27) Disciples of the Crow (1983) and The Boogeyman (1982) - Obscure Stephen King flicks #7

"The Lord is he who walks behind the rows."

Director
John Woodward

Cast
Eleese Lester - Vicky
Gabriel Folse - Burt
Steven Young - Young Billy
John Woodward - Older Billy

I picked two movies for this post because (1) each was only 20 to 30 minutes long, and (2) they're both featured on a two volume VHS set called Stephen King's Nightshift Collection. The set includes four short movies - three of which are based on King stories found in his book of short stories, Night Shift. Why one movie, The Night Waiter (1987), in this King collection has nothing to do with King or his book is beyond me.
When it comes to obscure Stephen King movies, this set definitely fits the bill. I never even heard of them until I read an article in a recent issue of HorrorHound magazine that mentioned the title Disciples of the Crow. A quick Google search led me to this obscure collection not available on DVD.
The only way I was able to watch these movies, luckily, was on YouTube. Unfortunately, the King short The Woman in the Room directed by Frank Darabont, who's no stranger to directing other movie adaptations of King's work - Shawshank Redemption, The Mist, The Green Mile - wasn't available in English. It's found on volume 2 of this collection along with the other movie I reviewed down below, so I'll find a way to watch it soon enough.
Disciples of the Crow, based on the story Children of the Corn, is featured on volume 1.
When compared to the more popular movie Children of the Corn, which has weaved its way into pop culture spawning six sequels since its 1984 release, as well as a made-for-TV remake in 2009, Disciples of the Crow is actually a little better. This isn't saying too much as it's only a 20 minute film. It was also released before the more popular movie adaptation. Even today, people (whether they've seen the movie or read the story) use the phrase "Children of the corn" to describe country folks deemed not quite up to snuff with the rest of the society. The title has made its way into the lexicon of other book titles used as modern catchphrases - Catch 22, for instance.
Children of the Corn fails in its ending. It's tacky, stupid, and seems like an ending for the sake of an ending. That's my biggest problem with it. I'm just throwing that out there.
In Disciples, we see an opening of a dry atmosphere with a golden sun amidst the screeching of crows. We then see a young boy, Billy, perform a ritual with a crucifix in which he's making something with corn. He joins other kids, and the movie then cuts to families gathered in church. Billy sees Jesus on a stained glass window, where his face turns dark. Billy takes this as the sign to kill the adults. Before we see that happens, the scene switches to 12 years later.  
The story centers on a couple, Vicki and Burt, who while driving on a secluded road towards Jonah, Oklahoma, accidentally hit a young boy who ran out from the cornfields next to the road. When Burt gets out to see if he's ok, he finds a knife made from a corn cob, stabbed in the boy's side.
They pull through a small town which turns out is completely deserted.
It has been taken over by the cult of children, and their trip through the town quickly becomes an escape for their lives.
Disciples of the Crow has more mystery and intrigue behind it. It's too bad the movie is so short as it leaves a lot of unanswered questions. There could have been more to add, making it a better, scarier film.
The imagery is great, despite the movie's overall amateur appearance - looking and sounding (i.e. the poor dialogue) more like a film school project.
One thing I really liked over the more famous movie adaptation  was the adults death scene inside Mercy Baptist Church. In Children of the Corn, that scene takes place inside a diner, which is fine and creepy as hell. But to have it inside a Baptist church is much more dark, putting the mindset of the cult's god (he who walks behind the rows), shown through the action of the children, in a much more accurate light. We don't actually see the adults get taken down by the children as its more implied.
The movie did a decent enough job to tell its story in such a short amount of time, relying more on visuals than dialogue.
For Stephen King fans, Disciples of the Crow is a small obscure gem lost among bigger films made with bigger budgets, that's worth checking out.

The Boogeyman

"Maybe if you think of a thing long enough, and believe in it, maybe it becomes real. Maybe all the things we were afraid of as kids, you know, the monsters like Frankenstein, Wolfman, or Mummy - maybe they were real."

