The Craft (1996)

"The Craft" was purposely cast with attractive young actors in order to attract a large audience for the box office; luckily the actors were talented as well! "The Craft" is a fun fantasy/horror film that focuses on four young women who practice witchcraft. While none of the actors in the film were standout success stories when the film came out, they did manage to find a spotlight from this movie and others that shortly followed. Both Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich appeared in "Scream" which came out later that year, and of course Neve appeared in the sequels and other mainstream films. Fariuza Balk would soon be seen in the awkward "Island of Dr. Moreau" and "American History X". And star Robin Tunney would have moderate success in the years to follow, including a staring role with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the action/horror movie "End of Days".

Sarah is the new girl in school and is having the typical difficulties of trying to fit in. She ends up befriending the group that she was advised to stay away from, three semi-rebellious girls who have difficulties of their own; Bonnie,who is self conscious of massive burn scars on her back, Rochelle, who is bullied by a racist cheerleader type, and Nancy, their goth leader who lives in a trailer with her mom and abusive, drunk step-dad. They embrace Sarah when Bonnie catches her balancing a pencil on it's tip during class. They tell Sarah that they are witches and have been looking for their fourth member to complete their coven. Sarah has natural powers (inherited from her mom, who died during childbirth), and joins the three. They have a breakthrough one night and actually begin casting spells. Bonnie's scars heal, Rochelle extracts revenge when the cheerleader starts losing her hair, Nancy's step-father dies and leaves her and her mom a healthy insurance settlement, and Sarah enchants a cute boy to like her. But Sarah realizes that something is wrong when the three become power hungry and the cute boy becomes obsessed and dangerous. When Sarah tries to leave the coven, she's told that she can either stay or die. Finding her inner strength, she leaves and prepares for the worst....

Child's Play (1988)

One of my favorite movies about casting spells, besides "Lord of Illusions" which I've already talked about a few months ago, is "Child's Play". Yes, I'm serious; most people would never connect this movie with the theme of spells but that's how Charles Ray Lee's soul got trapped within a plastic doll, by using evil witchdoctor voodoo magic! This movie is clever and thrilling and doesn't have any of the dumb jokes or attempts at lame puns that were rampant in the sequels. I wish I had been able to see this movie without knowing anything about it or about Chucky because I would love to see if there is any real suspense in trying to figure out if the young boy Andy or Chucky is the real killer.

All Andy wants for his birthday is one of the extremely popular “Good Guy” dolls for his very own. He’s a lonely kid and his single mother Karen tries her best to be there for him and is heartbroken that she can’t afford the gift he wants. Her best friend finds a homeless guy behind their retail store that has one and Karen buys it from him. Unfortunately this doll has been possessed by the fugitive serial killer Charles Lee Ray, who transferred his soul into the doll after he was fatally shot by the police detective that was chasing him one night. Charles, now going by the name Chucky, befriends young Andy and begins to frame the child for his murderous deeds. Just because you’re a doll doesn’t mean that you have to give up your hobbies or let loose ends get out of hand. When Chucky learns that he has a limited amount of time to find a new host or else be trapped in the doll forever, he sets his sights on Andy; unfortunately the police detective and Karen are going to do everything they can to keep that from happening.

Favorite moment – I love the point-of-view camera moments when Chucky is running around. It’s close to the ground and gives the right feeling to what Chucky sees and how fast the little guy can go!

I’m also super impressed by how well the animatronics for Chucky are. This movie was made in the golden age before CGI and how they made his face move when he spoke is awesome. 

The Mother of Tears (2007)

“Mother of Tears” is one of Dario Argento’s more recent works and is the third chapter of his “Three Mothers” trilogy that includes “Suspiria” and “Inferno”. It’s an interesting film with a great premise but you know that you are watching a very Italian horror movie; not that there’s anything wrong with that but it should be kept in mind if you’re thinking about renting this or watching it online. It stars Asia Argento who has a very uneven performance, and the movie includes a brief scene with Udo Kier as a priest who tries to help Asia’s character with some vital piece of information. The film is beautiful to watch, doesn’t include a soundtrack by the band Goblin, and has a type of monkey that heralds certain doom.

