Warlock (1989)

Director: Steve Miner
Starring: Julian Sands, Lori Singer, Richard E Grant

Synopsis:
A 17th Century warlock is transported three hundred years into the future in order to assemble the pieces of the Grand Grimoire, but a lone witch hunter pursues him to put an end to his ambition.

Impressions:
While the end product is a little on the uneven side, there are some interesting things here that make it worth noting. First of all, Julian Sands is expertly cast as the eponymous warlock, the overall story is pretty solid, and there's music by Jerry Goldsmith. Richard Grant does pretty well as the witch hunter Redferne, very nearly matching Sands' hamminess, but I wasn't terribly fond of Lori Singer's character. Yes, she's supposed to be shallow and self-centered and develop from that, but she's really unlikable for most of her character arc. The effects aren't particularly spectacular, but they get the job done. The movie may have had a little more punch without some of the reworking that was done to tone it down, but what we have is a bit of mixed bag that might still interest you. If you're willing to give it a shot, I'm pretty sure you won't find it a total loss.

Rating:
50/50