Director
Jeff Schiro

Cast
Michael Earl Reid - Lester Billings
Bert Linder - Dr. Harper
Terence Brandy - Sgt. Garland

I don't know for sure, but I'd bet that the Stephen King short story The Boogeyman, published in the same book mentioned above (Night Shift) was an inspiration, somehow of another, for the story It. There are some similarities between the two stories. Well, mostly that there's a scary monster and children are its victims.
The movie opens with Lester Billings (Michael Earl Reid, Army of Darkness) finding one of his children dead in the bathtub.
The audience follows Billings as he discusses with his psychiatrist that the monster in his children's closet is real, and it's literally killing them.
He goes into gruesome details about how he has found his kids dead in there beds at night, with the closet door open, and how helpless he has been. We cut back and forth between scenes of Lester with his family, and his sessions with his doctor.
For a short psychological horror/thriller, this movie really pulled me in. And if you're not familiar with the story, the ending is great and unsettling.
Watching a man we know is fully aware of some paranormal being manifesting in his home and killing his children, who's trying to convince his doctor of what's happening, and the madness this drives him into is the stuff of good horror and thrillers.
Sometimes the monster in the story isn't the scariest thing. Rather, it's watching the main character live with the knowledge that something horrifying and unexplainable exists whether they like it or not. Watching the main character deal with something they have no control over in such a situation is half the scare. The other half is, well, the monster itself. And trying to get rid of it may not go the way the protagonist thinks it will. But if it leads to a resolution, we're willing to cope with our losses (or, rather, those of the protagonist), whatever they might be, just so we can have that resolution.
Reid plays his role well - a helpless father facing a reality that's unbelievable and larger than his imagination can fathom right in his own home. All he can do his grasp his shotgun and try to face it for the sake of his family. This, mixed with the screams of his children begging for him to save them, makes it hard to watch. Yet his performance is well done for what it is. You can't help but feel sympathy for Lester who's left to the mercy of authorities and his psychiatrist.
Initially, I thought the title seemed too generic and silly. I mean, "The Boogeyman?" Seriously? But watching it, it makes sense. It's the looming presence of evil who's always there waiting, and that knowledge consumes your sanity.
This movie is precisely that, and the ending is unexpected. It's an ending that really throws Billings' lack of control over the entire situation in his face.
Like Disciples of the Crow, this movie is worth watching for any big Stephen King fan. It's not a movie that'll blow you away. It's more like a really great episode of Tales from the Crypt or The Twilight Zone.
This was an entertaining short movie, and a creepy one as long as the audience doesn't let the films age or production value get in the way. It's worth checking out, especially for the die-hard King fans.
 
Obscure Stephen King

Memorable Roles in Horrific History - Bill Moseley in the Night of the Living Dead remake, and Army of Darkness

Bill Moseley in Night of the Living Dead (1990).

I didn't really discover actor Bill Moseley until I squeamishly sat through Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects. I had to pause and recollect myself while getting through that one. And then, like a teenager in a slasher flick just asking for trouble, I went back for more with Zombie's House of 1,000 Corpses. (I watched them out of order.) Moseley was in that, too.
Though both those movies were disturbing, gruesome, and all too real, Moseley was fantastic. He is one scary actor, and I mean that as a good thing.
He strikes me as someone who loves what he does. Moseley puts his love of acting and horror into his performances, and it shows. His sharp stare and gaunt features help make him one freaky character...a horror icon on par with Bela Lugosi.
But there are two movies I've seen, long before I watched any Rob Zombie movies, that I just learned also starred Bill Moseley - Tom Savini's underrated 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead and Army of Darkness (1992). 

