The Witches of Eastwick

**The Witches of Eastwick** is a 1987 film starring Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer and Veronica Cartwright, directed by George Miller, written by Michael Cristofer and produced by Neil Canton, Peter Guber and Jon Peters.

## Plot

Alexandra Medford, Jane Spofford, and Sukie Ridgemont are three dissatisfied women living in the picturesque town of Eastwick, Rhode Island. Alex is a sculptor and single mother of one daughter; Jane is a newly divorced music teacher unable to have children; while Sukie has six daughters and works as a columnist for the Eastwick Word, the local newspaper. The three friends all have lost their husbands (Alex's died, Jane's divorced her, and Sukie's abandoned her). Unaware that they are witches, the women unwittingly form a coven where they have weekly get-togethers and share their fantasies about ideal men.

A mysterious man arrives in town and stirs up trouble by buying the town's landmark property: the Lennox Mansion. The arrival of this enigmatic stranger fascinates the townsfolk, all except for Felicia Alden, the devoutly religious wife of newspaper editor Clyde Alden, Sukie's boss. Felicia senses that this man (whose name is easily forgotten) is up to no good. One night, at one of Jane's music recitals, the strange man appears and makes a spectacle of himself, which leads to more gossip. After the recital, Jane receives a bouquet of flowers with the initial D written on it. This sparks Sukie's memory, finally revealing the man's name as Daryl Van Horne. However, as chaos over the name spreads through the crowd, Sukie's bead necklace inexplicably breaks and falls to the floor, causing Felicia (who had mocked Daryl's name) to trip down a large staircase and break her leg.

The following day, Daryl sets out to seduce Alex. As he converses with her, he says insensitive, disgusting, and rude things every time he speaks. Appalled, she tells him off, refuses his amorous advances, and begins to walk out. Before she opens the door, he speaks to her, manipulating her emotions until she eventually agrees. The next morning, Daryl visits the shy and insecure Jane. As the two sit down and share polite conversation, Jane explains that the Lennox Mansion was built on a site where alleged witches were burned at the stake. Later that night, Daryl encourages Jane to play her cello with wild abandon, never before achieved, playing faster and faster while accompanied by Daryl on the piano, until finally the strings emit smoke, the cello bursts into flame, and Jane flings herself upon Daryl with passion. The following week, Daryl invites all three of the women to his mansion, his sights now on Sukie. Later, as envy and rivalry emerge among the women, they inadvertently levitate a tennis ball. Finally aware of their magical abilities, the women agree to share Daryl.

As the women spend more time at Daryl's mansion, Felicia spreads rumors about their indecency. Alex, Jane, and Sukie become social outcasts. As the witches begin to question their loyalty to Daryl, he causes them to unknowingly cast a spell against Felicia. Later that night, while ranting to her husband about Daryl being the Devil, Felicia begins to vomit cherry pits. Horrified by her uncontrollable behavior, Clyde kills her with a fire poker.

After Felicia's death, the three women become fearful of their powers and agree to avoid each other and Daryl until the situation has quieted down. Upset by this abandonment, Daryl uses his own powers to bring their worst fears to life. Alex awakens to a bed full of snakes; Jane's body begins rapidly aging; and Sukie experiences sudden, agonizing pain. Realizing the only way to get rid of Daryl is by using witchcraft against him, the women reunite with him, pretending to have made amends.

The next morning, Daryl sets out to buy bagels and ice cream, as per the request of the three women. While he is out of the mansion, Alex uses candle wax and Daryl's hair to create a voodoo doll in his image and the three women begin to harm the doll, hoping that Daryl will leave as a result. As the spell takes effect, Daryl - still in town - is buffeted by a sudden wind and begins to feel excruciating pain (each event corresponding to something the doll undergoes). He runs inside a church to hide from the wind and finds it full of people praying. Realizing the source of his troubles, he begins ranting about the women, cursing them as a group before vomiting cherry pits like Felicia did. An enraged Daryl then races home to punish the witches for their betrayal. Realizing their plot to make Daryl leave was ineffective, they attempt to hide their spell and toss the voodoo doll into a fire just as he enters the mansion. Daryl vanishes as a result, but not before reverting to a large, monstrous form that attempts to shake the mansion apart.

Eighteen months later, the women are living together in Daryl's mansion, each with a new baby son (each boy shares his mother's hair color). The boys are playing together when Daryl appears on a wall filled with video screens and invites them to "give Daddy a kiss". Before they can do so, Alex, Jane and Sukie appear and switch off the televisions.