Cast a Deadly SpellImagine our world, but just a little...off. Magic--the stuff of fiction--is real and a part of everyday life; what would it look like? How would it influence something like those familiar detective stories of the 1940s? That's the basic premise of Cast a Deadly Spell, a fantasy/comedy/horror/detective story set in Los Angeles in the year 1948. Like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? before it, Cast a Deadly Spell mixes up a cocktail ripe with detective story tropes, but throws in a healthy shot of the Cthulhu mythos instead of Looney Tunes in this self-aware gumshoe adventure. And heaven help the solitary private eye named "Harry Philip Lovecraft" (get it?), a.k.a. "Phil" (Fred Ward), who refuses to use any magic and yet gets caught up in a massive conspiracy with the greatest of evil books--the Necronomicon--at the center of it all.
|
|
Originally a "made for TV" movie for HBO, Cast a Deadly Spell is an enjoyable (if uneven) romp that embraces its concept at all times...even if it comes across as terribly cliché. The setting is pure late Forties-era detective movie fodder, right down to the erstwhile cop turned cynical private detective in a shabby suit who keeps a bottle of liquor in his filing cabinet. (No, really.) And of course, he has a dame from his past who he still carries a torch for--an elegant nightclub singer named Connie Stone (Julianne Moore). Worse still, Connie works for (and is in a relationship with) Phil's former partner turned professional scumbag and nightclub owner, Harry Bordon (Clancy Brown). Harry buys what he thinks is the Necronomicon from a thief named Mickey Locksteader (Ken Thorley), only to discover that it's a fake, which prompts Harry's wizarding lackey, Tugwell (Raymond O'Connor) to execute Mickey via a "death by a thousand cuts" (literally). Meanwhile, Phil is hired by the wealthy Amos Hackshaw (David Warner) to track down his missing Necronomicon, which he believes was stolen by an ex-chauffer named Larry Willis (Lee Tergesen)...after Amos fired him for appearing to be a potential threat to the "virtue" of his sixteen year old daughter, Olivia (Alexandra Powers), who is herself a time bomb of hormones waiting to explode. Phil's investigation brings him to Harry's club and once again back into the circle of Connie, reopening old wounds, and making him a target for Harry and Tugwell, who believe that Phil is sniffing too closely into their business for their own good. If a lot of this sounds familiar, it should, as it describes much of the plot of the iconic film noir, The Big Sleep (with helpings of Out of the Past, The Maltese Falcon, and Chinatown for good measure). Characters like Amos and Olivia are clearly inspired by General Sternwood and Carmen of The Big Sleep, and the broken relationship between Phil and Connie is practically lifted from Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman from Casablanca. This might be a bit more forgivable, were it not for the overwhelming similarities to the aforementioned Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, which itself hinged a collection of private eye tropes around a plot not too dissimilar from Chinatown, so seeing Cast a Deadly Spell repeat the routine feels a bit too much like retreading old road...a copy of a copy.
All of this isn't to say that Cast a Deadly Spell isn't an enjoyable movie in its own right. In a sense, it's a bit more cartoony than a serious detective tale; a lot of the more significant plot twists can be seen coming a mile away. Consider the most obvious one, that Mickey's "lady" waiting for him at the train station is actually Larry in drag, going by the name of "Lilly". Although we don't know that this is the same person, we should suspect as much as early as when Amos hires Phil to find the very same book that Larry stole, which Mickey was ostensibly passing off to Harry. Hardly a coincidence. Or, of course, the story's overemphasis on Olivia's virginity, which we know is on the chopping block from the moment Phil sends a cop named Otto Grimaldi (Peter Allas) to "keep an eye on" her. There are a few more twists waiting at the end of the film, including one that feels like an overt nod to the climactic confrontation between Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck at the end of Double Indemnity. There's admittedly a sense of joy in catching these nods to these classics of yesteryear when they arise. And, for better or worse, Cast a Deadly Spell is almost pathologically adverse to tonal consistency. Since the movie never really takes itself too seriously, this isn't too great of a crime, as it plants this movie somewhere in the realm of comedy or parody (not entirely sure which). For example, the completely suspicious Amos--whose obsessive interest in an evil book I'm sure inspired the character of Boris Balkan from The Ninth Gate--sends his gargoyle to keep an eye on Phil. Why go to the trouble if you've paid Phil to find the book anyway? Well, of course there's a double cross and the gargoyle strikes when the time is right. Poor Phil, deprived of any supernatural defenses, fires his pistol at the stony assassin, who comically puts his hands on his hips and tilts his head with disdain at the foolish detective. Or consider when Phil goes to Larry's former residence and finds the landlord working on his car, lifting the hood, and proclaiming that it's full of "gremlins", which have infested motors since World War II. (Yes, it is a very obvious nod to Gremlins, without question. Some wackiness ensues.) So watching Cast a Deadly Spell isn't about being transported into another world, or creating a convincing landscape where magic and the mid-20th century collide. Instead, it is a very self-aware movie about getting that concept on film with a story as worn out as Phil's loafers to hold it together for the benefit of getting some yuks out of it.
