THE ARCANE ARCHIVE
	a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects.

        http://www.luckymojo.com/altmagickfaq/movieref

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              MAGICK and WITCHCRAFT IN THE MOVIES
      
      edited by nagasiva yronwode and catherine yronwode
             with the help of many contributors
      
                       Created: 9311
                       Version: 0303
                       Replaces: 0108
             
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Criteria: Film plot or main character(s) feature magick
and/or witchcraft.

The list is alphabetical, in three parts:

(1) Films that have been reviewed and for which there is
information about how magick, witchcraft, or the occult
figure into the plot.

(2) Films for which titles have been listed, but no reviews
have been submitted -- or for which short reviews do not
indicate how they may or may not meet the criteria.

(3) Films that have been submitted (sometimes repeatedly)  
but do not fit the criteria, with an explanation as to
their non-inclusion.

Contributors have been credited by initials and a list of
their full names, insofar as known, is given at the end of
the document.

If you supply a review of any film in list (2), it can be
moved up to List (1) or removed down to List (3).
   
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(1) Films that have been reviewed and for which there is
information about how magick, witchcraft, or the occult
figure into the plot.

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Apprentice to Murder

     A drama about Pennsylvania Dutch Pow Wow Magic (folk magic
     centered on the 1820 grimoire "Pow Wows or The Long Lost
     Friend" by John George Hohman) and based on a true events
     that took place in Pennsylvania in the 1920s; even includes
     a brief guest-appearance by a hoodoo root-worker; recommended; 
     good! CY
     
     97 mins, 1987, (PG-13); starring Donald Sutherland, Chad
     Lowe, and Mia Sara. By Hot International A.S., directed by
     R.L. Thomas, executive producer Michael Jay Rauch, produced
     by Howard K. Grossman. Backwoods Pow-wow doctor takes an
     ignorant teen as his apprentice. Christian folk magic,
     coercion, hints of insanity, charlatanism. Some interesting
     allusions to common Hermetic sources. NY

Bell, Book and Candle

     A witch falls in love with a mortal and loses her power.
     Good use of symbolism, although weak on facts. Strong 
     comic portions. RR

Big Trouble In Little China
     
     Martial arts adventure set in San Francisco; the major 
     villain is a fabulous Chinese sorcerer. CY
    
     US (1986): Adventure/Comedy 99 min, Rated PG-13, Color, 
     Available on videocassette and laserdisc. Blowhard trucker 
     Russell finds himself knee-deep in Chinatown intrigue (and
     mumbo-jumbo) when a friend's fiancee is kidnapped right 
     in front of his eyes. High-tech Indiana Jones-style adventure 
     has heavy tongue-in-cheek attitude, but everything else 
     about it is heavy, too, including Russell's John Wayne-ish 
     swagger. Good electronic music score by director Carpenter.
     Panavision. LM

     This story is a fun, tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek wild
     martial arts film. The story is derived from different
     stories from the Chinese Mythos. But the Chinese Mysticism
     is sound. TV

The Black Cat

      Boris Karloff plays a Black Magician who lives in this 
      really beautiful art deco house.  Bela Lugosi is the 
      good guy. Don't let the title fool you; this has 
      nothing to do with the Edgar Allen Poe poem. This film 
      was made at a time when Crowley was getting some 
      attention in the press and he may have inspired the 
      Karloff character. A ritual is performed on a wild set 
      and Karloff reads from The Rites of Lucifer before 
      going to sleep. RC
      
Burn, Witch, Burn

     1962 adaptation of Fritz Leiber's novel "Conjure Wife."
     Remade as a comedy in 1980 under the title Witches' Brew. CY
      
The Butcher's Wife. 

