Saturday, October 8, 2022

October Horror Movie Challenge: Warlock Trilogy

Warlock (1989)
The first movie is a fun one I won't deny it. It is not exactly horror, but it has all the tropes. The others, well let's see how it goes. Its the weekend, so let's go on a Warlock bender.

Warlock (1989)

This is the movie that introduced most of the world to the hammy overacting of Julian Sands.  Ok, my not all that over the top, but he does chew up the scenery with gleeful abandon.  It also features a young Richard E. Grant and Lori Singer who was at the time the biggest star on the cast. 

The plot is thin but fun. Julian Sands plays the Warlock, the one true son of Satan. Grant plays Redfern the witch hunter.  The Warlock escapes judgment from Redfern by traveling in time from 1691 to 1991 (presumably) Los Angeles. He runs into Lori singer who has a part of The Grand Grimoire. He curses her to cause her to age 20 years. If she doesn't find a way to stop him (with Redfern in tow) she will die of old age in a matter of days.  There are some nice witchcraft hijinks like the warlock needing the fat of an unbaptized boy to make his flying potion, nails in the witch's footprints will hurt the witch, using salt to keep the warlock away, and using the witch's blood in a compass.  You know. Fun stuff.

The Warlock travels from LA to Boston putting together the Grand Grimoire so he can summon Satan to Earth, but he stopped at the end. 

Warlock II The Armageddon (1993)

A sequel was inevitable. Julian Sands is back as The Warlock, but that is it. This one is kind of a mess. There is a bit about a group of Druids in modern-day being charged by God (yeah...I don't know either) who are supposed to protect the world from the forces of Satan.  Anyway, our two leads, Kenny and Samantha, learn they are the last two Druid warriors. Though they have to die first before they can fight the warlock.  

So there is this bit with these elemental stones that can only be used during a lunar eclipse. Again the goal here is bring Satan to Earth. But he is defeated finally by, no joke, the lights of a truck.

So I saw this one when it was new and completely forgot most it. Now I remember why.

Warlock III The End of Innocence (1999)

Ok. So this one is completely different. Bruce Payne is in for Julian Sands, but I am not sure if he is supposed to be the same character or not.  Ok in this case back in the past the Warlock needs to sacrifice a particular girl to well...not entirely clear on that. More power I think. Anyway, a young woman named Kris Miller (Ashley Laurence) learns she is the heir to an old house that is about to be torn down. Since she doesn't know anything about her family she opts to go. She goes to the house, alone, and surprise she gets some scares. Actually, some of the scares are pretty good ones. This one already ups the scare content. 

Eventually, her friends show up and stay the night. The next day the Warlock shows up pretending to be an art historian. One by one he turns her friends against her by magically granting them what they want most.  Only Robin, played by the always wonderful Botti Bliss, sees the warlock for what he is. She is a witch and has a magic battle with him. She is no match of course and is killed.   One by one her friends fall leaving only Kris.  We learn that Kris was the girl from the past and her mother, a powerful witch, sent her to the present and gave her the means to kill the warlock, a knife hidden inside her old doll. 

 So this one, while off from the formula of the first two, might actually be a better movie. 

Warlock II The Armageddon (1993)Warlock III The End of Innocence (1999)

Use for War of the Witch Queens

I know that real murderer of the High Witch Queen is a wizard, so I plan to use some ideas about warlocks to inform this particular character though I don't think I want him to be a warlock per see as defined by D&D.

Use for NIGHT SHIFT

There is a lot here. Warlocks in NIGHT SHIFT are broadly defined, so I can do with them as I need. A warlock like this would work great for my Ordinary World setting. The careful balance of the witches, vampires and other monsters in hiding is disrupted by a new Warlock coming to town to, I don't know, raise up the Devil. He the warlock thought dealing with witchhunters was bad wait till he deals with a family full powerful witches that don't want their nice lives disrupted by this nonsense. 

October Horror Movie Challenge 2022
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October Horror Movie Challenge 2022


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