Sometimes Time Creeps Up On You

 

Getting old is not for the squeamish. Or the weak. Or the timid.

What the hell, getting old is not for anybody, really...

I was reading a book on Stephen King films and came across a chapter in it on "needless sequels" to King films (Stephen King Films FAQ by Scott Von Doviak). It should be noted that that disparaging designation "needless sequels" is the author's phrase, not mine. The chapter is titled "Sometimes Dead is Better: A Return to Salem's Lot, Pet Semetary Two and Other Needless Sequels" (Chapter 29 if you have a copy of the book). 

I can't say I disagree with ALL of the selections the author points out in this section. (BTW, he devotes a whole 'nother chapter to the seemingly endless sequels to Children of the Corn, {what are we up to now... Children of the Corn XX...?} so at least he has SOME semblance of decorum...). Personally I never really liked the first Firestarter, so when the Sci-Fi Channel inflicted a sequel with a grown up Charlie on the public I was not one of those who looked forward to it. And several other sequels that have been made to follow (and "sucker in" fans of) better movies have not impressed me, probably more often than not.

Still, in my younger and more impressionable days, there was a sequel that I highly anticipated that did get me. I was a huge fan of the original Creepshow. So when a sequel was announced I was one of the first people in line to buy a ticket on opening day of Creepshow 2. 

While I was reading Von Doviak's book it occurred to me that I hadn't seen Creepshow 2 since it first hit the theaters back in 1987. (That's nearly 40 years! See what I mean about getting old? I feel older just noting that...and I felt just fine before I realized it was 40 years...) 

I have quite a number of King movies in my collection, but this was one I have never run across when I have browsed the stacks of my local used DVD store. I remembered fondly two of the three stories in the film ("Old Chief Wood'nhead" and "The Raft"), but, to be honest, I really didn't remember anything about whatever the third story in the film was until I re-watched it just now. (That one is called "The Hitch-hiker"). 

Von Doviak's main disparaging comment, that the film "creatively...looks like leftovers", seems to be a little harsh to me. The whole concept of the Creepshow series of films (as well as the TV series that followed them) was all about an homage to the old EC comics from the 50's, such as The Vault of Horror and Tales from the Crypt, and many of the comic book stories come off as leftovers if you read the originals. There are a few reprints in book form out there if you are interested in seeking them out.

The stories included in this sequel are just about equal to the ones in the first film, especially the one called "The Raft", which I would take over "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" from the first film any day...

The three stories in this one come off kind of like a poor man's version of a Twilight Zone episode, complete with a hinted at morality lesson at the end. At least for two of them. (You have to work at getting a morality lesson out of "The Raft", since the only really "bad" thing the teenagers do is smoke a joint... and for that they have to die? If that's the case about 20% or 30% of the population would be slated for morality lessons...)

40 years later I still like Creepshow 2, although the subpar acting on some of the characters does come off a bit ridiculous. None of the kids on the raft are really great, even though I still think it is the better of the three stories.

 

Creepshow 2 (1987): 

It's interesting to note than when the original sequel was conceived, and slated to be done by a major studio, there were actually going to be 5 stories used for this anthology. When New World Pictures took over, the new studio jettisoned two of the stories. Whether either of them would have improved the film is hard to say. I like the idea of an evil bowling league getting revenge, which is one of the ones left out. The other story, called "The Cat from Hell", actually was filmed for an episode of Tales from the Darkside, so we do have that to fall back on.

 

The first segment, "Old Wood'nhead", is probably the least suspenseful and the horror part of the story takes a pretty long time to come to fruition. Before we get to the meat of the horror we are treated to a long introduction to a pair of kindly old souls, Ray (George Kennedy) and Martha (Dorothy Lamour), who run a general store that has seen better days. George does his best to keep the store going because, despite the dwindling economy, the members of the community need him.

 

But there are some bad elements in town. Led by Sam (Holt McCallany) three hoodlums attempt to rob the old couple and ultimately kill them. 

