Spellbinder
Tags: plot twist, cult, flashback

Plot synopsis:
A group of teenagers go on a school camp in the Blue Mountains in Australia. While at the camp, Paul Reynolds accidentally goes into a parallel universe. This other world is inhabited by a more hierarchic and technologically different society, ruled by a group of people known as Spellbinders. Paul meets a girl there named Riana, and they become friends.
The Spellbinders have discovered the power to create and manipulate static electricity. They fly in gigantic copper-coloured machines that utilise large rotating orange crystals, presumably creating some form of magnetic levitation. The Spellbinders often use their power for good, but some abuse this power and use their discoveries for malevolence. One such malevolent Spellbinder is Ashka, who often manages to hide her true nature. Common people are often "banished" for their misdeeds, and sometimes Spellbinders are banished, also, if they are proven to have done wrong.
There is tension from Paul's forays into the land of the Spellbinders and his attempts to return to his own universe, and also from conversations Paul has with his friends across the barrier between the two universes. Paul and Riana's escapes also add tension, as do the interactions between Spellbinders.
Paul is eventually able to travel back home, but he is forced to take Riana with him in order to save her. Later, when Paul is able to take Riana back home, the Spellbinder Ashka follows Paul as he later returns home. Ashka seeks the unwitting help of Paul's father in making her a new high-tech 'flying suit' to replace her power suit in order to make her more powerful than the other Spellbinders.
However, Paul manages to expose her scheme and defeat Ashka, who is returned as an outcast to the Spellbinder world, while Riana becomes the new apprentice to Correon. In order to keep the Spellbinder world safe from the more advanced people from "modern" world, the gateway between the two universes is closed permanently.

Review: Some of the commentators have ragged on this movie for it being predictable, and some parts of it are, but some parts of the ending really surprised me.
Anway, given the context of the late 80ies when Spellbinder was made there was all this talk about Satanism, most of which later proved to be just urban legend type of stuff, probably made the movie for me a little more spooky in the 80ies then say if someone just randomly saw it now.
Anyways, the movie I thought had a pretty cool plot that had some surprises, the acting was good, Kelly Preston was hot, and the movie freaked me out a little back in the day, so I'm giving the movie 8 out 10 stars.
"Spellbinder" is exactly what the title suggests, (SPELLBINDING!) and definitely deserves to share the same podium as the aforementioned films.It is a supernatural "murder, mystery, suspense thriller" that truly lives up to the name of it's title with a completely unexpected twist that will leave you in disbelief.It's an extremely well scripted and well acted story with both the lead actors: Kelly Preston (extemely beautiful) and Timothy Daly(charismatic), doing an excellent job and holding your attention through every nerve jangling and suspense filled second through to a climactic ending that will have you on the edge of your seat.One of the best films of it's genre'.
Great plot twist at the end of the movie!.
A cool terror movie, that will leave you on your toes on the final moments and make you astonished at the amazing plot twist at the end.
Ok, it's not a movie I'd be looking for, but if you can catch it on tube it's pretty entertaining and will give you subject for a few good conversations on plot twists..
Jeff Mills, is an Los Angeles lawyer who one night encounters a young woman who gets in a very heated argument with one very creepy man.
The acting is way above-average and how can you go pass the sensually luscious Kelly Preston, who is quite bewitching as the very enigmatic young woman, Miranda.
It doesn't seem to be moving at a great pace, but with the constant surprises and unsteady developments within this satanic set-up, it really knows how to keep you alert to the possible hints.A well-conceived, bleak thriller that has a certain, spellbinding appeal about it.
Check her out in the "Office" scene!The ending, although somewhat predictable, is STILL major-league scary!What makes this movie frightening, at least for me, anyway, is that cults like this really do exist!If you're a horror movie buff, you owe it to yourself to check this one out when it comes to cable every so often!
Fatal Attraction was the scariest movie on my list until I saw Spellbinder, which is now one of my favorites to watch especial around Halloween.
When director Janet Greek spoke of making this film (the original title was "The Witching Hour") she monotoned neither she nor the screenwriter, Tracy Torme had ever seen "The Wicker Man," the earlier version.
