlock. The Warlock takes the birthstone kills the woman and once again communes with the devil where he is instructed to gather the other five stones. When this is accomplished Satan can return to Earth and party like its 1599.
In a small California town, we are introduced to two teenagers; Samantha and Kenny. We will find out later that both their mothers died given birth to them and on the exact same day. More important to the story is that their fathers along with a couple other locals are descendants of a long line of Druids committed to defeating the Warlock whenever he resurfaces. Both Samantha and Kenny have been chosen and destined to be the warriors who have to fight the Warlock.
Of course, the Warlock has no problem collecting four more stones as he goes on a gruesome murder spree across America. There is but one stone left for him to collect which just happens to be… you guessed it, the very town where Samantha and Kenny live.
With the help of their fathers and one of the other druids, Franks; Samantha and Kenny learn how to use their powers and prepare for their battle with the Warlock. Neither one can defeat Satan’s servant alone, they both have to work together in order to defeat them. It is a great analogy on how men and women can work together to achieve goodness and what is right. There are times when they each have to save one another while still battling the evil in front of them. In the end they prevail.
Now normally I would scoff at the idea of a couple of inexperienced teenagers defeating a highly experienced and powerful Warlock, but somehow the movies pulls it off. Granted I was 19 when this movie came out so I was a bit more open to teenage characters than I am now.
Warlock: Armageddon is my favorite of the series as Sands really ups his game and is even more menacing than he was in the first film. As a sidenote despite his success in mainstream movies, Julian Sands never shied away from this character and was proud to have been apart of those movies. This sequel was far more gruesome than the first with more kills that were both grotesque and inventive.
I did like the characters of Samantha and Kenny. Their arc of realizing their importance and their powers is a bit rushed I will admit but their romance seemed earned and not forced. When you think of final couple in horror movies, I sometimes overlook them, but they are among my favorites.
The movie also boasts a strong supporting cast with veteran character actors: RG Armstrong, Steve Kahan and Bruce Glover. Joanne Paccula also makes an appearance.
I give Warlock: Armageddon a 9/10.
Warlock: End of Innocence (1999) Directed by Eric Freiser and starring Bruce Payne as the Warlock, Ashley Laurence as Kris, Paul Francis as Michael, Jan Schweuterman as Jerry, Boti Bliss as Robin, Rick Hearst as Scott and Angel Boris as Lisa.
And now were onto the red headed stepchild of the series. As everyone knows Julian Sands did not reprise the role for the Warlock in the third and final installment. I still have not located any information as to why that was the case. On top of that unlike the first two entries in the series which both received theatrical releases, Warlock 3 would go straight to video. It was, also, operating at a much lower budget than the first two films. But you know what it is still a damn good movie and my second favorite of the series, and if Julian Sands had returned it might have been my favorite. I will explain that later.
The story starts back in the 17th century when the Warlock, now portrayed by Bruce Payne, abducts a young girl and is taken back to his mansion. In a series of flashbacks, the girl’s mother, Mrs. Miller, rescues her child and is able to trap the Warlock in the house using some of her own magic.
We then come to present day where we meet Kris, an art student at the university, which is ironic as Ashley Laurence is an artist herself. Makes me wonder if that was added into the script upon Laurence landing the role. Kris has a boyfriend, Michael, who is a bit of an ass, ( I swear what is it about nice girls always going out with the jerks). Anyway, she has several friends on campus including Robin, who happens to be a young witch herself, and is the most interesting of the side characters, there’s Jerry, a shy musician who has a crush on Kris and then there is the couple of Lisa and Scott, who as characters aren’t the greatest but their one redeeming quality is they are into sadomasochism. Those scenes I did find quite stimulating… I mean educational, damnit. They would have made great characters in a Hellraiser movie.
Kris who was adopted as a young girl and has no knowledge of her true ancestry. Until she is informed that she has inherited an old house that belonged to her biological family for generations. We would find out later that Kris is a decedent of Mrs. Miller who trapped the Warlock all those centuries ago.
She goes to visit the house, hoping to learn more about her ancestry. Accompanying her is her boyfriend and the rest of her crew.
After an incident with the plumbing within the house, The Warlock is able to escape. Going by the name of Phillip Covington, which is the first time that the Warlock ever goes by an actual name, arrives at the house claiming to be an architect but has a secret nefarious plan for Kris and her friends. The Warlock wishes to sacrifice Kris’s soul to Satan and make her a mother of satanic beings. To do this he must manipulate her friends into betraying her or else they will suffer an excruciating torturous death.
