Warlock

Plot synopsis:
The scene opens in early colonial America, in Boston, Massachusetts in 1691. A combination gallows/pyre has been constructed for an execution by both hanging and burning, and a man is shown roughly loading feral cats into a wicker basket. Village elders are entering a small tower being used as a prison; its door engraved with a hex mark. At the top of the tower, a man (Julian Sands) is chained, including a peculiar shackle that locks his thumbs to his big toes. The man is to be executed for 'trafficking with the Devil,' and is being offered a final chance to confess his sins before man and God. However, the warlock is completely unrepentant and does not speak to the jailer or elders. The elders leave to continue preparing for the execution.Entering the cell next is a stoic man named Giles Redferne (Richard E. Grant), a witch hunter who helped capture the warlock. He gloats over the warlock's meeting a well-deserved fate, asking whether Satan would have saved the warlock yet, if he wanted to at all. The warlock slyly suggests that Satan may yet save them both. Giles kicks him in the face, knocking him onto his back and says he'll watch the warlock die tomorrow. The warlock tells him to believe it on seeing it... tomorrow.As Giles leaves, he warns the jailer that the thumb locks must not be removed from the warlock even during or after the execution; not until his corpse has completely finished burning to ash. But even as he speaks, there are sounds of a storm brewing. As Giles exits the tower, a powerful, clearly unnatural storm breaks over the village, and Giles notes it is centered over the warlock's prison tower. Giles rushes into the cell to find the warlock free of his shackles and channeling a powerful spell. The warlock disappears into the storm with Giles following behind him.Cut to modern day Los Angeles, California. We hear a radio broadcast about a storm breaking; one nicknamed, 'The Devil's Wind.' A funnel of air is seen heading toward a suburban house. A blonde woman, Kassandra (Lori Singer) is turning over in her bed, asleep until the sound of a breaking window jolts her awake. She goes to investigate, quickly joined by Chas (Kevin O'Brien), the owner of the house, from whom she rents her room. They find the warlock lying unconscious on the floor of the living room.Chas goes to call the police to get an ambulance, but the winds have knocked down phone lines throughout the area. He and Kassandra half-pull, half-carry him to Kassandra's room. Kassandra is wary but Chas wants to show the strange arrival some compassion.Morning arrives and Kassandra is dressing and preparing for work. She is a diabetic and must take regular injections of insulin.Going back to her room, she sees the warlock is awake and slyly suggests he stop drinking. As she asks if there's someone he can call, as the phones are working again, the warlock is staring in amazement at a weekly newspaper on her desk, dated March 4-10, 1988. He asks if that could truly be the year, though it appears he is talking to himself as much as Kassandra. She is amused at his voice inflections, noting he speaks, "English English." She gently presses him back down on the bed and tells him to rest. On the road, driving to work, Kassandra is shown to be both a bit careless in her driving, not always watching the road, and a bit vain, praying she never gets old.Back at the house, Chas is cooking a meal. Picking up a knife he's dropped, he's briefly started on seeing the warlock's reflection. The warlock just smiles politely and stands silently in the kitchen while Chas talks to him. He notices the warlock looking at a ring on his finger, and says it's his birth sign,Scorpio, but nobody believes in astrology anymore, which surprises the warlock. Suddenly the warlock grabs a knife and hacks Chas's finger off, taking the ring. Chas screams for help, but the warlock gestures and the kitchen door closes, trapping Chas in the kitchen. Donning the ring, the warlock grabs Chas and bites his tongue out, spitting it into the skillet.Kassandra is seen at work as a waitress at a small coffee shop. A police cruiser arrives in front. A police detective asks Kassandra questions about Chas, telling her the coroner's notes on the cause of his death. He asks Kassandra for the names of Chas's lovers. Kassandra tells the detective that Chas was gay.Over at a bookstore selling books on the metaphysical, a group is leaving after conversation with a spirit, happy at the results of the spirit channeling. The Channeler (Mary Woronov) starts to close up when she sees the warlock in the shop. He asks her to channel a spirit for him. She is allured at his charismatic nature and agrees to his request.The Channeler begins the private channeling for the spirit that the warlock said had many names, one of which was Zamiel. As the Channeler completes the summoning, the warlock immediately sees through the ritual and notes that she is a fraud. But he only says that he wishes to wait for the true Zamiel to appear. Trying to keep up the charade, the Channeler says the warlock must cast aside his skepticism. But suddenly she begins to gasp and choke. Her hands almost involuntarily close around a crystal, and it shatters. Her head falls forward onto the table, and then snaps back up, and her face has become demonic; her teeth huge and like shark's teeth. The warlock asks why he was brought to this place and time. Zamiel, speaking through the Channeler, tells the warlock to bring together his "Bible," which has been divided into three parts. The warlock is amazed to hear that this book, which he calls the Grand Grimoire, is here, now. Very interested, he asks what reward was in store for him if he succeeded in retaking the book - which he understands, can "thwart Creation itself." Zamiel tells the warlock that if he succeeds, he shall become Satan's one begotten son. His eyes will guide the warlock. The Channeler then collapses face-first back onto the table. The warlock picks up a shard from the crystal and lifts the Channeler's head back up. She is dead and her face has reverted to normal. The warlock uses the sharp edge of the broken crystal shard to remove her eyes, and they are shown to be moving - a guide for the warlock.Kassandra arrives home, not quite comfortable in the house now that Chas has been murdered. She closes a door, and a shadow appears from a sliver of light behind it as she walks away. Going to her room, Kassandra starts to gather her things, deciding to leave the house. The sound of shattering glass attracts her attention.Going to investigate, she sees a cat run across the hall. Relieved, she resumes packing, but then sees Giles Redferne in the doorway. She screams in fear, and he rushes to cover her mouth, holding up the thumb-lock device, demanding