     A young lady from somewhere else becomes a New York 
     butcher's wife and uses her psychic abilities to affect 
     the lives of several people.  His problems with her 
     abilities and her acceptance of the naturalness of her 
     abilities are a wonderful lesson for all magic users. SS

Cast a Deadly Spell

     It came out in the early '90s (I think around 1991/2).  
     The main character is H. P. Lovecraft as a detective who 
     is hired to search for the Necronomicon. It actually was 
     very well done, but I for one cannot seem to find it in 
     any of the local video stores. It was made for HBO & 
     released on video a year or so later. AN
  
The Craft

     Four teenagers form a 90210 style coven. Shows how 
     the rule of three will get you in the end. "Be careful what
     you wish for, you might get it." Shallow, but with more 
     accuracy than the evening news. RR

Dark Forces (also known as Harlequin)

     Plays with the ambiguity of "stage" vs "real" magic. RB
     
Death Magic

     93 min; 1992; Domino Theatre, Inc.; produced, directed and
     screenplay by Paul E. Clinco based on an original story by
     Paul E. Clinco and Mark A.W. Smith; starring Anne Caffrey,
     Kieth De Green, Jack Dunlap, Danielle Frons, and Norman
     Stone; unrated. Low-budget horror film integrating Hermetic
     ideas from jokes about Crowley and various ritual notions to
     panoramics on the featured magician's library that contains
     a host of classics. Stereotypical portrayals of magical
     group conflicts, egotism, and dramatics that integrate a
     spiritualist ("necromantic") plot complication in order to
     entertain through bad acting. NY

The Devils

     Ken Russell film based on factual events (loosely). JW
     
Elvira Mistress of the Dark

     Horror-movie hostess Cassandra Peterson stars in a comedic,
     semi-musical film about a ditzy hereditary witch who
     inherits a spooky mansion and a potent grimoire, and manages
     to repel an evil wizard while defending a small town's teens
     against the forces of fuddy-duddyism. CY
     
The Exorcist / Exorcist II / Exorcist III

     Exorcism is surely a magical act, and these films, though
     they focus more strikingly on the malady which the magick is
     designed to affect, are good introductions. NY

     
Ferngully, The Last Rainforest

     It's sappy kid-vid cartoon movie with over-obvious ecology 
     messages.  And it's a great magical lesson. "All the magic 
     of the world is contained in a single seed." Robin Williams 
     and Tim Curry provide two wonderful characters that can keep 
     the adults watching. SS
     
The Gate

     85 mins., 1986 (PG-13), by New Century Entertainment Corp,
     starring Stephen Dorff, Louis Tripp, and Christa Denton.
     Produced by Andras Hamori and John Kemeny, written by
     Michael Narkin, directed by Tibor Takacs. Decent special
     effects punctuate this heavy metal demon summoner horror
     flick with a little spice. Mostly a movie for children and
     rated appropriately, however the main theme is the ritual
     summoning of the Old Gods (reptilian rather than
     Lovecraftian themes).  Recommended only as a precursor to
     its sequel. NY

Gate II

     1992, (R), by Alliance Entertainment and Vision p.d.g.,
     starring Louis Tripp, Simon Reynods, James Villamaire, and
     Pamela Segall. Produced by Andras Hamori, executive
     producer John Kemeny, directed by Tibor Takacs. A distinct
     improvement on the first film; the ages and activities of
     the major actors (Tripp grows up) allow more interesting
     situations, and the special effects are a greater portion of
     the film. Again the major theme is the summoning of demons
     via rite and the usage of demons to achieve one's ends (pun
     intended). NY
 
The Golden Child
      
     For a thought-provoking comparison, try watching "Big Trouble
     in Little China" and this film in rapid succession. The plot
     structure is almost identical (the difference is the hero's
     ability or lack of same in relationships) but the treatment
     is very different. The same actor plays the Good Magician
     in both movies. RC

Harlequin (see Dark Forces) 

Hocus Pocus

     Despite wonderful acting jobs by Bette Midler and the other 
     actresses, this movie sucks. The "witches are bad" thing 
     is bad enough. The inconsistent rules of magic are worse. 
     The only saving grace is the image of a witch on a flying 
     vacuum cleaner. That, and Trick or Treat at Gary Marshall's 
     house. SS

Hudson Hawk

     Action film depicting an attempt to complete an alchemical
     combination which would allow the production of gold from
     base metals. The antagonist is the alchemist. Humor, 
     musical. NY