 

Finally, the horror part kicks in as  a wooden cigar store Indian that George is devoted to keeping looking fresh comes to life to exact revenge. (Yes, I said wooden cigar store Indian...) The Indian looks pretty unscary, to be honest, even when it does start to come to life. And I would gladly have exchanged this story for any of the other two that got scuttled. But fortunately the rest of the movie was really good.

 

The second story, "The Raft", involves two pairs of teenagers who are out to spend a day floating on a raft in the middle of a lake. The lake is deserted at this time of year because it is off season for the tourists that would have been around in the summer. (I think this is supposed to be in the fall, after the lake crowd has gone back to their mansions in the city, but it could be early spring... Either way, the teens make a point of noting that the lake is pretty cold.

 

They all get to the raft before they notice a peculiar looking oil slick on the lake. But it's NOT an oil slick... It moves of it's own accord, and it turns out to be some kind of carnivorous being (although it doesn't transform into a giant shark or anything like that, which would have probably detracted from it's scariness..) 

 

It gradually picks off each teenager, one by one, ultimately giving us a lesson in observing surroundings, because at the end of the segment we see a sign, hidden by some bushes, which clearly says "No Swimming"...

Note: To keep this blog on a family friendly level, 

I'm not going to post any pics of the slick taking out the teens. 

Most of it is pretty graphic...  

The third segment, "The Hitch-hiker", really hits that morality tale trope on the head. What we essentially have is a woman, played by Lois Chiles, who is cheating on her husband. (Let this be a lesson to you, whether you are male or female... don't get into any extramarital relationships, or... YOU'LL BE SORRY...!) 

 

As she is trying to get home before her husband gets home from work the woman accidentally hits and kills a hitchhiker on the side of the road. Instead of pulling over, of course, she panics and makes it a case of hit and run. Only the only part of that she seems to get right is the "hit" part, because the "run" part doesn't pan out. The hitchhiker keeps showing up, in more and more beat up condition, saying "Thanks for the ride lady!" (It is somewhat reminiscent of how Griffin Dunne's character keeps showing up to try to get David Naughton to kill himself in An American Werewolf in London.)

 

"The Hitch-hiker" is a pretty cool episode, a bit graphic on occasion, and it called to mind the classic Twilight Zone episode where the woman keeps seeing the same hitchhiker as she is trying to cross the country (although that one has no gory scenes at all...)

My opinion on the second watch of this film is that it was not nearly as good as I remembered, but hardly worth the level of putdown that Von Doviak gave it. A reading of several reviews that I researched for this entry fall in line with my own opinion: a) that it's not all that bad, and b)  most of them agreed that the better of the the three was the middle story.

There is, as was in the first movie, a connecting device involving a young comic book fan, in cartoon form,  who is being harassed by a gang of malcontents. The malcontents, of course, getting their just desserts at the end (or maybe that should be better phrased "becoming just desserts"...) 

 

Unlike the third movie in this cycle, Creepshow 3, this movie still had the King hand in it. All three stories were by the horror master. As I understand it, neither Stephen King or George Romero had anything to to do with #3, and it remains to be seen whether I'll even give it a watch. (Probably I will, but I have a lot on my plate right now... it was an unscheduled halt in other projects that even led me to cover this one... maybe in 2027).

Creepshow 2 made a fairly decent profit, not big, but at $4 million to make it managed to pull in $14 million at the box office. Echoing Von Doviak, it wasn't entirely well received by the critics. It currently only has a 36% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The critical consensus can be summed up with one reviewer who said "[d]espite its strengths -- a livelier pace, some creatively gory set-pieces -- this is a much cheaper-looking effort than its predecessor..." OK, in all fairness Creepshow is WAY better than Creepshow 2, but it's still a fun watch.

Gotta fire up the old Plymouth and head home. Drive safely, folks. And, please, keep your eyes on the road, and stay away from those remote swimming holes.

Quiggy

 

 

 

Semiquincentennial Movie Project #27: The Rosary Murders

 

 

 

 

The Semiquincentennial  Movie Project is an ongoing celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. During the course of this project your humble blogger is choosing a movie a week to represent each of the 50 states in the Union, as well as a movie scheduled for 4th of July weekend that will represent the nation's capitol, Washington D.C. The order of the weekly entries will coincide with the order of each state's entry into the fold (although, not necessarily coinciding with the date of their entry into said fold).