to know if the one who wore these bled at all, anywhere. She screams again and he slaps her face. She tries to punch him, but he grabs her and drags her to the kitchen where a police chalk outline still shows where Chas was found. Giles tells Kassandra that he can find 'the beast' if he knows if his blood was spilled. Kassandra finally realizes that Giles is talking about the warlock and finally admits that he had been cut. Giles asks her to show him where. Kassandra goes to the vacuum cleaner and empties out the dust bag. Sifting through the dust, Giles finds a shard of broken glass with blood on it. He fiddles with it, using his dagger, saying it may do. He scrapes the dried blood from the shard into a small glass vial.While he works, Kassandra sneaks into the next room and calls the police. She tells them there is an intruder, and she doesn't know what to make of him, but he "has a thing for blood-- draw your own conclusions." The operator traces her call and gets her address and tells her a car is on the way. Kassandra says she's fleeing the house, though she doesn't get far after hanging up before Giles grabs her, now wanting to know where her water well is. Amused despite her fear, at the man asking for a water well, she takes him to the bathroom and shows him how to use the sink. He puts a little bit of water into the vial with the blood. She watches, perplexed, as he sets up a strange device. At her query, he explains it is a witch compass and she understands that he is hunting the blond man who had been in the house, and Giles says that this man was a warlock. He puts a drop of the blood onto the compass, saying that the compass will point in the warlock's direction. Kassandra watches, now interested, but mocks Giles when the device doesn't appear to work. Giles tells her to give it time, as the blood was thin, but Kassandra hears the arrival of the police squad car and tells him that he doesn't have any time. Giles rushes to the door and is taken aback at the automobiles, something he's seeing for the first time and has no idea what they are. He goes outside, not understanding who the officers are. The police order him to freeze. Thinking he is being attacked, Giles uses his whip to try and defend himself, but an officer subdues him with a taser gun.Giles spouts about the warlock's evil as he is loaded into the squad car. The lead officer tells Kassandra they'll take him down to the station, and advises her to leave the house. Kassandra is very agreeable to this and rushes to resume packing her things.Hurrying between the house and her car, stuffing as much as will fit into the car, Kassandra grabs some things from the bathroom. But the needle of Giles' witch compass, still resting on the bathroom counter top, suddenly begins to move, and she notices. Approaching the door, Kassandra freezes in fear on spotting the warlock just outside, holding a pair of disembodied eyes in one hand-- eyes that seem to move on their own. She rushes to close and lock the door, and rushes back to her phone to call the police again. This time however she only reaches the automated hold system. She sees the witch compass needle begin to spin and drops the phone in fear. She rushes to secure all the doors and windows of the house, but she is too late as the warlock is behind her.The warlock drags her by her hair into the living room, watching the disembodied eyes in his other hand. They lead him to an antique coffee table, and he sweeps everything off of it. Kassandra runs to the bathroom and locks herself inside as the warlock smashes the table apart, finding a sheaf of papers inside which are covered in strange writing and drawings. Inside the bathroom, Kassandra tries to open the shutters and escape through the window. Suddenly the warlock's hand smashes through and grabs her wrist. Screaming in terror, Kassandra yanks her wrist free and loses her balance, falling to the floor and hitting her head, knocking herself out. The warlock had managed to grab the charm bracelet off of her wrist. Holding it, he sticks his head through the window and recites a dire chant before leaving.Morning comes before Kassandra comes to. Struggling to regain her bearings, she realizes that her hair has grown far far longer than she keeps it cut. Rushing to look at herself in the mirror, she finds to her horror that she looks about twenty years older.Kassandra is leaving the police station with Giles, having bailed him out of jail. She realizes that the warlock put a spell on her to age her from twenty years old to forty, and she needs Giles' help as he seems to know a great deal about the warlock. Driving down the street, Giles is completely dumbfounded at the world around him. He explains to Kassandra that he and the warlock are from the year 1691 and a time portal brought them 300 years into the future without explanation.Back at the house, Giles is examining the broken table. Kassandra stops him and asks how they fix her age. He asks if the warlock took a small, personal object from her, and she remembers that he took her charm bracelet. Giles says the only way to break the hex is to regain the bracelet from the warlock. Kassandra is too frightened to pursue the warlock and tells him he must go on his own. Giles warns her that the spell placed on her is not complete, but progressive. Each day she will age another 20 years - meaning within two days, three at most, she will die of old age.Kassandra and Giles are preparing to pursue the warlock, though Kassandra makes it clear that she's only looking to reclaim her bracelet - whatever quarrel Giles has with the warlock, as far as she is concerned, is between them and none of her business. Giles nods curtly and they start off.As the warlock walks across the mesa, studying the papers he took from the broken table, Giles is busying himself coating his whip with salt taken from the house. He explains to Kassandra that salt is taboo to witches. Again we see Kassandra's careless driving style as Giles must grab the wheel to steer the car away from the wrong side of the road - and away from an onrushing truck.A young boy is playing with a football in a small trailer park. He throws it and is surprised to see a man catch the football - the warlock. The boy takes the warlock to the nearby playground, and shows him how to play a hand-held football video game. The warlock is distracted by the sound of singing and music. The boy explains that it's coming from the church a few dozen yards behind them. The warlock asks the boy why he's not at church, and he tells the warlock that he never goes to church, because his dad hates all things about Jesus Christ and the 12 Apostrophes. The boy then asks the warlock why he doesn't attend church, and the warlock says that witches cannot set foot on church grounds. The