Las Brujas de Eastwick

John Updike probably panicked when he saw what screenwriter Michael Cristofer and director George Miller did to his book.....but this movie is all the BETTER for what they did! Careening wildly between scenes of light fantasy, full-bore horror and extreme gross-outs, this film is wildly imaginative and terrifically entertaining. With Jack Nicholson as the devil himself, things just don't get any better than that! Actually, the whole cast is very well-chosen and all give great performances.

A great cult film...can't wait to see and hear those barfing scenes on DVD! Four stars!!!! ****

Alexandra Medford, Jane Spofford and Sukie Ridgemont are three dissatisfied women living in the small town of Eastwick, New England. Alexandra (Cher) is a sculptress and single mother, Jane (Susan Sarandon) is a newly divorced music teacher incapable of having children, and Sukie (Michelle Pffeifer) works as a journalist. Then a strange, wealthy , overweight , menacing but nonetheless charming man (Jack Nicholson) knows their deepest desires and makes them come true with descent excess . In turn , the three women blossom emotionally and sexually , getting their sexual liberation. Something wicked this way comes !. Three Beautiful Witches, One Lucky Devil !. Three Beautiful Women !. One Lucky Devil !.

Very loosely based around John Updike novel about three lonely women , bored by their dreary life in a sleepy , small New England town find that they can make bizarre things happen . Trio starring are fine as the explosive women who conjure up this perfect man , Jack Nicholson in the most manic part of his career to date . The four set up home together , but after a succession of mishaps , the girls realise that the decadent idyll has to come to an end . Here stands out Jack Nicholson who in spite of his overacting wildly as Mephisto , he's really amusing and funny . Along with three seductive and charming actresses : Cher , Susan Sarandon , Michelle Pfeiffer . Being nicely accompanied by a fine support cast , such as : Veronica Cartwright , Richard Jenkins and Carel Struycken of The Addams Family. For three-quarters of the movie , director George Miller lends a bombastic violent edge to the effort , sometimes at the expense of the story , as he triumphally welds a strong comic element on to a taut , truly threatening atmosphere , but the last twenty minutes resulting in calamitous set pieces , diving straight to the bottom of the proverbial barrel with a final grossy orgy of FX.

It displays a colorful and glamorous cinematography by excellent cameraman Vilmos Zsigmond , shot on location in Cohasset , Massachusetts . Special mention for the great maestro John Williams , the veteran and stylist composer who is still composing delivers a jaunty and rousing musical score , as usual. The motion picture was professionally directed by George Miller. Here ¨Mad Max¨ filmmaker Miller meets Hollywood in this unrestrained , vomit-filled treatment of John Updike's novel. Miller takes over the filmmaker's chair for this trip and he brings more effects , more money, and more crass but attractive frames than his previous Australian movies . Miller is author of the excellent post-apocalypse ¨Mad Max¨ trilogy along with the writer and producer Byron Kennedy. The first was ¨Mad Max¨ (1979) with Mel Gibson . Followed by a sequel titled ¨Mad Max 2, the Road warrior¨ with Gibson , Bruce Spence , Vernon Welles and Mike Preston . It's continued by ¨Mad Max beyond Thunderdome¨ with Gibson , Tina Turner, and finally ¨Max: Fury Road¨ (2015) with Tom Hardy , Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult . Rating : 6/10 . Decent comedy but neither notable , nor extraordinary , but acceptable and passable. The flick will appeal to fans of the magnificent starring quartet : Jack Nicholson, Cher , Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer.

George Miller (Mad Max) creatively sets the stage for a story of three witches and one Lucifer, who are in regular human form, in a small, uptight New England town. Of course, for a tale like this one can try to suspend disbelief, and it has to be when dealing with the supernatural. Thankfully, Miller has great casting tastes- Cher, Sarandon, and Pfieffer are wonderful in their roles, each with an acute, potent sexuality that was at their peaks in the late 80's. And then there's Mr shark grin himself, Jack Nicholson, who gives another superb layer to the performance of the dark prince. There are other actors who have portrayed the man downstairs- Al Pacino in Devil's Advocate was the devil as lawyer, Billy Crystal was himself in the Woody/Dante sequence in Deconstructing Harry, even Elizabeth Hurley in Bedazzled.

But rarely have they had this much outright fun and charm with the role, enough to almost make me, a man in his 20s, charmed too. Maybe it's the eyebrows. Nicholson gives one of his best over-the-top performances as the "horny-little devil" Darryl, who comes into town during a storm and cooks up more than that for his avid female guests. Of course, he doesn't have control for long, when the girls find they have powers of their own. When the movie gets overly fantastic (which is a number of times) it gets a little hard to take, yet the acting is above par, and the special effects are a delight.

What fun Nicholson must have had with this! He really hams it up here. Very good supporting work by Cher, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfieffer, and Veronica Cartwright. The plot is a little bit impenetrable. The "witches" are at first unaware of their power. I suppose I should read Updike's novel, but the one book of his I did read sucked. Anyway, I recommend the film, for it seems a bit different than normal Hollywood formula.

Jack Nicholson gives his funniest and one of the finest performances as Mr. Darryl van Horn, the mysterious and wicked man who arrives to the quiet and sleepy little town of Eastwick after three women, the Blonde Souki (Pfeifer), the Redhead Jean (Sarandon), and the Brunette Alex (Cher), best friends and witches dreamed him up as a man who can bring some changes and excitement in their lonely lives.

Several great actors have played the Prince of Darkness during their careers but Nicholson was born to play a "friendly" devil that can seduce any woman with no exception by becoming exactly what she wants him to be. The scenes where Nicholson seduces Alex (Daryl Van Horne: Well, if that's how you feel about it, then that's how you feel about it. Is THAT how you feel about it?), Jean, and Souki are among the sexiest I've ever seen.

The movie has too many vomiting scenes for my liking, and the visuals are sometimes too screaming but Nicholson is delightful. I never thought that playing cello could lead to such flaming results – and I used to play it. 7/10