 

Week #27: Maryland -

 

 

The state of Michigan was established on  January 26, 1837

Details about Michigan:

State bird: robin

State flower: apple blossom

State tree: white pine

Additional historical trivia:

48222. The only zip code in the world that has 0 population. It's a boat that floats on the Detroit River and delivers mail to other ships.

The state is divided into the "upper peninsula" and the "lower peninsula", and is one of only 5 states that does not have all of it's land mass in one contiguous mass.  

"Yoopies" (not to be confused with "yuppies") is the name for people who reside in the upper peninsula. U.P.s, get it? 

There are more lighthouses in Michigan than any other state, due to the need for them on the Great Lakes.

Speaking of the Great Lakes, Michigan is the state where the wreck of the famous Edmund Fitzgerald occurred.

Credit (or blame, as your political affiliation may be) Michigan for the Republican Party. The first Republican Party meeting took place in Ripon. 

Famous people born in Michigan: Casey Kasem, Tom Selleck, Madonna, Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, Michael Moore, Jim Bakker and numerous sports figures, including Magic Johnson, Serena Williams and George Gipp (the original "Gipper").

 

 

 

The Rosary Murders (1987):

The Rosary Murders may be a difficult movie for some. For one thing, one of the primary things that hinge on the plot is the fact that the main character, a Catholic priest, hears the confession of a man who admits that he is committing a rash of murders, but that he, the murderer, is not going to stop. But since the priest has heard about it through a confessional, he is bound by his profession and faith in his role as a priest to not reveal this to anyone. (And, by the way, that is apparently a true fact in the Catholic Church; the priest could be subject to excommunication. I got this from a website in which a real priest in the Church addressed the issue).

The other issue, and this is the one that may push this movie into a realm that you might not want to address, even if you are watching it alone. The main criminal character is committing these murders as a result of guilt and blame against the Church for it's lapse of strength in getting him to stop committing incest with his daughter, which ultimately led to her committing suicide.

Having been forewarned, I leave it up to you whether to continue even reading this blog entry.

The movie is based on the first book in a series of murder mysteries which was written by William X. Kienzle.   The screenplay was written by none other than Elmore Leonard, a man who could fashion good nail-biting scripts on his own. 

William X. Kienzle

Elmore Leonard

 

The problem early on is the almost supersonic speed in which it opens, seemingly trying to jam about a hundred pages of story into the first 15 minutes. However, if you can go along with this, the rest of the movie does manage to slow down enough for you to follow along.

The first murder is not so nearly as gruesome as one might expect. In fact, given the circumstances, you might not even realize a murder had taken place. The priest (and all the victims are either priests or nuns) is on life support and dies. It is only revealed a little later in the film that his life support equipment had been unplugged.

Father Robert Koesler (Donald Sutherland) is introduced as he converses with a girl who confides in him that she wants to resign from the nunnery in order to get married. Unfortunately for her, she becomes the second victim in a series of murders that targets Detroit Catholic Church leaders. The murderer has taken to leaving his calling card with the victims; a black rosary wrapped around the victim's left hand.

 

A love interest (of sorts) makes it's way into the film as a female reporter, Pat Lennon (Belinda Bauer), investigates these deaths. The "love interest" portion is fully on Pat, however. As a Catholic priest, Father Koesler is not allowed such human frailties as "sexual attraction". (I'm not going into any outside history with this, so just chill...) 

 

Also involved in this story is a police lieutenant. Kosnicki (Josef Sommer), who thinks that not only can Koesler help solve the crime, but also that maybe Koesler is hiding something. 

 

Which, in fact, Koesler is... See, the murder approached Koesler via the confessional booth and basically told the priest flat out that he was the murder. This leaves Koesler in a moral dilemma, since as a priest he is bound by certain rules of the Church that he can't reveal anything he heard in confession, including the admission of murder.  

