Editorials
[Exhumed & Exonerated] ‘Cast A Deadly Spell’ (1991)
Every decade has its ups and downs when it comes to cinema, no matter the genre. Horror fans love to loft on high the output of the ‘30s & ‘40s, the ‘70s & ‘80s, and the more recent decades. More often than not, however, the 1990s are labeled as the worst decade for the genre. Not only that, but ‘90s horror tends to be written off as a whole, beyond a handful of undisputed classics. The purpose of Exhumed & Exonerated: The ‘90s Horror Project, is to refute those accusations by highlighting numerous gems from the decade. Stone cold classics will be tackled in this column from time to time, but its main purpose will be to seek out lesser-known and/or less-loved titles that I think deserve more attention and respect from fans. Let the mayhem begin!
CAST A DEADLY SPELL
Directed by Martin Campbell
Screenplay by Joseph Dougherty
Produced by Gale Anne Hurd
Starring Fred Ward, Julianne Moore, Clancy Brown, Alexandra Powers, David Warner, Charles Hallahan, Arnetia Walker, Raymond O’Connor, Peter Allas, and Lee Tergesen
Released on September 7, 1991
As much as I love horror, I’m also a big fan of various other genres. Science fiction, fantasy, westerns, you name it. It’s why I’m a lover of genre-bending films, such as Big Trouble in Little China, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Ghostbusters. Pure genre efforts are wonderful, but there’s just something about a healthy genre-mixing piece that really gets me going. All those cinematic flavors mixed together to create something different, yet also something familiar. If done right, it can be a beautiful thing.
Cast a Deadly Spell pulls it off in (Sam) Spades. A deft mixture of crime noir and horror, this HBO TV movie from the early ‘90s hails from the mind of Joseph Dougherty. Primarily working on TV shows for the majority of his career to date, Dougherty has bounced around all kinds of different series over of the past couple of decades. From “Saving Grace” to “thirtysomething” to “Pretty Little Liars”, he’s been all over the place.
What’s most interesting in the context of this piece, however, are his quartet of features at the start of the ‘90s: Steel & Lace, Cast a Deadly Spell, Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman, and Witch Hunt. All are love letters to different cult genres and, save for maybe Attack (which is a remake I have not seen), all mix various genres to craft something new. Furthermore, in the case of three of them, they are helmed by accomplished directors such as Paul Schrader (American Gigolo, Cat People), Christopher Guest (This is Spinal Tap!), and the aforementioned Martin Campbell (The Mask of Zorro, Casino Royale). It’s enough to make one pine for HBO to start making such interesting TV features again.
Cast a Deadly Spell sees a private detective by the name of Harry Phillip Lovecraft (Fred Ward) hired by a mysterious wealthy client, Amos Hackshaw (David Warner), to track down a tome that was stolen from his home. That tome, if you couldn’t guess by our hero’s tongue-in-cheek name, is the Necronomicon. What follows is Lovecraft stumbling through a conspiratorial mystery that leads him in situations involving witchcraft, an old flame (Julianne Moore), and a former friend (Clancy Brown), as well as various creatures of the night.
Martin Campbell’s direction amps up the fun, pulpy nature of Dougherty’s tale by bringing an era appropriate feel to its 1930s Los Angeles setting. The colors and settings all pop, especially in the HD version that has now finally made its way to the streaming internet avenue. Everything oozes classic detective fiction (with a horror twist) from its opening frames to its closing moments. It’s like if Stuart Gordon made a Raymond Chandler movie.
All would be for naught if the cast weren’t game to back up the visuals. Lucky for us, everyone is on point. Ward makes for a perfect down-on-his-luck slewfoot with a soft spot for hard luck cases. Moore was still in the early stages of her career here, but you wouldn’t know it from her performance. She commands her role as effectively as she would now, showcasing multiple facets of her femme fatale-esque part with nuance rarely found in such films since. As for Clancy Brown, who better to play a shady bruiser turned sleazy entrepreneur?
Those who haven’t seen this underseen gem are probably wondering just how far into horror this film dives. The answer is pretty far. In addition to the Necronomicon and uses of dark magic, there’s plenty for a horror fiend to love. There are quite a few practical monsters on parade within. Some are only on hand for short moments (werewolves, vampires, etc.), but others stick around for much longer. Brown’s Harry Bordon has a massive zombie henchman (more voodoo, less flesh-eating) and there’s a particularly nasty gargoyle that targets Lovecraft on more than one occasion. Also, given the obvious Lovecraftian elements, we are treated to an appropriately-tentacled god-fiend during the finale.
Tone-wise, if you aren’t overly familiar with noir fiction, think of it simply as this: it’s The Rocketeer, but with the Necronomicon in place of a rocket pack and Great Old One summoners in place of Nazis. Mind you it isn’t an action extravaganza like that film. After all, this is an HBO movie. Still, it’s not a cheap-looking tale and it nails that pulp adventure tone, making for a wonderfully entertaining viewing. It had a budget of $6 million to play with back in ’91, which today would be the equivalent of almost $11 million. That’s more money than most of our theatrical horror releases today get to play around with!