When an urn from the 1500’s is unearthed during a construction project, an ancient evil is unleashed within the city of Rome. Mater Lachrymarum is the last surviving of the “Three Mothers”, three timeless sisters who perform dark magic, and once the urn is opened, she and her helpers descend onto Rome to retrieve the items within which includes a cloak that increases her powers dramatically. With the cloak in her possession, the people of Rome become violent and begin a rash of murders, destruction and suicide. Sarah Mandy helped open the urn and saw her boss killed by Marta Lachrymarum demon servants. Now Sarah is on the run trying to solve the mystery of Marta Lachrymarum while discovering that her own mother was a white witch who is contacting her from beyond the grave (WAY TOO MUCH like Obi Wan talking to Luke after he died!!!!!). The movie ends with a showdown between Sarah the White Witch and Marta Lachrymarum, the Mother of Tears.  DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN!

Malefique (2002)

“Malefique” is a French horror film about four men locked in a prison cell together who find a spell book that could possibly help them escape. This movie feels like it had a very low budget due to the film quality and lighting but the acting from the four principal characters more than makes up for that. It’s not a great movie but it keeps the viewer engaged and has an interesting storyline. It feels like it was written by someone who is big fan of H.P Lovecraft or even early Clive Barker because it most definitely has that kind of vibe. My main complete about watching this film was trying to get the damn DVD to play the movie in French with English subtitles; the first several attempts ended up with an English soundtrack and subtitles. I have never encountered such a reluctant DVD menu before!

The film opens with the Charles Danvers, a convict who has collected and written down various spells in his diary and is attempting to escape from his prison cell. The spell must have worked because he is never seen again and his name becomes almost legendary within the prison. Flash forward to today and the movie now focuses on Carrere who is serving time for a multi-million dollar fraud scheme. Unknown to him, his wife turned him in and divorces him while in prison, taking over his company and keeping their son to herself. In the prison cell, Carrere meets his new roommates. There is Marcus, a cross dressing violent man who looks like a French version of Meat Loaf’s character from “Fight Club”. Then there is Lassalle, a quiet intellectual who allows Marcus to violate him in order to keep the peace within the cell. Finally, there is Paquerette, a mentally challenged man who cannot stop eating things; in fact, he ate his little sister and that is why he is here in prison. The three men are all accused and convicted of murder, so Carrere tries to be careful while trying to include himself into their world after he learns that he isn’t going to be getting out nearly as soon as he had first hoped. It’s Carrere who first finds Charles’ book and recites a spell without realizing what he’s doing. With encouragement from Lassalle, the group tries a few spells in hopes of finding the one that Charles used to escape. When Paquerette  tries to eat the book, it strikes back at him, killing him in gruesome fashion. Marcus is outraged by this but Lasselle calms him down enough for the three to keep trying. When attempt after attempt fail, Marcus throws the book out the window, only for their new fourth roommate to come in with the same exact book in his possession. There is no doubt that the book has plans for the men and they explore that path is far as they can go.

The Wicker Man (1973)

Ritual sacrifice seems to be required for a variety of spells with various outcomes including the power of invisibility and to ascend into another plane of existence and to become immortal. In “The Wicker Man” the sacrifice is required to complete a spell of appeasement to the cult’s pagan gods in hopes of having a rich and abundant crop that year. “The Wicker Man” is highly acclaimed and is still held in high regard since premiering forty years ago in 1973. I found the film drab and uninteresting; this might be because several “events” in the film are no longer considered taboo in this day and age. I will say that the ending is effective and is the reason to watch this film.