boy thought witches were girls, but the warlock tells him that some are men. The boy asks where the warlock's flying broomstick is. The warlock says he needs no broomstick to fly. When asked what he does need, the warlock just laughs and gently pushes the swing that the boy is sitting on.Kassandra pulls into a roadside gas station to refill her gas tank. Giles sets up the witch compass while the car is being refilled and notes the needle moving in the direction of the park. Gunshots are heard, and the station attendant explains that local residents are hunting coyote, because a small boy in the nearby trailer park was killed by one. The attendant says that coyotes are known to do that in this part of the state, and the boy was badly chewed up, his skin taken clean off.Kassandra and Giles head to the trailer park where they see the hunters dropping the corpse of a coyote they'd killed on the ground. A small crowd is gathered, murmuring. Giles notices one woman's reaction, and her face as she walks away. He rushes after her, asking if she is the boy's mother. When she acknowledges that she is, he offers her his sympathy, and asks if he was baptized. She's shocked that he asked her that question, but she responds: "No, his father wouldn't allow it." and walks away. Giles' face turns very grimGiles suspects the warlock is the boy's murderer, and he explains to Kassandra that of all the various spell reagents used by witches, the most precious is human fat - and if that fat is cut from a male child that has not been baptized, there is one thing it would be used for: a flying potion.At night, Giles' grim words prove true, as the warlock cooks the fat in a small metal can over a flame that burns blue. After he drinks the foul-tasting brew, a police officer on speeding stakeout is dumbfounded at the sight of a strange man flying through the air at incredible speed.Kassandra is trying to make small talk with Giles to pass the time as they travel down the road. She is startled by his sudden question on why she paints her face. She tries to explain that in modern times, makeup is considered perfectly acceptable. Giles blurts out that if: "My Marion had-" and suddenly stops, saying only that in the 17th century, women didn't wear make-up unless they practiced witchcraft. Kassandra realizes that Giles had accidentally let slip something he didn't want to talk about - he was married. She tries to press for more information when Giles insists they stop the car so he can get new bearings via the compass. Kassandra chastises herself as Giles sets the compass up on the road... and then realizes she is feeling very ill. Giles notices her stumbling out of the car, and she begs him to leave her by the road and go on without her. Her voice has changed drastically. Midnight has passed, and Kassandra has aged to sixty years old. Giles can only comfort her.Morning comes, and the warlock has secreted himself in the attic of a farmhouse. He is studying the papers, and is pleased at his new-found ability to create and control witch-fire. Even hidden, however, the warlock's very presence alters the environment around him - the farmer's father goes to tell him that the cream has gone bad, which puzzles the farmer as he only brought it in yesterday. He asks his father to bring out one of the horses, and the father finds the horse deeply agitated, and wet. Walking toward the house, he notices the attic's door onto the roof is ajar. Watching his young grandchildren run by, racing each other, the elderly man takes paint and a paintbrush, and begins painting something on the barn.Kassandra and Redferne are passing the state border into Colorado. Kassandra finally gets Giles to tell her about Marion. She realizes that this is why he is pursuing the warlock - he killed his wife.They are passing by the farm and Giles is shocked to see a hex mark painted on the side of the barn, and the witch compass needle moves to point toward it. Giles urges Kassandra to stop and begins running toward the farm. The witch compass is broken by the hard stop, but Giles says that if God is with them, they won't need it any longer.They rush into the house and confront the farmer, who was the son an Amish man and a Mennonite, saying that they are bewitched. The farmer is startled and wary at the intrusion until his father comes into the room, saying he painted the mark, and they are bewitched. He and Giles shake hands in a comradely fashion, and he takes Giles to show him the ajar attic door. Giles has the Mennonite retrieve nails and a hammer, which he uses to nail the door shut. Back in the house, the farmer and his wife are still amazed at how his father is giving Giles almost free run on the property. Giles says that if children are present, to take them away. The Mennonite agrees and urges his son and daughter-in-law to take the kids and go. A horse that sweats in the morning, cream that sours overnight-- even his son, a modern-day farmer, has learned the signs that the Mennonite recognizes and believes in.The farmer and his wife take the kids and drive off. Giles is preparing to enter the attic from the retractable staircase connecting it to the farmhouse's hallway. He gives Kassandra and the Mennonite copper pennies to hold between their lips, as a ward against errant magic. On his word they are to close the steps and brace the door shut, and not re-open it until he says it is okay.Pulling his whip and bodkin knife, Giles enters the attic. He's startled by a flying bat and quickly slays it. Noting a small window braced open, he knows the warlock was - or still is there. Looking around, he finds a broken piece of furniture, and a piece of paper inside, covered with drawings and writing. He quietly reads a few words from the paper, then tears it in half and puts the pieces on the floor. As the two pieces begin to move toward each other and reform into a single full sheet, Giles realizes with horror that it is a page from the Grand Grimoire. He rushes to the stairs to tell Kassandra and the Mennonite about it-- the Grand Grimoire, an indestructible book of black magic said to be authored by Satan himself-- his bible. The Grimoire was last held by the West End church in Boston. Giles had urged them to divide the book into three parts to prevent witches from seizing it and gaining access to all of its secrets, but the pages were supposed to be kept on hallowed ground. Kassandra interrupts him, asking where the warlock is. Giles says, exasperated, that he's fled. But Kassandra points out that if the Grimoire was so precious to witches, why would he leave even a single page behind? Realizing Kassandra's point, he shouts for them to close the steps.Giles rushes back into the center of the attic, ready for battle, when the warlock lands to confront him. Giles shouts