Hey folks, Valkor here. And I welcome you to TOV's "30 in 30",
where I'll review 30 unique film and maybe some not so unique,
all in 30 days. What's cool for most of the flicks, is that I
know nothing about em. So this should be a real treat not just
for you guys, but for me as well. Good or bad, this is gonna be
a fun month. It all starts today July the 4th and ends on Aug
the 3rd. Can I make it through? We'll know soon enough!
For number 15, we take another flick from the past and give it the Valkor treatment, and it happens to be another favorite, "Warlock". Oh, and I must apologize in advance for the screencaps, not the best, but the best I could find.
Warlock is a story revolving events of the past moving forward to the future. Witchunter Redfern (Richard E. Grant) has captured the villainous Warlock (Julian Sands), but Satan has other plans and whisks the Warlock away, with Redfern giving chase. Both land in the year 1989 and now Redfern must track down the Warlock once again before he can find all three parts of the grand Grimoire Satan's bible, which contains the name of God. Should the name be read, back to front, it can undo all creation destroying all worlds. To assist in his search, Redfern employs the help of Kassandra (Lori Singer) in his quest; however she'll also need Redfern's help in getting back an object the Warlock took from her, which was then used to place a curse on her, aging Kassandra 20 years each day. The final showdown will take place in a Boston cemetery, where Redfern and Kassandra must keep the Grimoire away from the Warlock, or face dire consequences.
The film spawned two sequels, the third of which I didn't see because the second was so, so bad. Even though it starred Julian Sands returning as the Warlock, who went in search of stones and hunting druids, trust me, it was beyond lame. But the first film…
The Good:
It's good, but in a cheesy kinda way, much like Dark Angel. The plot is pretty direct good vs. evil tale; there's not too much backstory to deal with, just sit back and enjoy. The film Is supposed to be a horror and it has its share of scares and not too much gore. The special effects are very cheesily done, but for its time it was acceptable. But what boost the film forward is the acting, which are main characters totally shine. Julian Sands is so bad ass in this film; I can't see how they could have messed him up in the sequel. Here he's devious and malicious, killing a kid to help him fly or taking a woman's eyes to guide him to the parts of the book. Richard E. Grant also scores huge points with me as his acting is superb, with his Gaelic accent and determination. And his tenacity hardly ever lets up because his character knows he HAS to find the Warlock. Lori Singer; loved ya, wouldn't change a thing about ya! Light bubbly, definitely lightens the mood when things get too serious. Above all else, it's definitely one hell of a film – so where the hell is my Blu Ray special edition?
The Bad:
As much as I enjoyed the film, some scenes weren't needed such as when Kassandra yells as Redfern about needing her insulin – just drew me right out of the film. Second is Redfern, who looked too much as home being from the past and he just sorta goes with it as if to see "Ok, I'm here lots of new shit around me, but whatever, I gotta get that Warlock". And though the effects were cheesy, I hated the aging effect on Kassandra, it didn't look right.
The Ugly:
N/A
Warlock may be a hard find in your local stores, but should you happen across it then definitely pick it up. Good scares, great acting, and all around cheesy goodness that makes the film a treat to watch. Plus its another flick you can add to that Horror film rotation this Halloween. So out of TOV 5 stars, I give Warlock 4 stars. And it's been Valkor tested, TOV Approved!