Warlock - La rédemption

The first Warlock film with Julian Sands and Richard E. Grant was great - original, fun, a bit gory, and suspenseful. It had pretty well defined characters, and a plot that moved. (I bet the movie would have been terrific if it's budget had been about 3 times bigger for special FX.) I Feel the second installment Warlock: The Armagedon, was okay, but a bit cheesy with the magic druid theme going. Though the plot was a bit dodgy because they weren't chasing after the warlock, the improved FX and magical scenarios made the movie palatable.

This third installment though is pathetic. The editing is horrible, the film drags on and on for the first 40 minutes or so. The lead character is very flat, and the Warlock is also quite flat. Although that is kind of how the warlock character has always been portrayed, calm, cold, and collected, which worked when the other leads where quite animated, but is terrible here with the boring lead. At least there are the side kicks in W3 to spice things up, as the two leads are excruciatingly lame characters.

As the film is slow at the beginning, one doesn't know if it is going to be about the house, or about the Warlock. And I think that where they missed it. If they had focused less on the "haunted house" aspect early on, and more or flashbacks with the warlock, it may have turned out better.

If you are a fan of the previous two Warlock films its worth renting, but prepare yourself for boredom and disappointment.

If you've never seen the previous Warlock films, skip this one, rent Warlock (1989) and enjoy.

Have a look - one person from HELLRAISER, one from BRAIN DAMAGE, a poor womyn's Sarah Michelle Gellar & the third in an also-ran series of "speculative" films. Another Point: children spoil "horror" movies - in fact, they spoil ANY type of movie - thankfully, the little "sweetheart" is used sparingly. Taken on it's own merits, a none too bad addition to the Haunted House craze & (probably) the only American (or is it Irish??) attempt to ape (elements of) THE BEYOND. It's difficult, but brave the self-conscious "alternative" vibe (including such unpop as Thick Liquid, Haze & Hot Water Music) & there IS a lot to enjoy. Surprise: some truly nasty moments - a male equivalent of the breast torture from MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY and a slap of Female Domination, that, if the roles were reversed, would have seen this effort banned in Australia. Black Metal fans watch out for the villian's unveiling; something straight off a Venom sleeve. An unapologetic Junk-Food Late-Night scare flick.

I praise the first Warlock film...... who wouldnt? I even defended the second one because too many sad people winged about it. Geeze, it wasn't that bad!....... was it?

So should I defend this third installment?.... Hell No!!! .... I just cannot seem to peice together any possitive words in my head to maybe lift this review up a notch.... in fact maybe it's better that I dont even talk about this tele-movie-esque film at all.

Instead may I suggest that someone put pen to paper and create a fourth Warlock film that blends the first two formulas into one. Being that Redfern seeks assistence from the Druids to battle against the Warlock.... none other than Julien Sands.... none of this Bruce Payne nonsense.

(No offence Bruce. You were great in Passenger 57... but you just aint no Warlock)

So to sum up Warlock III: End of Innocence...... Miserable waste of time. Part 4 would be a classic.... if it existed! 2 out of 10

(it gets a 2 because it had at least some balls to even be made at all)

It's hard to keep a movie interesting for 90 minutes, especially when you fill it with stock characters and an episodic plot that goes nowhere but in circles.

I was really hyped for this movie when it began. The cinematography, acting and editing was above the standard direct to video tripe that's out there. I thought that someone actually cared enough to try and make Warlock 3 a good movie, and I felt relieved in knowing that the next hour and a half would be an entertaining one.

And it is for the first 35 minutes, as we see our heroine arrive at a spooky old house that she has inherited. That night, weird voices drift through the hallways, freaking her out until she tries to flee the house.

Her friends all show up and convince her to stay, and after this point the movie becomes just another ten little Indians. Kill and repeat. The maniac this time is a Warlock that kills people with magic. The victims are the slut, the basket case, the goth dude, the pothead, and the bland boyfriend guy. We learn nothing about them, they're tissue thin, and as they are killed off, the plot just runs around in circles until the inevitable conflict between heroine and Warlock. Yawn.

There is a nice psychological aspect involving the friends having to give the Warlock permission to kill the lead, I liked that. But still I became restless after the stylish and atmospheric opening.

It is of note that Ashley Lawrence plays the lead. The Hellraiser girl has grown into a fine naturalistic actress and is too good for this movie. Bruce Payne is back, and I normally dislike him, but this time he had a sinister charisma that worked well for the character.

I must say that I did enjoy this one more then part two, but only marginally so. While part two was a total goof, this one tried to build suspense, and did until dissolving into slasher formula, and ended in an insulting manor, complete with magic daggers and a porcelain doll that scares our Warlock out of his wits. What kind of evil being is afraid of a doll, even if it's a magic doll, it doesn't play well in a movie. The ending lacks all the style and craftsmanship of the first half of the movie.

I commend the Warlock series for always having flashier visuals then your typical horror flick, but with exception of the original which was fast, funny, and intelligent, the sequels have all been handicapped with screenplays that wallow in beaten to death clichés and hollow characterizations.

I can see other reviewers here have given this a low score because apparently it's nothing like the previous 2 films. Well, I haven't seen the previous 2 yet. This just started playing after another film I had on, and I don't think it was all that bad.

It had a much better first half, where a college student finds out she's been left a house in her family and if she wants anything in it, go get it before the place is demolished.

She ventures to and into the house where strange things begin to happen. Then her friends show up and the Warlock, posing as a architect, and it evolves into are her friends truly her friends, or would they allow her to be sacrificed for the Warlocks plans?

Overall, the filming, lighting, audio etc is all good. The acting if fine. The sounds fine. The only thing that bothered me was a few glitch like moments, but I think that might have been Tubi, not the film itself.

I was entertained from start to finish, no moments of boredom and no previous films knowledge to be distracted by. So overall, this films ok for one viewing. Seems a bit harsh to rate it lower from others. Perhaps this a Halloween Season of the Witch moment? It just needs to be watched for what it is, and not what it's supposed to be following?

Decent for one viewing, I don't think it has any replay value tho.