- Directed by Steve Miner
- June 1, 1989 (AUS) / June 2, 1989 (UK) / January 11, 1991 (US)
A warlock travels from the late 17th century to the present to destroy all of creation.
Warlock is one of those movies that hits like few others do. That’s not to say it’s a perfect film. There are flaws but it was a breath of fresh air for me back at the time. There is time travel and magic and the fate of all creation mixed up in a story involving two diametrically opposed characters.
The imperfections in this film for me are the special effects. Even when I first watched this they were not that good and they aged probably more poorly than many others from the time have. They’re able to get the point across of whatever is supposed to be happening such as flying but it is often just an attempt at visual trickery to make you think what’s going on.
Julian Sands was an extremely talented actor and his passing was truly tragic. As Warlock (I never realized the character had no given name) he embodies pure evil before he even does anything. His whole goal is to get named by Satan as the Anti-Christ by reassembling The Grand Grimoire and learning the name of God to say it backwards and undo creation. Warlock is dismissive and arrogant with Sands needing to do very little to get the point across.
Whatever they wanted to pin on Warlock you could buy. There’s no making him sympathetic. They do give Warlock’s nemesis Redferne (Richard E. Grant) a good reason for tracking the man down and if you listen to the dialogue he may even have crossed an ocean to get to him. Considering the time that is some serious need for revenge. These are two characters locked in an epic struggle.
Richard E. Grant is perhaps in his most masculine role as Giles Redferne here. I have a hard time believing this is the same Richard E. Grant that was in Logan or even Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The man is versatile and always a treat. He also outshines the actress he is paired with.
What I like about his character is that Giles is not one of those guys from the past that is amazed by technology and thinks everything is some kind of magic. Writer David Twohy was smart enough to know that there would be things that amazed and impressed him but that’s all because he’s never seen anything like it.
Nor is he some socially backwards lunkhead. He certainly expresses aspects of his time, but his companion on the journey Kassandra (Lori Singer) gets treated as an equal by him. Redferne has a grudging appreciation for her. Maybe you could even say he tolerates her before coming to respect her abilities and see her full value despite her inexperience with the supernatural. I think the romantic feelings he admitted to at the end were not organic. Maybe in a direct sequel but not in this movie.
Kassandra with a K is a reluctant participant in the story. She originally joins up with Redferne because of a curse that makes her age 20 years every day meaning she’s got about three days or so left to live and only sticks with him to get her youth back. She continues on because if she doesn’t everything in reality will be destroyed because Redferne cannot move about the present himself without help.
Singer does well enough but either she lacked the skill of the other two or lacked strong interest in taking part in the movie. I am guessing the latter. There are reports she was difficult to the point of refusing the old age makeup that she had tested with which was critical for her character during the story. Miner and company went with stippling and a wig.
Warlock digs deep into the lore of witches. It’s not just reading from a book but it is spells, incantations, and potions-things that go beyond the eye of newt or frogs legs like the use of an unbaptized child. The script uses small elements which don’t seem important at first but later play significance. Kassandra’s diabetes for example. I remember watching this for the first time and thinking that was completely unnecessary yet being very impressed when it played into the climax.
This accomplishes so much with so little. The poor special effects are a result of a limited budget, but what this focuses on instead is the story and it keeps things moving. It’s event after event. The threat is never far behind and you’re not left with much time to focus on how some things are not up to snuff. Why? Because it’s done so well.
I have one question and it only now occurred to me having seen this movie multiple times. How did Redferne find Warlock once he got to the future? They are both all the way over in California so he’s in completely unfamiliar territory. It doesn’t seem like they landed in the present day together so it’s not like Redferne could follow Warlock in some fashion to the house. Nor did Redferne have any blood to use for his witch’s compass which comes into use later. A major unanswered question that you probably won’t think about too hard while watching the movie.
Warlock is one of those underappreciated films. It has action and what feels like deeper lore with two great performances by Julian Sands and Richard E. Grant with plenty of assistance from Lori Singer. It’s just great!