Koesler thus becomes an amateur sleuth, trying to determine the identity of the killer without crossing the threshold of the sanctity of the confessional. He only has as his primary clue is that the murderer is committing his acts because of the death of his 16 year old daughter. (It is only later that he discovers the actual truth; her suicide brought on by remorse from the illicit, immoral actions of her father.)

 

I can't decide whether the solution to this crime is ingenious or just plain stupid. Without giving it away entirely, the solution has it's roots in something Biblical (much like the way Dr. Phibes disposes of his enemies in The Abominable Dr. Phibes). 

Just a note: I rather liked Kienzle's Father Koesler mysteries when I read them back in the 80's and 90's. It's too bad this film didn't strike a nerve with the public, as I would have liked to see some of his other mysteries make it to the big screen.  (I feel the same way about Rabbi Small, who unfortunately only got a short-lived TV series that went nowhere...)

The Rosary Murders was not a huge hit at the box office. It only pulled in about $1.5 million in ticket sales. There is no information I could find on it's budget, but with Donald Sutherland an Charles Durning probably getting a decent paycheck, I'm betting it was what would be considered a bomb. As a matter of fact, aside from Sutherland, who is usually pretty good on film, most of the rest of the cast is subpar. Almost as if they were just mailing it in... Which probably goes a long way in explaining both why this movie did not fare well, as well as why there was never another Koesler movie.

My opinion is that the film is OK. But please, don't let the mediocre film deter you from diving into Kienzle's  mysteries. Like Harry Kemelman's Rabbi Small mysteries, you get a really good amateur sleuth who is also a religious leader in the community. You will get a thrill out of the inner working of the religious community as well as a fairly good mystery. In fact, if the movie had just exerted a bit more effort into portraying the interaction of the characters on the religious side, I think this movie might have fared better. (Mind Over Murder, the 3rd book in the series, would have made a good source for film).

Until next time, drive safely.

Quiggy

 

 

Semiquincentennial Movie Project #21: The Untouchables

 

 

 

The Semiquincentennial  Movie Project is an ongoing celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. During the course of this project your humble blogger is choosing a movie a week to represent each of the 50 states in the Union, as well as a movie scheduled for 4th of July weekend that will represent the nation's capitol, Washington D.C. The order of the weekly entries will coincide with the order of each state's entry into the fold (although, not necessarily coinciding with the date of their entry into said fold).

 

Week #21: Illinois-

 

 

 

The state of Illinois was established on December 3, 1818

Details about Illinois:

State bird: cardinal

State flower: violet

State tree: wild oak

Additional historical trivia:

You might THINK it was in New York, but officially the first building that could be classified as a "skyscraper" was built in Chicago. 

Twinkies were invented in Schiller Park.

The first Dairy Queen opened for business in Illinois. 

Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's outside of California in Des Plaines. Kroc was from Illinois. (Now, I'm hungry...)

The famous Route 66 has it's starting point in Chicago. Or ending point if you are starting in California...

 Illinois was the first state to ratify the 13th Amendment which outlawed slavery.

The world's largest public library is in Chicago. 

Famous people born in Illinois" U.S. President Ronald Reagan, Ray Kroc,  Harrison Ford, Hugh Hefner, Walt Disney, Pope Leo XIV, Jimmy Connors and John Belushi.

 

 

The Untouchables (1987): 

The most famous gangster in the history of the United States would almost surely be Al Capone. While the history behind the efforts of the Federal government to put an end to Al Capone's reign as the crime boss of Chicago may be known to most people, it is a sure bet that only the most knowledgeable students have more than a passing acquaintance with the details. Most people probably only know the story from either the TV series with Robert Stack, or from this film.

 

The fact is that both are entirely reliant on dramatic license to tell a story and are filled with stuff that was rearranged or even invented out of whole cloth. One thing in particular that stands out in the film is that Eliot Ness and Al Capone had virtually no face to face interaction during the era. One site I read claims that Ness was only interacting with Capone when he served as one of the escorts that took Capone to prison after his trial.

That does not mean that Brian De Palma's film should be avoided completely, however, unless you are one of those people who demand strict historical accuracy in your films that deal with history. Instead, you could just look on this film as a well crafted fictional story and come away from it with a feeling of satisfaction.