It's a terrible waste to deprive those who love wild, sexy, erotic thrillers the experience of Timothy Daly, in his finest performance ever committed to film and Kelly Preston, on her last fling before marrying John Travolta.
Jeff Mills (Tim Daly) is a likable, good looking nice guy lawyer in L.A. who's tired of the dating scene.
He chances to meet a gal named Miranda Reed (gorgeous Kelly Preston) in a parking lot one night, and brings her home to his pad, soon striking up a relationship with her.
Blinded by his love for her, he goes out of his way to try to keep her safe, and to deal with her scummy associates, including Aldys (big haired Anthony Crivello) and the deceptively cheery Mrs. White (Audra "Mrs. Roper" Lindley).The solid supporting cast of nicely chosen actors also features Diana Bellamy as Jeffs' loyal (and intuitive) secretary Grace, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as somber faced police detective Lt. Lee (an expert in occult related crimes), Julian Christopher, Kyle T.
Overall, the movie is nothing special in terms of presentation, with competent but undistinguished direction by Janet Greek, but it does have its moments (the best occurs when a bunch of mysterious people gather at a window), and isn't totally without atmosphere.
The story, written by Tracy Torme (son of Mel), who went on to script one more feature ("Fire in the Sky") and work for television series ranging from 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' to 'Sliders' to 'Carnivale', is pretty absorbing, and does have some effective twists near the end.It's a good movie in general, and is worth a look for 80s horror fans who want to check out everything that the decade has to offer.Seven out of 10..
By now, the "twist" ending won't even seem new to most horror/suspense fans, having seen something similar so many times before.
The old cliché "be careful what you wish for" has never been more apropos than in this story's case, and SPELLBINDER for its time was a lot better than most DTV movies had a right to be.
Solid performances by all definitely help along a better-than-average script, and watch for that truly frightening performance by, of all people, AUDRA LINDLEY, (Mrs. Roper from THREE'S COMPANY and its spin off, THE ROPERS, for those of you too young to know or remember.) This one is long overdue for a nice, crisp DVD release, or even a remake!.
"Spellbinder" is a spooky, sexy and underrated horror movie with a flawless story in the style of "Rosemary's Baby".
The plot convinces mainly due to Kelly Preston, who is lovely gorgeous and sexy and capable to seduce the lonely Jeff Mills like she does in the story.
"Spellbinder," set in Los Angeles in the late 1980s, is one of the most intelligent horror films of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the very best made in the 1980s.
Good Thriller/Horror Movie!.
It's a good mix of Thriller, Suspense, Horror, Witchcraft with a plot twist at the end that was unexpected the first time I viewed it.
Spellbinder has a great cast, including Timothy Daly (Wings), Kelly Preston (Mrs. John Travolta), Rick Rossovich (Top Gun), and Audra Lindley (Mrs. Roper from 3's Company).
It's definitely worth the rental price if you like horror and thriller movies.
Some how I missed this film over the years and was greatly surprised with the fantastic acting and a very well written story about a Good Witch gal, Kelly Preston,(Miranda Reed), "What a Girl Wants",'03 who is running away from a horrible life and manages to get deeply involved with Timothy Daly, (Jeff Mills),"Against the Ropes",'04, who is a lawyer and begins to fall deeply in love with Miranda.
This horror film kept me glued to the screen from beginning to end.
The movie is insipid, most of the "scary" parts are actually funny, and the ending is obvious even if it isn't happy.
If you're looking for a good horror movie don't bother with this one.
The summary above may sound harsh, but after just recently re-checking this film out after many years of forgetting about it the first time around when it was initially released, I can not really be anything but honest.Kelly Preston is (of course) beautiful, stunning, in fact, but her acting skills are just not really up to par for this title, and I don't think they ever truly improved a great deal from this either.
This is true 80's jazz influenced brilliance in all it's glory, and I wish I had a copy of the tune itself, but it is incredibly hard to track down (and I don't think included anywhere but within this film's soundtrack).All in all, a 4 out of 10 is rather generous, but I do love the animals in this, and Kelly's beauty is a nice distraction from this otherwise cliché and very boring late 80's thriller..