for the Mennonite to fix the brace, which the warlock scoffs at, pointing out he can now fly. Giles promptly uncoils his whip, yanking out the small brace in the window to close it. He then advances on the warlock and jams his bodkin deep into the warlock's middle. But he finds to his dismay that the warlock had placed the Grimoire pages under his shirt, and they acted as armor; the deep tear in the pages mending instantaneously. The warlock marvels at how even just two-thirds of the Grimoire could do this. He then counterattacks with a bolt of witch fire, causing Gilles to bust through the nailed attic door and tumble out onto the ground. Retrieving the page left behind, the warlock steps out onto the roof and with his magic, causes the weather vane to break loose from the roof and hurtle at Giles like a spear. It narrowly misses, and Giles coils his whip around the warlock's ankle as he starts to fly off. The warlock drags him across the farm and flies into the barn, where Giles collides with the barn wall and loses his grip. Kassandra and the Mennonite regroup with him, having retrieved the weather vane, which Giles holds ready. When the warlock re-emerges, Giles hurls it like a javelin, nailing the warlock in the back and forcing him to land. The three pounce on him, pull his boots off and hold him down, where Giles scrambles to affix the thumb-toe locks. Kassandra scrambles to recover her bracelet, but finds only the Channeler's eyes, which she tosses away in disgust. The warlock finds his avenue of escape - he stares into the Mennonite's eyes. Giles notices, but too late - the warlock has placed a vile hex that is causing the Mennonite's eyes to bleed. Feeling the warlock has slain too many, he lets go of him to tend to the stricken Mennonite. The warlock is able to hobble and hop away, the locks not completely in place.Giles calls for brass keys to remove the hex. He also gives Kassandra the hammer and remaining nails, saying that if she finds footprints from the warlock, to hammer the nails into the ground there. Kassandra is furiously angry at the thought of facing the warlock with a simple nail, but Giles insists she go and do as he says - the warlock can be crippled that way.Kassandra heads off, finding her way to a railway station near the farmhouse. She discovers foot prints made from a bare foot and hammers the nails into the dirt. She hears the warlock scream in agony, and we see him holding his feet as he hides in a railway car. Kassandra drives a nail into another foot print, but this time there is no scream-- the warlock had ripped a plank up from the railway car and is holding it against his feet like a shield. But then Kassandra finds an indentation made in a small pile of dirt, by the warlock's head when he stumbled and fell while removing the thumb-lock device. She drives a nail in and the warlock falls unconscious. His arm dangles limply out of the car and Kassandra sees her charm bracelet around the warlock's wrist. But the railway car begins moving, and Kassandra's supernaturally-aged, sixty-year-old body struggles desperately to catch up. She finally manages to grab the warlock's wrist, but the warlock comes to and grabs her wrist in return. She hits his hand with the hammer, causing him to lose his grip and her to fall to the ground. She watches in dismay as the train carries the warlock off... but then notes that the hammer pulled her charm bracelet off the warlock's wrist, and both hammer and bracelet lie on the ground just a few feet in front of her.Giles has finished treating the Mennonite's eyes and covered them with a dressing. He has placed the brass keys above his head, to be spun clockwise once per hour. By morning the hex would be gone and his eyes recovered. He hears Kassandra ask about the Mennonite. Only her silhouette is visible from the darkened entrance to the bedroom. Giles offers no excuse other than his wish to save just one life that the warlock would have otherwise taken. Saying she understands, Kassandra steps into the light, showing that the hex on her is likewise broken and her body has been restored to its original youth at twenty years of age.They are heading back to Kassandra's car, Giles saying that it is easy enough to gather brass, copper and glass to rebuild the compass. The most important thing is the weather vane, which has a new supply of the warlock's blood. But Kassandra wants no further part of the witch hunt now that she is restored to normal. She hands Giles her car keys and credit card, wishing him well. He grabs her and she protests that the deal was only until she got her bracelet back. Having never learned Kassandra's name, he asks her for it, and proceeds to tell her that her life is still in grievous danger - in fact all life is, now that he knows what the warlock is up to. The warlock has recovered two portions of the Grand Grimoire. If he gains the third part and completes the book, he will gain access to its ultimate secret-- the lost, true name of God. This true name was invoked during Creation... and witches claim that if the true name of God were to be pronounced in reverse, and spoken backward, all of Creation would also reverse - Earth and the universe would be destroyed. Kassandra groans in dismay. She is terrified of the warlock, and it shows plainly. On the next confrontation, there would be no spells or hexes-- she is sure that next time, the warlock would kill her. Giles promises to protect her as he holds out the car keys.Driving down the road again, Kassandra has come up with a plan. The Grimoire was last kept by the West End Church in Boston. Instead of playing tag, as she explains to Giles, they should play "leap frog" instead - hurry to get to Boston before the warlock and make sure the last pages are safe on hallowed ground. They drive to the airport and Kassandra calls Operator Assistance to get the West End Church's address. Kassandra gives the ticket agent her credit card, but when the agent is distracted by another customer asking a quick question, Kassandra stealthily unplugs the card reader.Noticing that the plane Kassandra speaks of is able to fly through the air like a bird, Giles is very nervous, thinking that flying machines were a form of witchcraft. Kassandra suddenly notices Giles still has the weather vane attached to his back. She tries to grab it away, arguing he wouldn't be allowed on the plane with it. But suddenly she sees the warlock in the airport-- the warlock was no fool, and had figured out how to beat them at their own game. She shoves the vane back into Giles' hands and drags him off to the plane. On board, during the evening, Kassandra tries to get Giles to settle down and sleep. But he notices another passenger putting cream in his coffee and noticing it is spoiled, and another passenger lighting