Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Cast a Deadly Spell

Play trailer Poster for Cast a Deadly Spell R 1991 1h 36m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 1 Reviews 58% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
In a 1940s Los Angeles from another dimension, the entire population has supernatural abilities, save for sleuth Harry Philip Lovecraft (Fred Ward). The strange but affluent Amos Hacksaw (David Warner) trusts Lovecraft because of his distaste for magic, and he recruits the private eye to track down an ancient text. Harry's seemingly straightforward task becomes complicated when he realizes that the object of his mission contains curses that Hacksaw hopes to use for world domination.

Where to Watch

Cast a Deadly Spell

Critics Reviews

View More
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 09/13/2013
C+
It drowns in its own shallowness. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Max L Aug 18 Fun movie, decent detective noir with a magical twist. Yeah it's a little dated but the story holds up. The acting overall is solid. Fred Ward was made for roles like this. If Hollywood was looking for something to reboot, this would be a great candidate. See more Horror fan 4 Mar 15 This was a lot of fun. I loved the story and it's characters. Although the monsters looked a little rough it still didn't take away the charming quality of the film. Tim Treakle See more D G 06/10/2024 So bad I couldn’t get through it, and I appreciate a good bad film. This one was unwatchable. See more 09/08/2023 It aired on tv over 30 years ago but was largely forgotten Starring Fred Ward, David Warner, Julianne Moore, Clancy Brown I'm amazed they mix 1940s mystery-noir with supernatural creatures You don't see genres like that together very often I like that it gives it some variety having gremlins, witches, vampires, werewolves blend with gangster style filmmaking It got glowing reviews in the press and even won an Emmy for its musical numbers Yet it does seem silly to modern viewers not to mention being a tad insensitive of being homophobic and transphobic when it came out But the world building is fascinating, lots of bloody violence, I like the 1940ss setting, and the cool creature effects I liked watching it still See more 03/13/2022 Carried by Fred Ward but ably supported by Julianne Moore and Clancy Brown, this is a daft but atmospheric and enjoyable 40's noir fantasy where magic is an everyday thing. The ending is entirely predictable but overall it's more than deserving of cult status. See more @c0urtn3y 12/12/2021 intresting - it's not a great film by any means, but it's kind of fun. I'm not sure if it was funny on purpose or on accident, but the creatures are quite funny. it's to a bad watch if you don't have anything better to do. See more Read all reviews
Cast a Deadly Spell

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All

Martin Campbell

Director

Fred Ward

Det. Harry Philip Lovecraft

David Warner

Amos Hackshaw

Julianne Moore

Connie Stone

Clancy Brown

Harry Bordon

Alexandra Powers

Olivia Hackshaw
View All

Cast a Deadly Spell

Cast a Deadly Spell (1991) Cast a Deadly Spell (1991) Cast a Deadly Spell (1991) Cast a Deadly Spell (1991) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis In a 1940s Los Angeles from another dimension, the entire population has supernatural abilities, save for sleuth Harry Philip Lovecraft (Fred Ward). The strange but affluent Amos Hacksaw (David Warner) trusts Lovecraft because of his distaste for magic, and he recruits the private eye to track down an ancient text. Harry's seemingly straightforward task becomes complicated when he realizes that the object of his mission contains curses that Hacksaw hopes to use for world domination.
Director
Martin Campbell
Production Co
Pacific Western, Home Box Office (HBO)
Rating
R
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 21, 2016
Runtime
1h 36m
Sound Mix
Stereo
Most Popular at Home Now