Les Sorcières d'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!!!! ****

This is a genre blending film I found at Fry's Horror section for only $2.49 retail. It can be described as a supernatural Battle of the Sexes with horrific, comedic, and dramatic elements with a bizarre love story/ orgy at the center of it. The 3 "witches" (Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer) make a request for the perfect man who is delivered to them in the form of Daryl Van Horne (Jack Nicholson) aka the Devil. According to Daryl, when a man is encountered by a strong woman, his manhood goes limp. The woman is called a "witch" and set on fire. This is used to make women scared of men and scared of themselves. Daryl's attention allows the 3 women to embrace their sexuality, fertility, passion, and ambition. Eventually, they realize they no longer need men for anything, including Daryl. This culminates in the ultimate showdown with man vs. women. The SFX quality was good enough to win the BAFTA Award in 1987. The music by John Williams earned him an Oscar and Grammy nomination. Nicholson gives an incredibly over the top performance that was good enough to win both the NY & LA Critics Choice Awards. There is a lot of back story to this as well. Bill Murray was originally set to play Darryl and Cher and Sarandon switched roles once they walked onto the set. The studio execs hassled the director so much that Miller halted production. When they threatened to replace him with another director, Nicholson said he would walk away from the production. This ended the feuding. Favorite Quote: Almost all the dialogue. Cher asks Nicholson's character if he is married. To which he responds, " I don't believe in it. Good for the man, bad for the woman. She dies, she suffocates. Then the Husband complains that he is f*cking a dead woman and he is the one that killed her. Where is your Husband?" Cher replies, "Dead." DVD Extras: Full Cast & Crew Bios, a set design feature entitled " Conjuring Eastwick", a "Bewitching Look Back" at the history, Awards, Commentary, Interviews, and a Trailer (which indicates there are deleted scenes missing from the DVD. There should also be the numerous alternate endings they had shot). Bottom Line: Bewitching tale (pun intended) with something for everyone. Rating: 8.5/10

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.

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.

From the director who brought us Mad Max comes a modern-day fairy tale of sorts that examines the age-old battle of the sexes. Alex (Cher), Jane (Susan Sarandon) and Sukie (Michelle Pfeiffer) are three single women who live in the sleepy New England town of Eastwick. Since all of them lack a man in their lives, and are dissatisfied with the ones who are in town, they wish for a handsome stranger to visit. Miraculously, their wish is granted when Daryl Van Horne (Jack Nicholson) strolls into town and succeeds in turning their lives (and the town's) upside down. For the most part, I thought that the story was very effective in setting up its characters and giving them depth, even Daryl. The three women who are the titular "Witches of Eastwick" were all distinct personalities and had situations that made you care about them. Generally speaking, the performances were all very good, although Jack Nicholson towers above the rest of the cast as he brings his brand of insanity to what is essentially the devil in human form. Even the whole "witch" thing was dealt with rather subtly, as the women only become witches by finding the power within themselves. It is this struggle between male and female power which forms the core conflict of the film, and it is a compelling one even though it has been many times over in various forms. The townspeople are also given some development, although probably not enough to warrant the attention provided them. There are references made to the Salem witch trials, and the wife of the town's newspaper editor (Richard Jenkins...with hair!) acts as the mouthpiece for morality when the the three "witches" start their relationship with Daryl. Despite this interesting aside, I think it detracts a little bit from the main conflict. Moving on, I also thought that John Williams' score was fantastic and had this magical/mysterious quality that really meshed with the story and visuals. It's not his best score, but it was still a very good one. There were also a number of special effects by ILM which I thought were also well-done, especially considering this was made in 1987. Overall, I thought this was a very entertaining and funny movie that presented a well-worn theme in a fresh way. The only detraction, I think, is that there's a bit of a mean streak in regards to the portrayal of the male characters which might turn that half of the audience off. Still, this is a quality film that shows off director George Miller's versatility and the acting talents of its cast.