a cigarette with a cigarette lighter, and the flame is pure blue. Giles believes these are signs of a witch's presence. Kassandra tries to calm him, and he realizes that she saw the warlock in the airport and didn't tell him. He insists they look for the warlock on the plane, but the warlock has secreted himself in the baggage hold in the plane's underside, out of sight.The plane lands in Boston. Airport agents open the baggage hold door and are startled at what looks like a man flying out. Cut to Kassandra and Giles in a taxicab, hoping to find the church. Boston has changed considerably in the last 300 years and Giles isn't sure the church's location is still the same, or if it even exists anymore. Recalling his knowledge of certain landmarks as best he can, Giles manages to aid the cab driver in finding the correct church. They arrive just as the Pastor of the Church is closing up. The Pastor is looking to get home, but when Giles says he needs to speak about the Grand Grimoire, he re-opens the doors and brings them inside.The Pastor says that Church documents aren't for sale, thinking that they are collectors of old documents. Kassandra says that they just need to find the book. The Pastor says it is long gone, divided up and-- he is interrupted by wind blowing the doors open, which alerts Giles that thw warlock is around. Closing the doors again, the Pastor inquires into their interest in the Grimoire, and is shocked at Giles' explanation.He retrieves and opens an old folder of Church papers going back to 1692 and detailing the separation of the Grand Grimoire. One part was placed within the hollow of a table used in taking communion. The second part was given to a vicar who had founded a ministry west of the Carolinas, placed within an armoire. Over the years and centuries as witchcraft was forgotten and people no longer believed in it, these objects ended up sold and donated, re-sold and re-donated, until the table ended up at Chas's house, and the armoire in the Mennonite's attic. As for the third part... the Pastor says it should still be in Boston.Kassandra and Giles are walking down the road. The last part of the book is in an old graveyard that Giles remembers existing even back in his day. The layout of the town is very different, but some subtle similarities remain. He manages to locate the graveyard, saying that if the ground there is consecrated, then the pages are safe, for the warlock can never set foot there.Meanwhile, the Pastor is back home. His wife alerts him to a sound she's heard. They both note that the door is rattling and shaking-- in fact the whole house is shaking. The crucifix falls off the wall. Finally the bolts in the door's hinges slip out. The rumbling stops and the warlock pushes the door open from the hinged side. He forces the Pastor and his wife into chairs. With only a touch to the wife's breast he sees that she is pregnant with twins. The warlock's request is simple: knowledge of what the Pastor discussed with Giles and Kassandra, in exchange for the unborn children's lives.Kassandra and Giles make it to the cemetery. Giles jabs the weather vane into the ground, and it starts to shake from the warlock's blood which is still on the sharp barb at the vane's top-- a sign that the ground is consecrated and the warlock cannot tread on it. Still, he needs to know the pages are there, and therefore protected. The Pastor had told Giles to look for a grave with a hex mark which will show where the final part of the Grimoire is buried. Kassandra finds the marked grave, but covers the inscription with her arms and tries to stop Giles from looking. Suspicious, he pushes her away, and stops in sick horror on finding his own name - Giles Redferne - inscribed on the tombstone.Kassandra is following Giles out when she notices several empty grave lots and signs of digging and construction. She follows it to a sign partially obscured by bushes. She pushes them aside and sees it is a notice about the cemetery being remodeled and graves being moved as part of a project to modify the cemetery's layout in order to accommodate a building project for new condominiums. Alarmed, she tells Giles about the sign and explains that maybe the remodeling projects means that Giles' grave was relocated as well... and that the ground there is not part of the original cemetery, and therefore not hallowed.Kassandra uses the weather vane as a gauge... and finds that the ground where Giles' grave has been moved to, is indeed not consecrated... meaning the warlock can go there and open the grave without fear. He looks toward the grave with an expression of dread - clearly the thought of seeing his own remains terrifies him.Kassandra takes on the task of opening Giles' coffin herself. She finds a skeleton inside clutching a sheaf of paper. The fingers of the skeleton are clasped around the last part of the Grimoire in such a way that she is forced to break them off in order to free the papers. Giles accidentally turns around and recoils in horror.The two are on their way out of the cemetery when the Warlock appears, flying at them and levitating over the ground. Giles hurls the weather vane like a spear, but the Warlock dodges it, and it goes flying off into thick brush. Gilesseparates the papers into two stacks, giving Kassandra one half, saying they should split up in hopes of keeping the Warlock from reclaiming the entire Grimoire. But the Warlock is too smart for this. He corners Kassandra and tortures her, pulling off her sneaker and slowly driving a nail into her foot, sarcastically thanking Giles for giving him the idea. He digs the nail in deeper to make Kassandra scream in agony, and tells Giles that he will make her suffer far worse than Marion ever suffered, unless Giles emerges from the safety of the consecrated ground and hands over the last pages of the Grimoire. Giles points out that far more than just Kassandra's life is at stake, and the Warlock scoffs, saying that only the truly daft believe in the stories of the "Uncreation." He issues a final ultimatum for Giles to surrender the pages.Giles puts the pages down on the ground, putting a small stone over them as a paperweight, and challenges the Warlock to fight him hand to hand, no spells or magic, to claim them. He answers the Warlock's retort that he gives up nothing, by pulling out his own weapons and throwing them to either side. The Warlock begins producing witch fire that dances between his hands, and Giles slyly suggests that without his magic, he is afraid. But afraid or not, the Warlock steps forward and he and Giles fight hand to hand. Giles starts to gain an advantage when he pushes the Warlock's head down onto the consecrated ground, burning him. Deciding that two can play that game, the Warlock answers by pushing his hand against