His first victim is Robin, who figures out that Covington is up to no good. We get a brief battle between the young witch and the Warlock. Unfortunately, she is no match and is turned to glass and shattered into a thousand pieces.
Covington then uses physical and psychological torture to persuade them to betray Kris, which they all eventually do. Surprisingly, Michael is the last to give in. Perhaps he wasn’t such an ass after all.
All alone, Kris now has to find her strength and courage to defeat the Warlock and cast him back to Hell, which she eventually does.
Kris does have an arc in this movie. She is a very likeable and caring character but perhaps too trusting and she frightens easily. She’s the type of person who would be scared of her own shadow. Kris is afraid of going to this house alone and desperately wants Micheal and the gang to accompany her. She definitely has some dependency issues. She is far from perfect as a off hand comment she made about Jerry is used by the Warlock to turn Jerry against her. With no one to help she has to now rely on herself with some help from her ancestors through subliminal imagery giving her the knowledge to kill the Warlock.
Bruce Payne, who is no stranger to playing vile villains, does a great job of playing the Warlock. Though he might lack Julian Sands’ charisma, he plays the role a bit more methodically as this version prefers to slowly torment his victims.
Having an experienced horror actress like Ashley Laurence who is best known for playing Kirsty Cotton in the Hellraiser films gives this movie a big boost from a performance standpoint. Laurence, along with Payne certainly carry the movie from that standpoint.
The supporting cast is ok, not as good as the second film. A cool little note to any of you who happen to be soap opera fans, my wife happened to point out that Rick Hearst, who plays Scott, also played a character, Rick Lansing in the ever-popular General Hospital series. So, if any of you GH fans want to see good old Rick get handcuffed and whipped by his girlfriend, there you go.
All kidding aside, part three, unlike the first two films, which had many settings and were much bigger in scale, has one main and simple setting, an old dusty and dreary New England Mansion, which I can be a sucker for. This does give the Warlock three a much different tone from the other movies. This movie relies more on atmosphere and haunting imagery, and it works. Even the effects both practical and some digital seem to hold up.
It isn’t a perfect. There is this dopy scene where Kris and her friends are cleaning up the house to a music montage, that was so 90’s. Then there is a scene where Kris attempts to drive away from the house but of course the car won’t start. How many times has that trope been used.
Other than that Warlock 3: End of Innocence has elements of a haunted house movie, supernatural horror mixed with good old-fashioned witchcraft. Oh, and then there is the S&M…lol. I give this black sheep of the series an 8.5/10.
Final Thoughts
The Warlock trilogy is unique in that each movie does not feel connect to the others. Even the first two, with Julian Sands playing the main antagonist, feel like separate stories with a different Warlock. The mission of the Warlock is the same in each film; bring Satan into the world causing the Earth to fall into an era of darkness which I believe is foretold in the book of Revelations. You see I did pay attention in religion class after all.
The lack of connection could be a positive or negative. I see at as a positive as the sequels are allowed to be their own movies and not bound to the first which sometimes can be a detriment.
At the time this trilogy came of horror fans, something different compared to what was being made. I, also see those movies paying a bit of homage to the gothic witchcraft movies of the sixties and early seventies. I kind of wish they had made a Warlock movie set entirely as a period piece. What would have been fun would have been a Warlock crossover with The Craft.
In Closing, I often wonder if we will ever get another Warlock movie. It has been 27 years since the last. Hopefully not a remake of the original but maybe a stand-alone sequel. Tragically we lost Julian Sands three years ago and Bruce Payne would be well into his sixties by now. Who could play that roll with the same level of malicious and twisted evil? Michael Fasbender? Daniel Craig? Idris Elba? Mads Mickelson?
Whatever the future holds, I will always have the trilogy to enjoy and if you haven’t checked them out as your instructor, I highly advise that you do.
Coming Soon to a Substack Near You:
The Hatchet Trilogy
Lucio Fulci’s Gates of Hell Trilogy
Dario Argento’s Three Mothers Trilogy
The Re- Animator Trilogy
Evil Dead Trilogy
Ti West’s X Trilogy
I saw the second one and liked it. Is that the one where he flies, or am I misremembering?
Michael Fasbender would be perfect as Warlock.