Lord of Illusions

     A Clive Barker film about magicians, both stage and the
     "actuals."  Strangely enough, the main character and the 
     heroine are neither. The villain and his main croney are 
     the former, as well as the antihero, who is both. The 
     croney's quest to resurrect his dead master is the most 
     interesting thread in the film. RF
     
Macbeth
   
     [The Shakespeare play] directed by Roman Polanski in the 
     early 1970s. Polanski injects it with some very sinister 
     touches (many of which seem to be the mental scars of the 
     Manson killings). AS

The Magician

     Rex Ingram's silent film (1926), starring Michael Powell, 
     is based on Somerset Maugham's novel of the same name. 
     (Oliver Haddo, of course, based in large measures on Aleister 
     Crowley.) This film in the MGM library & is owned by Turner 
     Entertainment. See page 1 of The Magical Link, Volume 8, 
     nos. 1-2., the article "Film & TV News". AN
      
The Magus (1)

     Adaptation of John Fowles' novel "The Magus", filmed 
     in 1968 by Guy Greene, with Michael Caine, Anthony Quinn, 
     and Candice Bergen. HI
     
     From the John Fowles book. Takes a lot of knocks from 
     critics as it was a very low budget production. DC
 
The Magus (2)
     
     Ingmar Bergman's commentary on the intersection 
     between travelling oddity and occult master.
     highly recommended. AN

The Ninth Gate 

     A magical Medieval grimoire turns out to have been 
     authored and illustrated by Lucifer. Crosses the line 
     between ceremonial magic and Satanism. CY

Night of the Demons 

     Teenagers conjure demons in a seance! AN
     
Prospero's Books
     
     In a somewhat highfalutin' vein. RB
     
Rough Magic
     
     Based on a novel by James Hadley Chase; plays with 
     the ambiguity of "stage" vs "real" magic. RB

The Season of the Witch

     Standard bored housewife seduced by the power of Satan,
     except that the ending consisted of a by-the-Book of 
     Shadow Gardnerian initiation. AN
     
Simon King of the Witches 

     A low budget, kinky oddity that features a sewer-dwelling
     party-hearty Los Angeles warlock and his sex-changing
     groupie, which cannot be said of too many other feature
     films. CY
     
     The characters are based on real people in Pasadena, CA,
     circa 1970. Simon is Poke Runyon, and Sarah is Sara
     Cunningham. I told Sara to check out the film, so she took a
     gaggle of her students to see it. They all got up and walked
     out in the second reel. I never lived in a sewer [like Simon
     did in the film], and i never did an 11th Degree operation
     (not my thing), but I was the model for Simon. I roamed 
     around the scuzzy side of Hollywood, riding a motorcycle, 
     wearing a black beard, smoking cheroots and carrying a
     bottle of wine in a paper sack; telling the witches and
     hippies that "Real Magick was the ancient Art of Kings, and
     their little spells were powerless against it. I would go
     into Satan's Sin-A-Go-Go, snap my fingers and walk out with 
     a glassy-eyed chick. (Like James Earl Jones told Arnie:
     "That's power, boy!) I used Don Blythe's Satanic bunnies
     for my first Goetia experiments. I was probably the only
     literate "Warlock" on the Sunset Strip in those days who
     took magick seriously. Jeff Gold (The Archdruid Morloch) was
     literate, but a merry prankster. But "Frater Ahriman" had a
     fearsome reputation. One of my possessees was supposed to
     have disappeared after channeling the Goddess in an
     operation. A writer named St. Claire even published that one
     (Oh-eee-oh!). You can order Simon from Eddie Brandt's
     Saturday Matinee in North Hollywood. Try (818) 506-4242
     for info. PR

The Sorcerer's Apprentice 

     Children's story about a youngster who becomes a
     hostage-apprentice to a black-hearted sorcerer. AN
     
Weird Woman (see Witches' Brew)

Witchcraft Through the Ages 
  
     A 1920s silent movie by the Danish fiilmmaker Benjamin 
     Christensen. It was re-released by Anthony Balch in the 
     1970s with English narration by William Burroughs. AN