Giles' face and sending a bolt of witch fire right into his mouth. Kassandra grabs Giles' whip and tries to garrote the Warlock with it, but he punches her with the back of his fist and hurls her into the river bordering the cemetery. Giles makes a last rush, but the Warlock uses his magic to throw him back, where he lands right atop his own coffin and looks, up close, at his own remains, causing him to scream in horror.Kassandra is starting to climb onto the riverbank when she stops, tasting something on her tongue. Fumbling with her purse, she grabs her insulin needles and climbs back down into the river.The Warlock triumphantly gathers up the last pages and recites a dark chant that causes all the pages of the Grimoire to reunite and form a complete book, which cracks the ground it lands on. A storm begins to break as the Warlock commands the Grimoire to reveal to him, the hidden name of God. Lightning flashes down and strikes the Grimoire, and invisible markings become visible, snaking and twisting into lines that form into letters spelling out a name: Rokisha or Roaisha.As thunder begins to rage, the Warlock cries out in triumph, shouting to God that he knows Him now; knows His true name-- the word that can undo all that He has wrought. But before he can shout the name out and pronounce it backward, Kassandra jumps on his back, clapping her hand over the Warlock's mouth, and jams her insulin needles into his neck. The Warlock easily throws her off with a hitch of his shoulder and pulls the needles out... and Kassandra triumphantly shouts for him to try saltwater.The salt in the river water injected into the warlock's body begins to destroy him from the inside out. His death-throes and agony are so great he cannot shout out God's name in reverse. He catches fire and burns alive in mid-air, finally sinking to the ground as a charred corpse. As Giles stands over the corpse, the burned skull suddenly begins to move as if to make one last effort at achieving the Warlock's goal, but Giles steps on the skull and crushes it.Giles thanks Kassandra for her heroism, saying that he is in her debt. He seems to be leaning in as if to kiss her, and Kassandra closes her eyes and slightly puckers her lips. A light breeze blows over her, and she opens her eyes to find Giles gone, and sees a small funnel of whirling air moving slowly toward his grave, where it adds to the writing already on the tombstone, "I will remember you always 'til time and times are done." Kassandra is visibly moved by the new inscription, but then happens to turn and spot the Grand Grimoire, still lying on the ground, and she says, "Oh... shoot."Cut to Kassandra burying the Grimoire in what appears to be snow... all around, is pure white. However, she is wearing only a light white tank-top shirt and no jacket, showing the weather is warm. She finishes burying the Grimoire and puts her shovel back into her car, then gets in and drives off, cheering. The camera pans out to show a large sign that reveals the location-- and resting place of the Grand Grimoire-- as the Bonneville Salt Flats in northwestern Utah... the world's largest deposit of natural salt.

Tags: cult, murder, violence

Review:
Basically a male witch, played by Julian Sands, who wishes to reverse creation by finding a long hidden biblical document, makes the leap from the 15th century to present day to search for it.
This movie actually is a pretty fun film with a lot more going for it than most people might think just looking at the cover.
Tagging along is a modern-day girl who is acceptably portrayed by Lori Singer caught between the warlock's unbelievable powers, her newfound friend from the past with an obsession, and her now blasted view of "how things work in the real world."  Two things really make this film though.
The first is that the explanations that are given actually don't bog the momentum down (and the filmmakers decide to leave some things unexplained or give the most cursory explanations to catch the audience up in the wild ride that Kassandra (Singer) has found herself in) and that although both the warlock and the hunter have powers, they are closly matched and totally obsessed, making for a very interesting conflict.
An evil warlock (Julian Sands) travels from the 17th century to modern times, in search of the pages of the Grand Grimoire (the Devil's bible), which, when assembled together, will reveal God's true name and allow creation to be undone.
Grant), who enlists the help of Kassandra (Lori Singer), a pretty girl who has been cursed by the warlock (for every day that passes, she ages 20 years).Written by David Twohy (Pitch Black) and directed by Steve Miner (Friday the 13th Part 2 and 3, House), Warlock is a fun, if unexceptional, slice of supernatural horror.
The film is workmanlike but not particularly memorable visually, and is unfortunately let down by some poor special effects.Warlock is diverting enough entertainment while it lasts and worth checking out if you're a fan of all things 'witchy'.
The late 80's and 90's have not been a particularly good time for big-budget horror movies, but Warlock, a kind of supernatural Terminator, works particularly well.
Julian Sands is at his most diabolical, but Richard Grant also does well, neatly portraying Redferne as a man out of time (essentially Michael Biehn's character from Terminator, in reverse).
Standing over a "witch compass" constructed of brass and witch's blood, he delivers the greatest line in the film; "Now brute, one last time we play the game out!" I enjoyed every word of Redferne's dialogue, all intoned with Grant's silver tongued faux Scots burr.On a special effects level, Warlock falls flat on its face.
E. Grant) is chasing an evil warlock (Julian Sands) that got transported from the 17th century to 1980's Los Angeles.
With help from a young woman (Lori Singer) who's received a hex from the warlock, they team up and rush against the clock to stop him from getting his hands on the pages of the Grand Grimoire (satanic bible) and in doing so he could undo all creation.Director Steve Miner (Friday the 13th Part 2 & 3, House) achieves probably his best film in "Warlock".
I really enjoyed Warlock it was good like the movies i watched as a teenager.
The time shock to Richard Grant(Redferne)was done with humor and that made the movie realistic and fun.Also i enjoy movies that explain what happened to the characters in their time and why they are acting like they are in the modern time that the film is set in.
At the time, it seemed yet another outing for the always reliable Julian Sands, and it introduced to audiences around the world the impish Lori Singer (who to be fair never really found another film that connected with viewers as much as this one.) Even the plot seemed standard, old curse, new problems.
