Cast a Deadly Spell
Encyclopedia
Cast a Deadly Spell is a Horror
/Detective
HBO movie with Fred Ward
, Julianne Moore
, David Warner
and Clancy Brown
. It was directed by Martin Campbell
and written by Joseph Dougherty
.
where magic
is real, monsters and mythical beasts stalk the back alleys, zombies are used as cheap labor, and everyone — except Lovecraft — uses magic every day. Yet, cars, telephones and other modern technology also exist in this world.
. Though not based on any one particular story by Lovecraft, the film features many Lovecraftian tropes, and can be considered to take place against the unified backdrop which has come to be known as the Cthulhu Mythos
. The nightclub is called Harry Bordon's Dunwich
Room. Frequent references are made to the Necronomicon
, the Great Old Ones, Cthulhu
and Yog Sothoth throughout the film.
While the film clearly does not take place in Lovecraft's world, it does reference Lovecraft extensively (including the name of the main character), though there are many obvious differences. The most obvious difference is that in Cast a Deadly Spell, magic is omnipresent – everybody uses it. In Lovecraft's stories magic is almost unknown, except to a select few.
, Witch Hunt
. Witch Hunt takes place in the 1950s during the red scare
, in which magic is substituted for communism
. Dennis Hopper
played Lovecraft in place of Fred Ward
. Additionally, many characters have different background stories then Cast a Deadly Spell. For example, Lovecraft refuses to use magic in Cast a Deadly Spell on principle, and because of a bad experience in Witch Hunt.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
/Detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
HBO movie with Fred Ward
Fred Ward
Freddie Joe "Fred" Ward is an American actor. He began his career in 1979 alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. He is best known for his starring roles in the motion pictures Remo Williams, Tremors, Henry & June, Short Cuts, The Right Stuff and Exit Speed...
, Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards....
, David Warner
David Warner (actor)
David Warner is an English actor who is known for playing both romantic leads and sinister or villainous characters, both in film and animation...
and Clancy Brown
Clancy Brown
Clarence J. "Clancy" Brown III is an American actor and voice actor. He is known for his roles in live action as The Kurgan in the cult classic film Highlander, Byron Hadley in the award-winning The Shawshank Redemption, Brother Justin Crowe in HBO's critically acclaimed Carnivàle, and Career...
. It was directed by Martin Campbell
Martin Campbell
-Life and career:Campbell was born in Hastings, New Zealand. He directed two James Bond films, 1995's GoldenEye, starring Pierce Brosnan, and 2006's Casino Royale, starring Daniel Craig, and was the first Bond director since John Glen to direct more than one film, as well as the oldest director in...
and written by Joseph Dougherty
Joseph Dougherty
Joseph Dougherty is an American television producer, writer and director. He won an Emmy Award and a Humanitas Prize for his writing on Thirtysomething...
.
Plot
Ward stars as 1940s hardboiled private detective Phillip Lovecraft, in a fictional universeFictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
where magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
is real, monsters and mythical beasts stalk the back alleys, zombies are used as cheap labor, and everyone — except Lovecraft — uses magic every day. Yet, cars, telephones and other modern technology also exist in this world.
H.P. Lovecraft influence
The movie is very much an homage to the works of H. P. LovecraftH. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
. Though not based on any one particular story by Lovecraft, the film features many Lovecraftian tropes, and can be considered to take place against the unified backdrop which has come to be known as the Cthulhu Mythos
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
. The nightclub is called Harry Bordon's Dunwich
Dunwich (Lovecraft)
Dunwich is a fictional town that appeared in the H. P. Lovecraft short story "The Dunwich Horror" . Dunwich is found in the fictional Miskatonic River Valley of Massachusetts, part of the imaginary region sometimes called Lovecraft Country...
Room. Frequent references are made to the Necronomicon
Necronomicon
The Necronomicon is a fictional grimoire appearing in the stories by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in...
, the Great Old Ones, Cthulhu
Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional character that first appeared in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. The character was created by writer H. P...
and Yog Sothoth throughout the film.
While the film clearly does not take place in Lovecraft's world, it does reference Lovecraft extensively (including the name of the main character), though there are many obvious differences. The most obvious difference is that in Cast a Deadly Spell, magic is omnipresent – everybody uses it. In Lovecraft's stories magic is almost unknown, except to a select few.
Sequel
HBO produced a quasi-sequelSequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
, Witch Hunt
Witch Hunt (1994 film)
Witch Hunt is a horror/detective HBO movie starring Dennis Hopper. It was directed by Paul Schrader and written by Joseph Dougherty.-Plot:...
. Witch Hunt takes place in the 1950s during the red scare
Red Scare
Durrell Blackwell Durrell Blackwell The term Red Scare denotes two distinct periods of strong Anti-Communism in the United States: the First Red Scare, from 1919 to 1920, and the Second Red Scare, from 1947 to 1957. The First Red Scare was about worker revolution and...
, in which magic is substituted for communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
played Lovecraft in place of Fred Ward
Fred Ward
Freddie Joe "Fred" Ward is an American actor. He began his career in 1979 alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. He is best known for his starring roles in the motion pictures Remo Williams, Tremors, Henry & June, Short Cuts, The Right Stuff and Exit Speed...
. Additionally, many characters have different background stories then Cast a Deadly Spell. For example, Lovecraft refuses to use magic in Cast a Deadly Spell on principle, and because of a bad experience in Witch Hunt.
Cast
- Julianne MooreJulianne MooreJulianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards....
– Connie Stone - David WarnerDavid Warner (actor)David Warner is an English actor who is known for playing both romantic leads and sinister or villainous characters, both in film and animation...
– Amos Hackshaw - Alexandra PowersAlexandra Powers-Early life:Powers was born in New York City. She grew up in an artsy, liberal environment on both coasts with her divorced parents. Her father teaches acting. She said in an interview that her parents, "encouraged me to find my own truth". Commenting on her faith, she stated, "I pray whenever I...
– Olivia Hackshaw - Fred WardFred WardFreddie Joe "Fred" Ward is an American actor. He began his career in 1979 alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. He is best known for his starring roles in the motion pictures Remo Williams, Tremors, Henry & June, Short Cuts, The Right Stuff and Exit Speed...
– Harry Philip Lovecraft - Clancy BrownClancy BrownClarence J. "Clancy" Brown III is an American actor and voice actor. He is known for his roles in live action as The Kurgan in the cult classic film Highlander, Byron Hadley in the award-winning The Shawshank Redemption, Brother Justin Crowe in HBO's critically acclaimed Carnivàle, and Career...
– Harry Bordon - Charles HallahanCharles HallahanCharles John Hallahan was an American film, television and stage actor best known for his performances in Going in Style, The Thing, and Dante's Peak.-Life and career:...
- Det. Morris Bradbury