Moseley's roles in horror movies are normally disturbing, maniacal, grotesque, and horrific. I'm thinking primarily of his character Chop Top Sawyer in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and Otis Driftwood in House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. He returned as Otis Driftwood in the new 2019 movie 3 From Hell - a movie I have yet to see.
In Army of Darkness, he plays Evil Ash's right-hand man, the Deadite Captain. It looks like a fun role. Moseley puts his joy and heartlessness into that monster. It's unforgettable, and he looks incredible!
Moseley's gaunt appearance, dark sunken yet piercing eyes, and a smile that's nothing but evil makes him perfect for horror movie roles. He puts all he can into these characters. While Anthony Hopkins playing Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs can make the audience take a liking to a cannibal serial killer, Moseley makes the audience feel the disgust and hatred they should feel towards his characters. Driftwood most certainly comes to mind in that regard. His mind is given to evil, his behavior is fixed on it, and that's what makes him scary. He is truly unrepentant. Moseley pulls that off fantastically and convincingly.
The role of Johnnie in both the original and remake of Night of the Living Dead is crucial thought it's brief. It's a different kind of role for Moseley.
As he and his sister, Barbara, are visiting the grave of their mother, he's dubious at first, taunting her with that one line so famous in horror movie history, "They're coming to get you, Barbara."
He quickly comes to her aid when she's attacked by the first zombie we see. This is before anyone is aware there's a zombie infestation.
It sets the tone of the movie. Moseley is able to maintain an air of uneasiness. That small part deserves a big nod.
Of course, Russell Streiner who first uttered that famous line as the character Johnny in George Romero's original 1968 movie, deserves a salute. Moseley reprising the role deserves to be just as iconic.

26) The Dark Half (1993) - Obscure Stephen King flick #6

George Starks' the celebrity. Not me.

Director
George A. Romero

Cast
Timothy Hutton - Thad Beaumont/ George Stark
Amy Madigan - Liz Beaumont
Michael Rooker - Sheriff Alan Pangborn
Julie Harris - Reggie Delesseps

The Dark Half, based on Stephen King's novel of the same name, tends to be buried among unheard of horror movies on some streaming sights. The movie leans far enough into the "under the radar" category (a phrase I like to use a lot) despite it being directed by horror director extraordinaire - the late, great George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead, Creepshow.)
But unlike other Romero movies, this one ultimately falls flat despite its intriguing psychological thriller story line, and a decent dual performance by Timothy Hutton as the story's protagonist, Thad Beaumont, and the antagonist, George Stark.
Though I have yet to read King's book, the movie definitely has tropes used by King in various other stories - a writer struggling with some sort of demon whether it be alcoholism, writer's block, themselves, or in this case a psychological entity personified. Watching this brought some other of his stories to mind - Secret Window, Secret Garden, The Tommyknockers, and Misery. All these stories share such a trope.
In the movie, author Thad Beaumont writes suspense novels under the pen name George Stark. However, he plans to retire his pseudonym, which he declares to his fanbase, and to all the literary world. A photojournalist takes a picture of him standing next to a mock grave with Stark's name on it - a final symbol of George Stark's death.
Shortly after this all takes place, Stark is suddenly real. I mean, he's a real physical person. And he murders the photographer, Homer Gamache, who shot Beaumont and the fake grave for the news story.
Other people surrounding Beaumont begin to get bumped off, making Beaumont a prime suspect for Castle Rock Sheriff, Alan Pangborn (Michael Rooker - Guardians of the Galaxy, Walking Dead.)
There's evidence to suggest Beaumont is responsible, especially his finger prints being found at crime scenes. Pangborn doesn't arrest him as there's proof of Beaumont being elsewhere at the time of the murders. Even Pangborn begins to agree that something abnormal is taking place.
We learn early on in the movie that Beaumont had a parasitic twin who died in childbirth.
There's a scene that shows a fetus developing in Beaumont's brain. That part was creepy, but its purpose left me confused.
As Stark kills more and more people, Beaumont learns Stark is that twin that supposedly died at childbirth. Yet, somehow, Stark is an entity controlled by Beaumont's writing and his goal is to stop Beaumont from ultimately killing him (i.e. ending his series.)
The movie doesn't go deep enough into this interesting story. How is Stark Beaumont's parasitic twin yet controlled by his writing? The movie just introduces the premise, gets through it with little explanation, and then ends suddenly. It had potential to be a memorable movie, but it missed a great opportunity. Sad!
The story was really intriguing. Some major elements needed more substance and explanation. It's implied that Stark is a paranormal entity.
Sparrows play a part in the movie as harbingers of souls to the afterlife. And they're used to take Stark back to hell. Yet, he's the parasitic twin? Is he the ghost of the twin who somehow, through ghost magic became entangled in the identity of fictitious George Stark? I'm so confused! Please, movie, explain this to me!
The Dark Half had potential, but just missed the pot. The movie tries...really tries...to be that memorable psychological thriller. The movie had a great cast including Hollywood legend, Julie Harris (The Haunting, East of Eden).
Amy Madigan plays Thad's wife, Liz Beaumont. While I wouldn't say she was bad in this move, I liked her better in Uncle Buck. Hers wasn't a standout performance, but she was good in role along side Tim Hutton.
With the presence of Timothy Hutton who won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for the movie Ordinary People (1980), along with Romero's and King's name slapped by the title, The Dark Half tries to be as deep and serious a movie as other King adaptations of that time frame such as Misery (1990), Stand By Me (1986). It missed the bulls eye by a huge gap.
If only more time was given for in-depth story telling, The Dark Half could have been a much better movie. Perhaps so much so it may have been a movie up there among other popular King movies. Maybe? Otherwise, it's now a movie lost among unknown, obscure horror titles on Hulu.