Previously relegated to an old VHS release, I’m happy to say that it’s now broadcasting in high-definition via Amazon’s streaming services free to Prime members. I’m not aware of any Blu-ray release for it on the horizon, but the fact that it has been given an HD upgrade bodes well for such an event in the near future. I can only hope that more similar HBO fare manages to make the jump to Amazon in HD form as well. That goes double for the aforementioned Witch Hunt, considering the fact that it is a sequel to this!
Up Next: Disturbing Behavior (1998)
Previously On…
Species | Mute Witness | Popcorn | Wishmaster | Alien 3 | Cast A Deadly Spell
Disturbing Behavior | The Sect | The Addams Family
It’s been 75 years since The Thing From Another World first warned us to “watch the skies”, and filmgoers have done just that by showing up to multiple instances of extraterrestrial contact on the big screen. This makes sense, as a recent CBS news poll estimated that 63% of Americans believe in intelligent life on other planets, and the ongoing disclosure movement aims to raise that number with each passing day.
With Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day leaving many genre fans hungry for more alien footage (preferably of the spooky variety), today I’d like to share a list recommending six underrated alien invasion thrillers for your viewing pleasure. After all, regardless of whether or not you believe that we’re alone in the universe, it can be fun to dream about the worst-case scenario if our cosmic neighbors ever decide to visit.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be focusing on lesser-known invasion stories rather than the popular extraterrestrials of franchises like Alien and Close Encounters of the Third (or even Fourth) Kind. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own alien favorites if you think we missed a particularly thrilling movie.
While it won’t be featured in this article, I’d highly recommend checking out Dean Alioto’s UFO Abduction/The McPherson Tape if you’re up for some ufology-inspired found footage thrills.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
6. The Arrival (1996)
Not to be confused with Denis Villeneuve’s Academy Award-winning Amy Adams vehicle about learning to communicate peacefully with extraterrestrial life, David Twohy’s The Arrival is a much more straightforward (but no less entertaining) genre romp where Charlie Sheen faces a global conspiracy involving hostile alien invaders.
It’s not exactly up there with Close Encounters or even Independence Day, but Twohy’s conspiratorial thriller plays out like an exceptionally fun episode of The X-Files that I’d recommend to sci-fi/horror fans who don’t mind a little bit of wonky CGI and 90s excess alongside their alien thrills.
5. Extraterrestrial (2014)
The Vicious Brothers made a name for themselves with the success of 2011’s Grave Encounters, but that was far from the Canadian duo’s only collaboration. And while it’s not exactly a fan favorite, I always point out 2014’s Extraterrestrial as one of their most underrated projects simply because I agree with the filmmakers’ opinion that there aren’t enough ‘cool alien abduction movies’ out there.
Admittedly, the majority of the picture functions like a run-of-the-mill creature feature with paper-thin characters and familiar horror tropes, but I’d argue that the cosmically-terrifying final act elevates the experience to new and memorable heights. The movie also boasts great performances by both Michael Ironside and Emily Perkins – a combination that more than makes up for the occasionally janky CGI.
4. Alien Raiders (2008)
Director Ben Rock has gone on record lamenting how his John-Carpenter-inspired creature feature was forcefully renamed from Supermarket to the painfully obvious Alien Raiders (a change which likely resulted in many potential viewers skipping out on the experience), but the new title doesn’t change the fact that this single-location thriller is something of a hidden gem.
Taking place entirely within a supermarket, Alien Raiders tells the story of an ensemble of customers and employees who are taken hostage by a group of armed men looking for something far more dangerous than an easy payout. I won’t get into details in order to avoid spoiling the experience, but I’d highly recommend this criminally underseen flick to fans of John Carpenter and the Resident Evil games.
3. Phoenix Forgotten (2017)
You’d think that a Ridley-Scott-produced retelling of one of the most infamous real-life UFO sightings of all time would have a bigger following, but I rarely see Justin Barber’s Found Footage period piece brought up during discussions about extraterrestrial-focused horror movies.
This is a huge shame, as Phoenix Forgotten is just as spooky as it is convincing, with this well-researched dive into the Phoenix Lights incident benefiting from surprisingly believable special effects as well as an appropriately horrific finale.
2. Communion (1989)
I wouldn’t blame you for disregarding Whitley Strieber’s controversial book about his alleged close encounter as sensationalist slop, but I’d argue that Phillipe Mora’s 1989 adaptation of these events is much better than the source material. After all, the movie works as a standalone piece of speculative fiction while also benefiting from an incredible performance by the one and only Christopher Walken!
Mora’s take on Communion may not be particularly scary, but the film is still an unforgettable character study regardless of whether or not the abduction really happened. Not only that, but the flick also paved the way for plenty of future sci-fi stories where the extraterrestrial invaders aren’t as evil as they initially appear.
1. Altered (2006)
Originally envisioned as a Sam Raimi-style horror-comedy titled Probed, Eduardo Sánchez (of The Blair Witch Project fame) eventually realized that it would be much more interesting to turn the film into a serious exploration of the emotional aftermath of a traumatic abduction incident.
That’s how we got Altered, a clever inversion of the standard abduction narrative that follows a group of troubled friends as they capture and experiment on an alien in order to enact revenge for their own abduction years prior.
You must be logged in to post a comment.