As I have noted elsewhere, I am not a big fan of Kevin Costner. In fact, if it wasn't for the presence of Robert De Niro and Sean Connery in this film, I doubt if I would have as much appreciation for it, at least from an acting viewpoint. 

 

There is not much of Costner's portrayal that really connects with me. Roger Ebert in his review sums it up for me that he doesn't provide "any of the little twists and turns of character that might have made Ness into an individual", although he puts the blame more on David Mamet's script rather than on the actor himself.

Connery won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his work, but De Niro was virtually ignored. I thought that De Niro was equally worthy of at least a nomination, even though some reviews claimed he was basically just going through the motions. 

The film opens with a scene that somehow just doesn't ring true, at least for me. Capone (Robert DeNiro) is getting a shave while interviewers are asking him questions about his status as a figure in town of note. Somehow I just can't see Capone openly admitting to being involved in bootlegging to the press. Maybe the real Al Capone actually was forthright in his activities in real life: it's not as if no one even knew he existed at that point in time. But it just feels odd.

 

Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) makes his appearance at the police headquarters and establishes his "goody two-shoes" persona when he makes it known that he is there to enforce Prohibition and take down those who would flaunt the law, including establishing that from that point forward, if the officers in his force had previously ignored the law before, there were expected to be paragons of virtue henceforth. Historically speaking, however, it was NOT against the law to drink during Prohibition, it was only against the law to make, transport or sell the stuff. Many people hoarded previously legal stashes that they got before Prohibition went into effect. 

Ness first finds out what he is up against when he makes a raid on a place that supposedly has a shipment of the illegal contraband, but instead of finding liquor he finds... umbrellas. It becomes apparent that there was a betrayal of his raid plans from within the force. As Malone (Sean Connery) tells Ness later in the movie, the town of Chicago "stinks like a whorehouse at low tide."

 

 Which is why, after convincing Malone to join his team, Malone says that they need to pull in some help from the newbies to the force. "If you're afraid of getting a bad apple, don't go to the barrel. Get it off the tree." So Malone and Ness go to the training section of the academy, looking for a man who is a good shot and honest (as in not corrupted by the graft that is rampant on the force).

 

The scene where they recruit George Stone (Andy Garcia) is one of my favorite scenes as far as dialogue. Malone and Stone have a tête-à-tête in which Malone queries Stone about his heritage: 

Malone: Stone? George Stone? What's you real name?

Stone: That is my real name.

Malone: Nah. What was it before you changed it?

Stone: Giuseppe Petri.

Malone: Ah! I knew it. That's all you need is one thieving wop on the team.

Stone: It's much better than you, you stinking Irish pig. (Both pull weapons).

Malone: Oh, I like him....

 

Also to come on board is a rather milquetoast addition, Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith) who is an accountant in his real life. He is not initially what you would expect for a gun-toting gung ho federal agent, although he does develop over the course of his activities. Wallace thinks the best way, however, to take down Capone is to find information that would help to prosecute Capone for tax evasion.

 

Ness: Try a murderer for tax evasion?

Wallace: Well, it's better than nothing...

 

There are some great scenes in the second half of the film. Ness and his cohorts look to try to stop a shipment of contraband coming across the border from Canada. At one point one of the bootleggers is killed while trying to shoot it out with Ness. A short time later, while Malone is struggling to get another captive to open up about his connections he uses the corpse as an unorthodox incentive to get the prisoner to confess. I won't go into detail here, but it really is one of the scenes that probably swayed the Oscar voting to give Connery the statuette,

 

One of the other scenes that really stands out is a shootout at the train station. In an homage to a scene from Sergei Eisenstein's classic silent era film Battleship Potemkin,  the scene is staged on a series of steps in the train station. It is ten minutes of very intense action, and plays out with several parallels to the Russian classic.