25) The Crater Lake Monster (1977)

"Do you know what impact this'll have on the scientific community?" 
"I don't give a damn about the scientific community!"

Director
William Stromberg

Cast
Richard Cardella - Sheriff Steve Hanson
Glenn Roberts - Arnie Chabot
Mark Siegal - Mitch Kowalski
Bob Hyman - Richard Calkins

I wonder how many people have visited Crater Lake National Park in Southern Oregon, and basked in the knowledge that they're in a place of cinematic legend as Crater Lake was the filming location for 1977's The Crater Lake Monster. My guess is very few. Despite being filmed at Crater Lake, the movie takes place at fictional Crater Lake in Northern California.  

This B-movie is quite the mixture of really bad acting, stop motion, and a little rip-off from Jaws. 
The monster looks like something out of Lake Loch Ness. According to Wikipedia, it's actually a plesiosaur, although I don't remember that little tidbit of info being mentioned in the movie. I could have missed it, though.
In the beginning of the movie, a fire ball falls from the sky, suggesting this is our monster coming from space. But if that's the case, how did a plesiosaur get in space? And how did it survive the fiery plummet through the earth's atmosphere, crash into the lake and develop under water for a long time before surfacing. Obviously, I wouldn't expect a low-budget film like this to be that informative, even in regards to its own plotline.
Sheriff Steve Hanson (Richard Cardella) witnesses the meteor fall and calls it into the police station.
Months later, he consults some scientists to dive into the lake and pull it out. However, the scientists determine the meteor is too hot for them to touch. It's so hot in fact, they deem it's actually heating up the water. That's some serious dinosaur meteor fireball!
One thing leads to another, as things do in B-monster movies, and the remains of a few people are found in the lake.
Will authorities link these deaths to a giant monster? Will they even find the monster? Spoiler- yes, to both!
Hanson is finally told that the wounds on the  remains of one of the victims were clearly caused by the teeth of a large animal (*whisper* just...like...in...Jaws.)
The Jaws inspiration is seen in the animal versus man close-up shots. Also, the plot seems loosely similar. In this case, a man-eating monster is tormenting the waters of a national park rather than a beach. A police officer is trying to keep people out of the water as tourists are mysteriously disappearing around the lake, and their bodies are washing up on shore.
Anyhow, a guy named Ferguson survives an attack from the monster, and runs into a diner. He tells the sheriff and the other people in there what happened. So, Hanson and others go to find this monster.
They find it outside a lot full of tractors and other farm vehicles. And then...it gets personal! This is as "B" a movie as a B-movie can be.
The stop-motion of the monster is just classic to watch...reminiscent of Ray Harryhausen's work, but certainly not as good as his.
Two characters, Arnie Chabot (Glenn Roberts) and Mitch Kowalski (Mark Siegal) are two guys running a boat dock. They're the comic relief of this shlockfest. But their comedy is just "yuck, yuck" funny, with lame gags, and slapstick pushing and shoving in the water. It's eye-rolling lame humor that adds absolutely nothing to the story. Nothing! It's just two grown men purposely trying to act childish just to get a laugh. That's it, and that's all.
The acting all around is plain and simply bad. It's like watching an elementary school stage production. The delivery is void of any respective inflection based on whatever is happening in the scene. It's just "say the line, and lets move on."
The audience for this flick would probably be made up of B-monster movie fans, although there are a lot better movies in the genre to watch.
For a giant monster flick, this is as cheap as they come. It's slow moving (both the movie and the monster, I mean) and lacks any emotion whatsoever. But I still had some fun watching it merely for its own sake.
Also, I'd like to use this platform to shout out to Richard Cardella's gorgeous 1977 walrus mustache. A thing of beauty is a treasure and a joy forever!

