Warlock (1989)
(In French, On Cable TV, May 2020) By the standards of late-1980s horror, Warlock is both different and somewhat sedate. It follows the titular warlock (Satan’s son, we’re told) as he’s propelled from 18th-century Boston to circa 1989 Los Angeles, pursued by a witch hunter. While some of the details used in the narrative (the use of salt, notably, or some fish-out-of-water comedy from the two 18th century characters in modern times) are lively and show some imagination from screenwriter David Twohy, much of the film is a shrug-inducing battle between good and evil involving spells, magic artifacts and incomprehensibly end-of-the-universe high stakes. What does work well, however, is Julian Sands’ very charismatic performance as the warlock. While not horrible and tastefully restrained in matters of gory violence, Warlock is a bit of a snooze—it doesn’t come together as anything more than a middling fantasy/horror. It probably would have done better had it leaned more into comedy, or drama, or horror—but not in its current indecisive state.