The filming and the acting is excellent, it is strange when I'm talking to a lot of geeks out there that only 5% knows this movie.
And Kelly Preston stars in this movie, as did Tim Daly.
The actual film does pick up in the last quarter, with an interesting twist to the plot, that does not make much sense when you think about it.
Obviously the script writers could not decide or distinguish between satan worship and witchcraft, they  are not one in the same like the film suggests.
Timothy Daly stars as Jeff Mills,a yuppie lawyer who begins a relationship with Miranda(Kelly Preston),a lovely young woman he meets when he rescues her from a parking lot quarrel with an abusive boyfriend.Turns out Miranda is an escapee from a witches' coven whose evil leader(Anthony Crivello)wants to use her as a human sacrifice."Spellbinder" by Janet Greek is a surprisingly interesting and entertaining horror film.The story is pretty good,the characters are well-developed and there are some truly creepy moments.The plot offers a few surprises,unfortunately the serious lack of gore and violence is disappointing.The ending,whilst obviously influenced by Robin Hardy's masterful "The Wicker Man",is great.Give it a look,if you have enough time to waste.7 out of 10..
but this one is different its decent also has a solid script and brings you the satanism picture in a real good way, it's has this clever satanism scheme and gives you an example of how they doing their thingsits real entertainment to watch, i think its more thriller than horror.here's a thing, couple years back i heard this story that literally match the story of this movie!!a highly recommend this one, don't miss it..
The main triumph of the film, though, is Tim Daly as the successful lawyer in the beginning of his career, he is the most promising young man with everything good to expect of life, and he finds this irresistibly beautiful woman in a distress which he simply can't dismiss, and the characterization of his case is absolutely convincing all the way, affected by the blindness of love, can't suspect anything evil about her, (she is actually nothing more than just pretty and has even healing powers,) and only gradually her complication steals into his life, catching him in a trap which he can't understand and therefore can't get out of, which is why he does everything wrong.
This is a film to wonder at while at the same it has the amazing faculty of each time you see it being like a new adventure.None of the names in it, like Janet Greek (director), Tracy Tormé (writer), Timothy Daly (the star) or Kelly Preston (the marvelously beautiful Miranda as femme fatale to the extreme) I have seen in any other production.
Creepy, occult suspense movie that is better than expected..
That was the first good thing about the movie I liked (before even viewing!).
Tim Daly, Kelly Preston and Rick Rossovich all seemed right for their roles.
Like most good suspense movies, watch this one with the lights out.
Just seeing a 25-year-old Kelly Preston makes this movie worth watching, and, boy, do we get to see her.Jeff (Tim Daly) apparently finds the girl of his dreams (Preston), and things are going great until her friends show up looking for her.
It all builds up to the night of the Winter Solstice.The twist at the end caught me by surprise, and really made the movie.You have to give props to writer Tracy Tormé, who really stacked some surprises in this film..
Devil cult films started getting big around the 60's and 70's, but I highly doubt any of them had such a gorgeous female lead like Kelly Preston.
It does have an ending that is somewhat expected (though is somewhat hard to swallow when you think back of every event that happened before it), but most of the movie is a bunch of boring chat.
Tim is so far under Kelly's spell, that he fails to use his better judgment, and gets into deeper trouble trying to keep Kelly hidden from her coven.This is a solid film, but takes itself too seriously at times.
Rick Rossovich, in a supporting role was excellent as always, but the main draw for this film has been the nudity supplied by Kelly Preston.Well worth a pickup, that is if you can find it..
That basically comes from the few attempts here to showcase the cult's powers which are based around quite impressive displays here from the supernatural powers against the those who have wrong them, the different torments to stay away once they've stolen her back and then devolves into the nice action of their hold-outs against him, all of which really save a lot of face against the dull first half by making the second half a lot more fun and exciting with plenty to like about it.
I started thinking it was going to have a disappointing ending like that Nicholas Cage movie about him on the Witch Island in Washington and like Blaire Witch did.