Memorable Roles in Horrific History - Tim Curry as the Brackett family in Tales from the Crypt

There are a load of performances out there in horrormovieland that may have been taken over by the weeds of time, and perhaps other performances. Still, many of those moments don't deserve to go unnoticed. No, they deserve to be swung back in the faces of audiences like Jack Torrence's ax to the bathroom door. I'll post those roles here as I find them, or remember them, or both.

If you ask me, which no one did but I'm saying it regardless, every appearance of Tim Curry in a movie is always great. He single-handedly made Muppet Treasure Island fun to watch. He made Home Alone 2: Lost in New York better than it would have been without him. His role in the movie Clue added some much needed energy. Curry is just cinema gold. And if he hadn't landed the role of Pennywise and terrorized the small town of Derry, Maine in the 1990 TV mini-series IT, that movie would have just been a big flop all around. His casting is really what made that movie!
And about two years later after he terrorized the town of Derry, he starred in another classic horror series - Tales from the Crypt.
Tales aired on HBO back in the late 1980s through the mid-1990s in seven seasons.
The first episode of season 5,  Death of Some Salesmen, starred Curry in three horrific roles.
This episode aired Oct. 2, 1993, and starred Ed Begley, Jr., as salesman Judd Campbell who's really out to con his customers.
He's successful at it until he meets the Bracketts - a family of rednecks who, little does Campbell know, hate salesmen.
Tim Curry plays the entire family - Ma and Pa Brackett, as well as their "lovely" daughter, Winona. 
When he rings their doorbell, thinking he's paying a visit to someone else, Ma Brackett answers and ends up inviting him inside. As Campbell discovers the real owners of the house dead and stuffed in awkward spaces throughout the house, he finds himself  held captive and using his con tactics to talk his way out, leaving him agreeing to marry Winona, with a shotgun in his back.
It's a cringe-saturated episode, and Curry looks like he's having fun playing these three roles.
He really tries to bolster up the exaggerated horror Tales from the Crypt is famous for.
It's certainly a great start to season 5, and Curry is fun and absorbing to watch.
Like many other episodes of Tales from the Crypt, this episode has the spirit and feel of the EC comic, and much of that is thanks to Curry's performance. Playing three roles in one story shows how versatile Curry is.

24) Warlock: The Armageddon (1993)

I'm not a man. I am a witch.

Director
Anthony Hickox

Cast
Julian Sands - Warlock
Chris Young - Kenny Travis
Paula Marshall - Samantha Ellison
Steve Kahan - Will Travis
R.G. Armstrong - Franks