They travel to Boston to stop the Warlock, who discovers along the way that a certain priest has been doing unpriestly things, and uses that to get his information.There is not a lot of special effects, but what there was seemed good for the time.The real fun of this movie is the interaction of Singer and Grant.
Essentially a horror movie, this won't scare that many people, but is just great fun to watch.
Grant) who with the help of a young woman (Lori Singer) tries to track down and destroy the warlock before all of human kind is destroyed.I still remember when WARLOCK came out and even though I was a big fan of horror movies, for some reason I just never got around to watching it until now and I must admit that I'm really kicking myself for that.
I really wasn't expecting too much from this film but it turned out to be quite good on many levels and it really did have a nice little story as well as some fun performances.
There are some horror special effects that work extremely well but there are also some great things done with the one female character growing in age over a short period of time.WARLOCK could have ran about ten-minutes shorter but at the same time there's very little to be said in a negative way.
This is one of the better (but somewhat old now) adventure movies with a good sense of thrills that I have seen.The story of "Warlock" is interesting and captivating.
Lori Singer, well she was alright as well.Of course the effects of the movie are not so good by todays standards, but back then they were great.
And the movie doesn't suffer from the effects, even when watched today.This is actually the movie that made me notice the acting skills of Julian Sands and I have been a fan ever since."Warlock" is a definite MUST watch for anyone whom enjoy an adventure movie with magics and good thrills.
It's about a warlock (or 'male witch' as we learn they are) who, upon being captured in the seventeenth century, only goes and pulls one of his disappearing tricks and ends up in modern day L.A. And, if that wasn't bad enough, he's only figured out a way of 'uncreating' the whole of God's great existence.
But then I also loved Dark Angel and The Hidden, so I didn't mind.Warlock's special effects certainly aren't that special, but, by the time you find yourself laughing at how they portray someone 'flying' (I'm sure if you look closely you can see the wires) you should already be enjoying the whole film too much to really care.Take the whole thing with a big pinch of salt.
They reminded me of Rumiko Takahashi's Kagome and InuYasha, only it is the other way around: a man from the past who travels through time (the modern present) and the girl from that era who helps him.Anyway as we go through the film, the pair is trying to stop the warlock from gathering the pieces of the devil's bible: the Grand Grimoire and undo all of creation.
There are pretty well defined characters, and a decent plot that moves forward through the film.Julian Sands is great as the calm, cold, and collect warlock, and Richard E.
It's scary, funny and smart and most of all, entertaining.Julian Sands is rock solid as the titular character, Richard E Grant shines as Redfern and Lori Singer is a treat as the cynic of the piece.Warlock has some wonderful imagery and doesn't shy away from the violence when it needs to.
In a brief intro set in 1691 Boston we are introduced to two of the three main protagonists in the film, the Warlock himself (Julian Sands) and his captor (at the time) Redferne (Richard E Grant).This brief scene establishes that yep these two guys will be talking funny for the rest of the film – get used to it.
By Devil's Bible contains various nasty spells and secrets, and by re-combining the three parts the Warlock can learn the true name of God and as a result can un-make existence.This is bad for us, but apparently good for the Devil and the Warlock, who gets a promotion if he is successful, and will be recognised as the Devil's son.The first stop on the Warlock's round trip of evil finds him visiting "Kassandra with a K" (Lori Singer) and her gay flatmate.Kassandra is one of those cinematic reminders that hearkens to a time when every actress didn't actually have a tit job or major plastic surgery (sorry Lori, just the facts).
(She wasn't that hot to begin with, it wasn't the 20 years that was holding her back.) The ensuing chase is pretty straightforward; a visit to Amish country alerts the Warlock to the pursuit, and then it's on to Boston for the finale which takes place in a graveyard.Richard E Grant does his best with a role that requires him to spout ludicrous dialogue in an earnest fashion, Kassandra is essentially supposed 'comic relief' and a counterpoint to the serious business (in theory anyway) going on around her.Julian Sands fares a little better, he is creepy at the best of times.
Julian Sands makes a suave and menacing Warlock making the film a lot better than the script deserves.
Nuff Respect to director Steve Miner and writer David Twohy for creating this time-travelling good-against-evil odd-couple romp.Nuff respect also for casting UK actors Julian Sands and Richard E Grant in an American movie.
Julian Sands is perfectly oily as the son of Satan and clearly understands how much ham makes a tasty sandwich.Lori Singer is charming in her kooky sidekick role, although she does appear to take it all a bit too seriously at times."Warlock" is a perfect example of thrill-ride horror popcorn fun, much like Steve Miner's earlier hit, "House".
This is a good movie, with good casting, although Lori Singer is a little wooden, Grant is wonderful as the manic witch hunter and Sands has that menacing look that says "mess with me if you dare".
WARLOCK is a cheesy and derivative horror movie from director Steve Miner, the man who brought us the similar-in-style HOUSE.
The film's budgetary constraints are also more than apparent as this looks and feels more like a B-movie than an A-list picture.My biggest complaint, however, is with the casting of non-actress Lori Singer, whose attempts at humour fall flat time and time again.
Grant plays a witch-hunter who follows a Warlock 300 years into the future (ending up in 1991 Los Angeles) to stop him from destroying the world.
Singer is okay as the modern day babe who is forced to help Grant track down the Warlock after he casts a spell on her.Director Steve Miner already had some horror experience, but I think he outdid himself here.
I was pleased with the story from start to finish (a stunning rarity in horror especially back then), the acting was solid (but not wowing), the nuance and discovery of mysticism was developed well, and the special effects were really quite good for their time with the ectoplasm's magical energy not at all looking hokey (although the flying was a bit silly by today's standards) and a nice gory finale!