Recommended for: Fans of a cute (if shallow) high concept detective story that checks all of the boxes for what one might expect out of this predictable fantasy/horror/comedy/detective story. Cast a Deadly Spell should be run in on charges of stealing, since it isn't just "borrowing" from nearly every detective story out there. Incidentally, if you're looking to punish your liver, try keeping count of how often it rips off other private eye movies and making it into a drinking game!
All of this isn't to say that Cast a Deadly Spell isn't an enjoyable movie in its own right. In a sense, it's a bit more cartoony than a serious detective tale; a lot of the more significant plot twists can be seen coming a mile away. Consider the most obvious one, that Mickey's "lady" waiting for him at the train station is actually Larry in drag, going by the name of "Lilly". Although we don't know that this is the same person, we should suspect as much as early as when Amos hires Phil to find the very same book that Larry stole, which Mickey was ostensibly passing off to Harry. Hardly a coincidence. Or, of course, the story's overemphasis on Olivia's virginity, which we know is on the chopping block from the moment Phil sends a cop named Otto Grimaldi (Peter Allas) to "keep an eye on" her. There are a few more twists waiting at the end of the film, including one that feels like an overt nod to the climactic confrontation between Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck at the end of Double Indemnity. There's admittedly a sense of joy in catching these nods to these classics of yesteryear when they arise. And, for better or worse, Cast a Deadly Spell is almost pathologically adverse to tonal consistency. Since the movie never really takes itself too seriously, this isn't too great of a crime, as it plants this movie somewhere in the realm of comedy or parody (not entirely sure which). For example, the completely suspicious Amos--whose obsessive interest in an evil book I'm sure inspired the character of Boris Balkan from The Ninth Gate--sends his gargoyle to keep an eye on Phil. Why go to the trouble if you've paid Phil to find the book anyway? Well, of course there's a double cross and the gargoyle strikes when the time is right. Poor Phil, deprived of any supernatural defenses, fires his pistol at the stony assassin, who comically puts his hands on his hips and tilts his head with disdain at the foolish detective. Or consider when Phil goes to Larry's former residence and finds the landlord working on his car, lifting the hood, and proclaiming that it's full of "gremlins", which have infested motors since World War II. (Yes, it is a very obvious nod to Gremlins, without question. Some wackiness ensues.) So watching Cast a Deadly Spell isn't about being transported into another world, or creating a convincing landscape where magic and the mid-20th century collide. Instead, it is a very self-aware movie about getting that concept on film with a story as worn out as Phil's loafers to hold it together for the benefit of getting some yuks out of it.
Recommended for: Fans of a cute (if shallow) high concept detective story that checks all of the boxes for what one might expect out of this predictable fantasy/horror/comedy/detective story. Cast a Deadly Spell should be run in on charges of stealing, since it isn't just "borrowing" from nearly every detective story out there. Incidentally, if you're looking to punish your liver, try keeping count of how often it rips off other private eye movies and making it into a drinking game!