Warlock: The Armageddon is a sequel to the 1989 movie Warlock. 
Julian Sands returns in the role of the dude witch himself! And as far as other returning cast, he's it. No one else from the first movie shows up in this one.
I confess it took me three attempts to get through this movie. I fell asleep the first two times. During the third time, I had to stand at parts so I could get through it.
In the first movie, the Warlock travels from 1691 to modern day Los Angeles to search for the Grand Grimoire hidden centuries before, and destroy all creation. In the sequel, he comes back to small town America to acquire some rune stones scattered centuries before, and destroy all creation.
It turns out the Warlock is actually the son of Satan himself.
In the past, Druids have regularly performed a ritual with the stones to stop the birth of Satan's son, which can only occur during a lunar eclipse.
During one of these rituals, Christians come and attack the Druids thinking they're performing some kind of Satanic ceremony. This causes the stones to be scattered far and wide.
The movie then cuts to modern day America where he's born again as a full grown adult (umm...ouch!) to a woman who has one of the stones in her possession.
The stone was an heirloom passed down through her family. She puts it on as she's getting ready for a date. But, to her detriment, she happens to see a lunar eclipse taking place at that moment while looking at herself in the mirror. And boom - she's instantly preggers with the warlock. Thank God it doesn't happen that easily in real life!
As the Warlock is born, he uses the woman's body as a conduit to speak with the devil, who tells him to go find the other stones.
Horror icon, Zack Galligan (Gremlins 1 and 2, Waxwork), makes a cameo as the girl's date. What's funny is that Galligan's character, who is on screen for about 30 seconds, has a name - Douglas. But the Warlock still doesn't have a name. Good for you, Billy from Gremlins!
Meanwhile, some Druids - they're still around - pick up on various signs taking place indicating the devil's son has come and do what they can to stop him before he brings the devil into the world.
Two Druids, Will Travis (Steve Kahan) and Franks (R.G. Armstrong - Dick Tracy, Children of the Corn) try to persuade fellow Druid and now Christian minister, Ted Ellison (Bruce Glover), to help them.
Part of their effort includes Travis and Franks killing Travis's son, Kenny, in order to raise him from the dead through Druid magic and make him a Warlock-killing Druid warrior.
Also, Kenny and Ellison's daughter, Samantha, are crazy in love. So, there's that.
Anyhow, the writing is laughable, and lacks consistency at times.
For instance, in one scene, Franks tells Will there's a ritual that can slow down the Warlock, and he starts to show him how to perform it. Will is skeptical, claiming it's just a lot of hocus pocus. He doubts there's magic, basically. This, by the way, takes place after Will killed his own son and used Druid magic to bring him back. And he had been trying to convince Ellison, who has been trying to turn a blind eye to everything, that various signs taking place (i.e. dead birds dropping from the sky) is proof that evil is about to commence. And now, he doubts there's magic! What a way to stay consistent with your beliefs, Will! I mean, seriously?
In the scene were Kenny wakes up after being killed (his dad shot him point blank with a shotgun, by the way), he naturally starts panicking. The last thing he saw was his own father pointing a shotgun at him. When he awakes, he starts running around the room yelling. As this is going on, Franks (again, himself being a Druid who was with Will when he shot Kenny) starts yelling "what's wrong with you?"
Are you kidding? The writers couldn't think of better dialogue for this scene? This kid was just shot by his dad, and he wonders what's wrong!
Sands plays his character with much less enthusiasm as before. He's even more uninteresting than he was in the first movie, making we wonder if he's only appearing as the Warlock again to fulfill a contract. He's just lifeless and monotone.
Even an evil character can have expression, substance, and dare I say, emotion. He just doesn't have much, if any, of those things. There are several times where he just stands and stares blankly at nothing as though he's concentrating on something. What that would be, I don't know! Maybe he's watching the stain Warlock: The Armageddon is leaving on his acting career.
But the skin crawling gore is certainly there just as it was in the first movie. It's enough to make the audience cringe, and cringe scenes comesup unexpectedly.
Fans of the first movie should be left satisfied if that's what they're looking for in this movie. The gore is all the movie has going for it. The rest seems rushed, poor, and not thought through very well.
And speaking of the first, Armageddon is only connected to the first with the presence of the main character. Otherwise, the two have nothing to do with each other in regards to plot. For those who liked Warlock can certainly watch the sequel, and find it enjoyable. But it certainly doesn't try as hard as the first.

23) Warlock (1989)

All witches keep grimoires, yet one is indestructible, one is the bible of black magic - the Grand Grimoire.