     This silent documentary is pretty damn bizarre. It's far 
     from accurate but it's got some really far out images. A
     lot of the scenes may look familiar, because they are used in 
     modern day documentaries about Witchcraft and Satanism. RC
     
     Two additional points about this film: It was made well 
     before the Hayes Code and thus it contains some scenes 
     with nudity, and it intentionally presents historical 
     European folk-magical witchcraft primarily in terms of 
     psychological disorders and mental illness. CY

The Witches

     UK (1990): Fantasy 91 min, Rated PG, Color, Available on
     videocassette and laserdisc. The ads say "From the
     imagination of Jim Henson and director Nicolas Roeg." It
     would be more accurate to say "From the imagination of the
     writer Roald Dahl." This quirky fairy-tale movie is about
     the diabolical, gleeful evil that's hidden behind normality.
     (It's about women who secretly hate children.) What Henson 
     and Roeg supply is their craftsmanship and their affection
     for the novel's adult, calmly macabre tone. (The movie
     promises to be an enduring, slightly scandalous joy.) As the
     Grand High Witch of the World, the black-clad Anjelica
     Huston lifts her arm up high in a towering salute and,
     addressing the witches of England at their annual meeting,
     held at a seacoast hotel, she outlines her plan: all the
     children in the land are to be turned into mice. The
     9-year-old Luke (Jasen Fisher), who overhears her speech, is
     hunted down and transformed, but, blessed with a
     practical-minded Norwegian granny (Mai Zetterling) who's an
     expert on witches, he sets out to foil the plan. The movie
     doesn't have Dahl's narrative confidence and it goes in for
     a little sweetening, but it has major compensations. Pale,
     bespectacled Luke is rather mousy to start with, and when he
     becomes a light-brown critter who can be cradled in his
     granny's hand it seems almost a fulfillment. His greedy pal
     Bruno (Charles Potter) seems fulfilled, too, as a blobby gray
     rodent. The two mice are triumphs for Henson's workshop.
     Zetterling is the hypnotic storytelling granny of our
     dreams; Huston is a gutsy, camp witch, with an accent that
     slips like her features; her terrified underling bald,
     drag-queen witches are like a child's drawings of the devil.
     With Bill Paterson and Brenda Blethyn as Bruno's parents,
     Rowan Atkinson as the hotel manager, and Jane Horrocks as
     Miss Irvine. The script is by Allan Scott; the exteriors
     were filmed in Bergen, Norway, and at the Headland Hotel,
     Newquay, Cornwall. Warners. PK

     This film gives the typical Christian notion that all
     witches are evil, child hating hags. Not much to recommend
     it and plenty to complain about. TV

Witches' Brew

     US (1980): Comedy/Horror 99 min, Rated PG, Color, 
     Available on videocassette. College prof Benjamin's wife 
     Garr resorts to witchcraft in order to further his 
     career. Lana is good as the veteran witch who has selfish 
     reasons for helping Benjamin's cause. After a dull first 
     half, this comic remake of Burn, WItch, Burn (1962) 
     finally hits its stride. Originally done as Weird Woman. LM

     The directors of this film, drew from many different
     traditions. I recognized some High Magic symbols from
     Rosicrucian and various other magic and religious traditions
     (Voodoo, Santeria, etc.) TV

     I watched this movie and it seems to be based on Fritz Leiber's 
     classic novel "Conjure Wife." The story, theme, and most of 
     what happens are the same in both. TS     

Witches of Eastwick

     Three housewife witches have the time of their lives
     when the Dark Prince (Nicholson) moves in nearby. NY

The Witchfinder General

     Loosely based on factual events. JW
    
The Witching
     
     87 mins; starring Orson Welles, Pamela Franklin, Michael
     Ontkean, Lee Percell, and Harvey Jason; Premiere Productions
     and Associates Entertainment International; executive
     producer Mark E. Cohen, written by Bert. I Gordon and Gail
     March, produced by Sidney L. Caplan and Gail March, directed
     by Bert I. Gordon; 1983. A woman encounters a town full of
     coercive Luciferian witches who seek her innate powers in
     the conclusion of a necromantic rite. Many sympathetic magic
     references, as well as quite a few Hermetic old-style
     touches ("Grand Grimoire," various ritual accoutrements,
     etc.). Light on ritual but heavy on the struggle of the will
     within a cult. NY

Witchtrap
   
     Psychics get their Satanic commuppance. AN

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(2) Films for which titles have been listed, but no reviews
have been submitted -- or for which short reviews do not
indicate how they may or may not meet the criteria.