 

There is one scene that happens late in the movie that is entirely fictional, and one of the few scenes that irks me due to it's unbelievable situation. Ness has an encounter with Frank Nitti (Billy Drago) on top of the courthouse. The ending, although it somehow fits in the context of the way that the story has been played out in this fictional account, does not seem to ring true with the character of Ness as he has been played out up to this point. Once again, I am going to leave it to the audience to watch the film and judge for themselves.

 

Ultimately, of course, and it's not a spoiler since this part is historical, Capone ends up being convicted of tax evasion. Historically speaking, that may have been the only way it was going to play out, since the Capone organization was powerful enough to keep the crime boss out of jail for his more overt illegal activities.

While The Untouchables  has it's issues with it's historical accuracy, the film is a stand out for the efforts that the director and the majority of the actors bring to the screen. Even some of the minor characters are memorable. I particularly liked Police Chief Mike Dorsett's (Richard Bradford) brief scenes when he interacted with Connery in the back alley fight. Dorsett is not as bad as it would all seem. I think he genuinely cares about Malone, even if Malone is opposed to the status quo (i.e. the bribery and corruption) in which Dorsett is involved.

This film ranks fairly high in lists of great gangster movies. One book I have in my collection, The Ultimate Book of Great Gangster Movies by  George Anastasia and Glen Macnow puts it at #28, while the Ranker website puts it in at # 11. (It should come as no surprise that both of those put the first two The Godfather films as #1 and #2). My personal list would probably have it at #5, behind those first two The Godfather films, followed closely by Goodfellas and Little Caesar. (Sorry Pulp Fiction fans...)

Well, that wraps up this week's entry. Drive safely, folks.

Quiggy

  

 

 

 

  

Semiquicentennial Movie Project #13: The Witches of Eastwick

 

 

The Semiquincentennial  Movie Project is an ongoing celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. During the course of this project your humble blogger is choosing a movie a week to represent each of the 50 states in the Union, as well as a movie scheduled for 4th of July weekend that will represent the nation's capitol, Washington D.C. The order of the weekly entries will coincide with the order of each state's entry into the fold (although, not necessarily coinciding with the date of their entry into said fold).

 

 

 

Week # 13: Rhode Island -

 

The state of Rhode Island was established on May 29, 1790. 

Details about Rhode Island:

State bird: Rhode Island red hen

State flower: violet

State tree: red maple

Additional historical trivia:

Rhode Island is the smallest state in the union. In terms of size, you could fit 450+ Rhode Islands inside the boundaries of Alaska (the largest state in the union.)

The official "family-travel ambassador" of Rhode Island is Mr. Potato Head, which was invented in Pawtucket.

Although Rhode Island did not support the passing of the amendment to initiate Prohibition, there are still some "stick-in-the mud" sectors within the state. In Scituate you can be ticketed if you have beer in the car, even if it's unopened. (So much for the grocery store beer run trip, bub...) 

The "sideburn" style of men's haircut was popularized by Ambrose Burnside (get it? "Burnside" "sideburn"...) Burnside was a former Civil War general and governor of Rhode Island.

Rhode Island is not a place to visit if you are a zombie. It's illegal to bite of someone's limbs in the state.

It was the first state to disband from English rule in the American Revolution, but it was the last state (of the original 13) to join the union of the states after the Revolutionary War.

The first Baptist church, as well as the first Jewish synagogue, in the country were both established in Rhode island'

Famous Rhode Islanders: Gilbert Stuart (the guy who painted the original portrait of George Washington now seen on the $1 bill), H. P. Lovecraft (horror author), George M. Cohan, Van Johnson and Viola Davis all hail from Rhode Island.

 

 

 

The Witches of Eastwick (1987): 

Apology: I'm a bit behind on my schedule. As stated in my last review, i am having some health issues and been in and out of hospital recently. Hope to get back on schedule soon;

Sexual liberation of the female gender was a popular topic in film in the 1980's. The idea that a woman could be independent from the strictures of a male dominated society had been percolating for a couple of decades already, but the release of those strictures really started to come out beginning in the 80's. Witness the empowerment and sexuality Alex Woods (Jennifer Beals) derives from her desire to be the woman she wants to be in Flashdance.   Or the independence that Andie Walsh (Molly Ringwald) strives for in Pretty in Pink and "Baby" Houseman (Jennifer Grey) in Dirty Dancing . 