Director
Steve Miner

Cast
Julian Sands - The Warlock
Lori Singer - Kassandra
Richard Grant - Giles Redferne

Warlock may not be as obscure as other movies as it seems well known among horror movie fans. Though it's no B-movie, it doesn't seem too well known among the general population.
I saw this movie probably 30 years ago and some scenes have stuck with me all this time since because of its shock value.
The last time I watched this was two nights ago after I found a VHS copy at a horror movie convention in St. Joseph, Mo., last weekend.
What makes Warlock stand out are scenes that really drive home the evil of the main antagonist, the Warlock (Julian Sands).
In the movie, the Grand Grimoire - an ancient book which has been separated into three parts and hidden in different locations - will reveal to him the true name of God. The devil himself has commanded the Warlock to reassemble to book and read aloud God's name backwards which will result in the destruction of all creation. Wow- what a low blow! I mean ALL OF CREATION. Not just someone's dog, or someone's grandma, or maybe a section in New York, or a few neighborhoods out in the burbs getting destroyed. Everything!
The movie starts out in 1691 Massachusetts where a witch-hunter named Giles Redferne (Richard Grant) has arrested the Warlock and sentenced him to death for all sorts of evil deeds, including the death of Redferne's wife.
Just before execution is to be carried out, the devil sends the Warlock into the future - 20th century Los Angeles to be exact. And what crazy shenanigans will this bad 17th century guy-witch get into out there in L.A.? Stay tuned to find out! In the meantime, the Grimoire has been hidden by monks in three separate places, which the Warlock now needs to go find.
He crash lands through the front room window of Kassandra (Lori Singer) and her gay roommate, Chas. Rather than have the police take this unconscious stranger out of their home, they lay him on a bed to care for him (Because L.A. folk are known for being that caring!)
Kassandra goes off to work the next morning while Chas stays home alone with the Warlock - oblivious to the fact that he is a Warlock, of course.
He attacks Chas by cutting off his finger to steal a ring, and then biting off his tongue, throwing it in a frying pan, and leaving him to die from the shock. Now we know who we're dealing with!
Somehow, the police are notified, pick Kassandra up while she's at work, and question her.
She then runs into Redferne who followed the Warlock into 1989s version of L.A. and insists she help him track down and destroy the Warlock before he finds all three pieces of the Grimoire and destroys creation.

Unfortunately, Sands's performance seems bored. He's playing a 17th Century dude-witch hellbent on evil. And though he does a great job at conveying the evil that's in him - that makes him who he is - unhindered by any boundary, he's stoic with very little emotion. Evil doesn't mean bland.  
Richard Grant, however, is the opposite as he's all gung-ho on capturing and destroying the Warlock.
He's pretty animated, yet really serious, in his role.
The comic relief comes in the form of these 17th century folks not understanding 20th Century culture, yet they don't overdue it, which would otherwise be a distraction. Instead, Redferne just goes along with all the strangeness he's witnessing, keeping focused on the task at hand. He asks a few questions here and there, but doesn't allow himself to get so immersed in the strange new world he's entered. Meanwhile, the Warlock focuses on finding the Grand Grimoire, as he blah-blahs and stuff through the movie.
But the horror is what makes this an entertaining movie. It's imaginative. Granted the special effects are dated, but the effort is certainly there.
The producers pulled no punches in making sure the audience knew how evil the Warlock is.
His evil nature centers around Warlock folklore, based on a hatred for creation - obviously, since his goal is to destroy all of it.
In one scene, the Warlock puts a curse on Kassandra, causing her to age continually until the curse can be broken. The aging makeup is laughable, even in late 1980s movie makeup standards. It looks terrible, and ridiculous, even down to her red shoulder-length hair suddenly growing long and white.
Otherwise, it brings in the sinister and unsettling vibes of the supernatural well enough. The movie is a hidden gem overall among horror movies.
I have to mention one factual error I noticed. In one scene, while Kassandra is talking to Redferne, she references Glinda as the "Good Witch of the West" from The Wizard of Oz. Wrong, Kassandra...with a "K!" In the 1939 movie, Glinda was the Good Witch of the North. The Wicked Witch was from the West. C'mon!  
I didn't realize it at first, but famous voice actor Rob Paulsen makes a cameo as a gas station attendant. Paulsen has voice acted in well-know animated programs such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Animaniacs, and The Tick.
Director Steve Miner has other notable horror titles under his directing belt including Friday The 13th Parts 2 and 3,  House, and Halloween; H20. And Warlock definitely has enough good stuff to have become a bigger franchise! 
Julian Sands reprised the role in the sequel Warlock: The Armageddon (1993). Bruce Payne took on the role in 1999's Warlock III: The End of Innocence. I'll review those soon!