If you have an opinion as to whether any of these films
qualify, please let us know!

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The Alchemist 

The Awakening

     A 1980 film with Charlton Heston as an archaeologist whose
     daughter is possessed by the spirit of an Egyptian queen.
     Look out for the scene shot in the Egyptian Museum (ie "the
     Boulaq Museum"). Is it too long a bow to read Heston as
     Osiris being confronted with his daughter as the feminine
     aspect of the new aeon? Probably. CSM (Any occultism? CY)

Angel Heart
   
Beyond the Door 1/2/3 -- exorcism?  rites?

Black Magic directed by Orson Welles

Black Magic Terror

Black Sunday

Blood on Satan's Claw

Blood Spell

Brotherhood of Satan

The Caveman's Valentine

     Brilliant fucking movie. Definitely a movie about magic.
     JC (And we'd like to know why you think so. CY)

The Clairvoyant (see The Evil Mind)

Cthulhu Mansion (Lovecraftian horror?)

Curse of the Demon

Daughters of Satan

Def by Temptation

Demon Spawn
     
     
The Devil Rides Out

     Dennis Wheatley Satanist novel adapted to film. NY
     [Satanism is a religion; no witches, no magicians? CY]

The Devil in the House of Exorcism

The Devil's Commandment

The Devil's Rain

Dragonslayer 

     This 1981 film should rate a commendation, though its in the
     Sword and Sorcery genre. CSM

     Magic is used to kill the last of the dragons at the
     paradigm shift from magic to Christian zealotry. RR

Dr. Death: Seeker of Souls

Dracula by Coppola

The Dunwich Horror

Faust (several versions)
  
El Topo

     By Jodorowsky;  worth a cinema viewing for the visuals,
     despite its extravagant and confused initiatic ravings. CSM

The Emerald Forest

Equinox (The Beast)

The Evil Mind (aka The Clairvoyant)

Exorcism

The Fairies in the Picture

Ghost (Supernatural, but is it occultism?)
   
The Gift

     Despite being written by Billy Bob Thornton, this Australian
     film is a very effective dramatisation of the life of a
     working psychic. CSM (Any use of magic or witchcraft? CY)

The Golem

Goulies 
     
     The movie is completely about conjuring demons. AN
     
Hell High

Hex

The Holy Mountain
   
     Directed by Jodorowsky ; it's got a lot of occult symbolism,
     and I suppose it qualifies.  An OTO friend of mine thought
     it was the best film he'd ever seen. I'm not so sure -- it
     hasn't aged all that well. AN

Horror Hotel

I Married a Witch

In the Mouth of Madness

Invocation of my Demon Brother 

     Directed by Kenneth Anger.

The Last Wave 

     An Australian film (1977) starring Richard Chamberlain,
     directed by Peter Weir was quite good for the atmospherics,
     if not the actual magic (which is nominally about aboriginal
     shamanistic and apocalyptic goings-on). CSM

Lost Highway

Lucifer Rising by Kenneth Anger

The Magic Christian

The Magician of Lublin

The Magic Sword
   
     Children's sword/sorcery. AN
     
The Manitu

Mary Poppins

Mazes and Monsters

The Mephisto Waltz
   
     There really is a lot that is so -right- in that movie. 
     And, like all of them, a lot that is so -wrong-. JC 
     (Yes, but what does it have to do with magic? CY)
     