Detective Neil Howie flies out to a remote island in Scotland to follow up on a missing persons report. He is there looking for a young girl but as he conducts his investigation it seems that no one, including the girl’s own mother, knows who she is. As Detective Howie interviews various members of the town, he is shocked time and time again by the public and frequent displays of Pagan practices around the town. He is a devout Christian and everything he sees goes against his moral fiber and standing. Detective Howie eventually finds a lead in his case but it into trouble with the island’s Lord Summerisle and the results are not in Detective Howie’s favor…

Penumbra (2011)

“Penumbra” is another horror film that focuses on the actions of a cult and the outsider that unwittingly becomes involved. What make this a great movie is the well-developed main character, Marga, and the experiences that she has over several hours. She is a fierce lawyer from Barcelona who is in Buenos Aires to rent an apartment that she and her sister own. She hates being outside of Spain, thinks she’s better than everyone else (including her coworkers and sister) and she makes sure that everyone knows this. It’s this arrogance, and an odd confrontation, that leads her to her ultimate downfall and in a situation that she could never have imagined. Although the film has several long scenes that feel like they don’t belong or that they’re advancing the story, everything comes together as the sense of a creeping paranoia takes hold and grows up to the big reveal. Paranoia is a difficult feeling to capture on film and I feel that this movie does an excellent job of doing so.

Marga is in Buenos Aires to rent an apartment that she and her sister own. Her sister hates dealing with people so Marga has to make time out of her busy schedule to meet with the realtor and close the deal. She goes into the building and finds a man standing outside the door. She assumes he’s the realtor and when asked, he says yes. They go inside and she shows him around. Marga is about ready to leave since he doesn’t have any paperwork with him but he tells her that his client is willing to pay four times the asked amount and that the paperwork is on its way. With the temptation of a large payout, Marga stays and places a few rude calls to her office to cancel her afternoon meeting. As the time goes by and Marga performs tedious tasks like cleaning and running to a store to buy supplies, more individuals show up claiming to be from the real estate agency. Eventually she realizes that they’re not with any real estate agency and when she tries to get help from those she’s insulted or put off, she becomes a hostage to a cult that wants her apartment, a place where unique drawings and instructions are painted on the walls that were covered up by wall paper and furniture that are required for a special ritual that can only be performed today during the total eclipse of the sun….

Borderland (2007)

"Borderland" mixes a Mexican drug gang,  human sacrifice, American tourists, and Sean Austin as a convincing murderous cult member into a thrilling horror film. It's about three friends enjoying a weekend of booze and loose women before moving on with their lives. When one of them is kidnapped for use in a Santeria ritual that is supposed to grant the cult members the power of invisibility, the two other friends do what they can to save him. With the help of a bartender and a former cop whose partner was brutally murdered by members of the cult, they break into the drug lord's compound moments too late. Retribution on both sides is sought and leads to a bloody, violent climax. This movie is one of After Dark Horrorfest's 8 Films to Die For.

The Woods (2006)

Let’s start SPELL WEEK off right with a movie that is about witches and the evil things they do. “The Woods” is a wonderful example of a movie about a small coven of witches that are hiding in plain sight, waiting for the right moment, and the right girl, in order to complete the ritual that they have been preparing for, for all so long. It has a cast of then up-and-coming actors including Agnes Bruckner and Rachel Nichols, as well horror movie favorite Bruce Campbell.

Heather is a teenage with anger issues towards her mother. After acting out, by burning down part of their home, Heather’s parents send her off to a girls’ boarding school in the middle of the woods. The dean, Mrs. Traverse, allows Heather to join the school after she completes a test that contains occult symbols and meanings. Unknown to Heather, she is being groomed by Mrs. Traverse and the other teachers for a particular magical ritual that they want to complete. Meanwhile, Heather is being bullied by some of the other girls at the school and ends up befriending Marcy, another girl who is being groomed because she posses special powers of her. As Heather continues to lash out at her tormentors and instructors, she comes to realize that some girls have gone missing and the local authorities are under the sway of the school’s staff. Even when her parents come to take her back home, the powers of the coven prevent them from getting very far. The climax reveals the dark secrets of the woods and how it’s history is having a direct influence on the school and those within.