She bails out Redferne as they hunt down the Warlock.Julian Sands is a pretty good villain.
Julian Sands plays the evil warlock (male witch) with flair, but isn't over the top, and Richard E Grant is a good foil.
I didn't see Warlock until 2001, and was expecting a lame-o-rama, but, barring some ropey FX, it's actually not half bad.Its strengths are that it's straightforward and unpretentious, Julian Sands is convincingly malevolent, and Richard E Grant is, well, certainly enthusiastic.
Warlock was one good movies of late 80" when l saw it for first time on TV,since then l try find this picture without success,until in 2015 when this was reissued by a bad dealer here in Brazil,probably the source came from VHS,but somehow l found this picture much better on first time,now revisiting it is dated...the casting weren't good enough,moreover Julian Sands wasn't a proper star,though a fine actor,the plot is fantastic heped by some nice special effects for those time,Lori Singer and Richard E Grant didn't disappoint nobody....imaginative,funny and scary!!Resume: First watch: 1992 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.
When a warlock escapes capture and lands in the 20th century, a witch-hunter and a young woman must team up and try to find the Warlock before he reunites the pages of a book that will unleash the Devil from hell.This wasn't all too bad of a film and definitely had some pretty entertaining and enjoyable moments.
A warlock (Julian Sands) flees from the 17th to the 20th century, with a witch-hunter (Richard E.
Grant) in hot pursuit.From director Steve Miner (a Friday the 13th alumnus) and producer Brian Yuzna (although I believe he jumped on the project later), comes a great little tale about witches and warlocks, even if the historical accuracy may be a little bit skewed.I love the Mennonite scene.
Lori Singer's character is just painful and the film could have been without it - it would have been better with just a struggle between Grant and Sands, which could provide a darker tone.
It is true that the story lines could have been thought out better and written better, and that some of the actors were annoying (Kassandra), but Julian Sands as the Warlock, and Richard E.
Evil warlock (Julian Sands) escapes a death at the stake when Satan transports him to present times.
"WARLOCK" is a great horror movie involved with the devil.
Grant steals the show as the 17th century witch hunter tracking warlock Julian Sands to 1980s California for some end times hokum involving Satan's favorite missing black magic book.
Richard Grant is pretty good for his part.You have to judge horror movies separately from the rest because, let's face it, with few exceptions, they can't stand on their own.
After I first watched this film, when I was 12, I spent quite some time quoting the spell the Warlock casts over Kassandra, and even though I haven't seen it for a number of years I can still remember it.
The last movie the company produced was "Warlock." The film appears to be an unambitious late eighties horror flick at first but has developed a cult following over the years.
The Warlock uses his Satanic powers to cause chaos, even aging Kassandra twenty years, the witch hunter on his trail the whole time.
Needless to say, neither Redferne nor Kassandra want that to happen."Warlock" strikes the right balance between humor, campy special effects, eighties action-style thrills, and harder horror elements.
It's refreshing that the script treats the Warlock as a blatantly Satanic character, an old-fashion horror-movie witch.If the smarter then average script isn't the main attribute here, it's the stand-out cast.
Warlock is a charming and entertaining cult classic, it's got some great and memorable performances by Richard E Grant and Julian Sands.
Kassandra agrees to go with Giles but only until she gets her bracelet and stop the spell, they then go after the Warlock and try to stop him before he finds the three pages and destroys the whole universe.Warlock is a great and fun 80's horror movie that should be seen.
It's up to Redferne and brash waitress Kassandra (an appealingly spunky portrayal by Lori Singer) to stop the warlock before he gathers up all the pages of the witches' bible the Grand Grimoire, learns God's true name, and undoes all creation.
I just thought i would say Warlock rocks in my heart, I watched it like 20 or 22 times because I just love that movie so much.
Julian Sands is way creepy in this creepy story about time travel and evil Warlocks out to destroy all of God's creations.
In Boston of 1691, a warlock is sentenced to death, but escapes magically into the future, followed doggedly by a witch hunter.There he is searching for the three parts of the Devil's Bible.Trailed by the witch hunter and the woman whose house he landed in, they must stop him, as the book contains the true name of God, which he can use to un-create the world.....Ever since i saw Sands in Arachnophobia, he has always been a Chicken in a Basket style actor to me, Very bad, but very more-ish.As with the film, it's one of those little lost gems that I have wanted to see since it's initial release but was never able to.I finally saw the movie, after tracking it down on the Horror Channel, and now I really wish I had saw it when I were 13, because seeing it as a 34 year old super film geek, it just stinks.The film is devoid of thrills, or scares, and honestly, the most exciting part of this is when Sands is playing a video game with the kid from Baywatch.Lori Singer provides the bad make up, and Richard E grant proves that Groundskeeper Willie isn't always animated.he effects are eye poppingly bad, even for 1988, and eventually the film gets sucked up in it's own absurdness.I saw the sequel before this, and believe me, it's a hell (ahem) of a lot more enjoyable.so bad it's boring..
Warlock starts in Boston Massachusetts during the 17th Century where a witch (Julian Sands) has been captured & is awaiting execution at the hands of Giles Redferne (Richard E.
The acting was alright, Sands makes for a cool villain while Grant makes for a likable hero although I'm not sure about that accent...Warlock is an OK way to pass 100 odd minutes if you've got nothing better to watch or if you like horror in particular but I found it all rather average & forgettable, didn't really do anything for me I'm afraid.
This 1989 fantasy-horror film stars Julian Sands, Richard E.
Singer (Footloose) plays waitress, Kassandra who helps Redferne stop the warlock from bringing evil to the world.