Mind Killer

Necromancer

Necromancy 
 
     With Orson Welles. CK

Night of the Death Cult
   
     Templars rising from their graves! AN
     
The Ninth Gate directed by Roman Polanski

Orpheus directed by Cocteau

The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Puppetmaster

Race with the Devil

The Reincarnate
   
     Eternal life through possessing others! AN
     
Rosemary's Baby

The Serpent and the Rainbow

The Snow Queen
   
     Russian-made full length cartoon based on
     Hans Christian Anderson story. AN
     
Sorceress
     
The Satanic Rites of Dracula

The Sentinel

Seven Doors of Death

The Seventh Sign

     I still have a soft spot for Demi Moore and Jurgen Prochnow
     (as an avenging magician Christ), though it is also rather
     flawed. CSM

The Seventh Victim

The Shout

     An English movie with Alan Bates, Susannah Yorke, John Hurt
     and Tim Curry. Do I detect an allusion to Crowley in the
     central character "Crossley" - who is a maniac who can kill
     with a terrifying magical shout? CSM
     
The Skull

Spellbinder

Spellbound
   
     Contains cults, ritual sacrifice, etc. AN
     
Thirst

To the Devil, A Daughter
   
     Dennis Wheatley Occultism. AN
   
Warlock

     Especially the sequel with the Druids. AN
     
Witchcraft 1/2/3/4/5
   
     Sex-fetishism disguised as witchcraft. AN
     
Witching Time
     
The Wizard of Gore

The Wizard of Mars

Wizard of the Lost Kingdom

Wizards

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(3) Films that have been submitted (sometimes repeatedly)  
but do not fit the criteria, with an explanation as to
their non-inclusion.

Most are Science Fiction, Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, or
Horror movies.

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Dark City

     Cleverly hidden in this noir / supernatural / science 
     fiction film is the tenet of Buddhism: an illusionary 
     world, with the its own version of endless reincarnation.  
     Quite freaky and nightmarish. A beautifully shot film, 
     even though the camera flips too quickly between angles 
     for my taste. RF
     
     1998 gothic Buddhist horror film illustrating the constraint
     of rebirth and the liberating qualities of exercise of the
     will.  Science Fiction context with few overt magical
     symbols or philosophy. Its focus on the willful changing of
     reality ("tuning") is an obvious parallel to many modern
     magical ideas, and while I liked this film a LOT
     (reminiscent of "The Island of Lost Children"), I wouldn't
     include it in a list of films with magick as theme. NY
     
Life of Brian  
   
     There are vestiges here that touch on the condition of the
     Magus, but films about Jesus do it with more focus and
     integrity, rather than as mere biting social criticism. NY
     
The Matrix

     A science-fiction / super hero movie with messianic 
     religious overtones. I do not think of it as a film 
     about magic, the occult, witchcraft, or the like. CY

The Raven

     With Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, and a VERY young Jack 
     Nicholson; doesn't qualify; consult the criteria. NY

Rocky Horror Picture Show

     Science fiction; doesn't qualify; consult the criteria. NY
     
Steppenwolf
    
     Starring Max von Sydow and Dominique Sanda. This film is 
     open to the objection that there is no obvious "occult" 
     element, but the "Magic Theatre" has lessons for us all.
     It's also remarkable for its fidelity to the book [by
     Herman Hesse], which is not the sort of work that readily
     "translates" to a movie. OD
     
The Wicker Man

     Pagan rites, not magick or witchcraft. NY
      
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Contributors

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  AN Anonymous (or name lost)
  AS Alex Sumner
  BU Bjorn Ursfjord
  CK Charles J. Klein
  CM CSM star 
  CY catherine yronwode
  DC David Cantu
  HI Hieronymous
  JC Joe Cosby
  JW John L. Waggott
  LM Leonard Maltin
  NY nagasiva yronwode
  OD Odysseus
  PK Pauline Kael
  PR Poke Runyon
  RB R. Brzustowicz 
  RC Rick Crowell
  RE Regulus
  RF Renfield
  RR Rrringrill
  SS Steve Storm 
  TS Teresa C. Saunders 
  TV Tony Veca
  
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