One guy wrote not to expect a nice ending out of this thing and thanks for that as I hate evil endings.I think IMDb ought to have some sort of rating system for films so a person could figure out if Good wins over evil or some other counter culture thing happens..
One of my all-time favorite late 80's horror mystery thriller sleepers, this nifty little flick plays like a modestly budgeted "Fatal Attraction" crossed with "Rosemary's Baby." Handsome nice guy Los Angeles lawyer Jeff Mills (appealingly essayed by Timothy Daly) saves the beautiful and enigmatic Miranda (a strikingly sexy and mesmerizing Kelly Preston) from a knife-wielding creep (the astonishingly ugly and unnerving Anthony Crivello) in a gymnasium parking lot.
Unfortunately for them, Miranda turns out to be an honest-to-goodness witch who defected from a sinister coven that's keen on getting her back so she can be used as a sacrifice for the spring solstice.Director Janet Greek wisely allows the story to initially unfold at a leisurely pace, firmly grounding said plot in a nicely delineated everyday world which makes the supernatural aspects of the story seem plausible and thus all the more effectively scary.
This is a very well-done suspense/horror film that pays off in the end.
This is the one scene in the film that probably would have been better if they had used a different, less-special-effects-oriented approach to it, which is exactly what "Spellbinder" manages to do most of the time.
All of a sudden we start getting some great, memorable moments, like Audra Lindley's radical way of turning negative attention towards Tim Daly from his coworkers; the scene where the entire cult of satanists are peering through the windows at Daly and Preston, pressing up against them and bending the glass; and of course the last 25 minutes, which is the best part.
I fortunately hadn't read any spoilers on here when I watched it so I really didn't even know there were any "twists" in the plot, and the film is smart not to overplay certain types of clues that other horror films make so obvious that it's insulting to the viewer, like the dinner party scene where Preston and the older woman don't get along, etc.
Most horror movies like this are the best, because they contain a lot of creepy, scary goings on.
I won't give away the ending, but it is kind of a surprise and ties together the movie in a decent fashion.
Timthy Bottoms plays a young lawyer who stops a young woman,Kelly Preston,from being beaten up by her creepy boyfriend.It turns out the girl is a witch who has escaped from a coven of witches who now want her back.
This film starts off slowly but builds up the surprises and the shocks.Keep an eye open for the young man who gets a very nasty haircut from the head witch.
Any experienced watcher of horror movies should see the ending coming a mile off but that doesn't stop it being very very creepy.
Just a good horror film!.
But don't expect a nice ending out of this film.
Well, as Alfred Hitchcock liked to tell his audience: "So you think you know what's going to happen next, but do you?" The friend, of course, turns out to be the leader of the coven, but the scary part is the cops stripping off their uniforms to change into satanic robes.
Lovely scenery of LA.Was nice to see Mrs. Roper - always excellent.Tim Daly did wonders with an unoriginal script.Kelly Preston was a rather milquetoast witch.
Actually it would have been an excellent film if they had him on the tail of the cult the entire time trying to save el stupido's butt.
It helped the movie a lot that Miranda is gorgeous, and the acting was very good.
What is supposed to make a good movie, is laughed off as this film sticks it to you at the end, laughing at your expense.
It is no wonder that with a movie like this out there Pagans and Witches get a bad wrap for being Satanists.
Yuppie L.A. lawyer Jeff Mills (Timothy Daly) and his colleagues rescue a beautiful woman, Miranda Reed (Kelly Preston), from her abusive boyfriend: with nowhere to go, the sexy damsel in distress accepts Jeff's invitation to stay at his place and before long, the pair start a relationship.
But Jeff's newfound happiness doesn't last long: it transpires that Miranda is a witch, and the other members of her coven want her back—at any cost.Supernatural thriller Spellbinder will hold no surprises at all for anyone familiar with The Wicker Man, for its build-up and eventual twist are all very derivative of Robin Hardy's critically acclaimed (oc)cult classic.
That said, the film is still a reasonably enjoyable time-waster, with decent turns from all involved, some atmospheric chills, and the lovely Kelly Preston pleasing admirers with a steamy sex scene.6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.