One of the more interesting films that explored this sexual revolution was The Witches of Eastwick, a film about three women who are seeking satisfaction on their own terms in a male-dominated community. As opposed to the John Updike novel that inspired the movie, however, these three women aren't exactly "witches"; rather they are three women who stumble upon their ability in a impromptu discussion over wine, describing their own ideal man.

The discussion ends up calling up the Devil himself, in the form of Daryl Van Horne (Jack Nicholson). Side note: Personally I would not consider a balding 50-year old Nicholson the ideal man, but he pulls it off with some aplomb. 

The three women in question have all been recently, in one way or another, divested of their own form of male domination. Alexandra Medford (Cher) is a widow, who has one child from her marriage. Sukie Ridgemont (Michelle Pfeiffer) was deserted by her husband, with whom she has had six(!) children. And Jane Spofford (Susan Sarandon) has just recently become divorced from her husband.

As mentioned above, the three have a regular get together where over drinks they discuss the ideal man. Somehow this conjures up a newcomer to the straight-laced  community of Eastwick. A mysterious man has bought the local Lenox Mansion. Interestingly, no one seems to be able to recall the man's name. (An ominous beginning if there every was one...) Most of the town folk are either ambivalent or intrigued by this newcomer, but one woman, Felicia Alden (Veronica Cartwright), is very suspicious. She is a very religious person, and senses there is something sinister about this newcomer.

The mysterious figure makes his presence known (to the audience at least) by his appearance at a recital in town. He falls asleep and snores very loudly and falls out of his chair, thus attracting attention. And suddenly the forgetfulness of the town as to the mystery man's name vanishes. It's Daryl Van Horne (Jack Nicholson).  

Van Horne has ulterior motives on the three main characters, ultimately trying to get them out of their comfort zones, sexually. As such he seduces all three women. Initially neither of the women know anything about the relationship that Van Horne has developed between the other two friends, but he uses his wiles to get them in the sack and then uses those same wiles to get them more comfortable in their own supernatural abilities. Essentially he transforms each into the witch aspect of their personalities that they originally had only an inkling of.

Meanwhile, goody-two-shoes (and, apparently, despiser of sexually liberated women) Felicia uses her influence on her husband, Clyde (Richard Jenkins) to try to expose the sinister Van Horne and the now liberated women. Clyde is the publisher of the local newspaper, and even though his star reporter, Sukie, is unaware of it, he publishes an expose that Felicia has browbeaten him to publish. The result of which is that now not only Van Horne is in hot water, but so are the three women. 

The film starts to take a dark turn from it's comedic stance when Felicia becomes more and more obsessed and psychotic over the way that Van Horne is influencing the women and the obvious freedom that his influence has over them. Plus, reminiscent of a scene straight out of The Exorcist, Felicia ends up puking up a vast amount of cherry pits, which is paralleled by the witches eating cherries with Van Horne. She also causes Clyde to kill her, probably because he thinks she is possessed...

As a result of the outrage caused by Felicia's expose, they try to distance themselves from him. But, secret exposed, Van Horne is more than he seems. Although the film never actually comes right out and says it, he is obviously the Devil and, thus, an unwanted interloper in the staid community. But Van Horne is unwilling to go gently into that good night.  He starts to exert more influence on the women, going so far as to use their fears to exact revenge.

The women decide that the only way to divest themselves of Van Horne's influence is to work voodoo on him (as to how that is possible, since he is the Devil himself, is a question best left unanswered...) The film returns to it's comedic roots as they work out a voodoo doll of him and use all sorts of tricks on him. Seeing Nicholson getting his comeuppance in this is a treat. 

Interesting casting tidbit. Originally Bill Murray was going to be portraying Van Horne, and Nicholson dropped into the role after Murray dropped out. 

Rotten Tomatoes has the film at 67% Fresh. It was profitable on it's release, pulling in $103 million on a $22 million budget. Roger Ebert was among those who liked it, but thought that final sequence was a bit over the top. My personal opinion is that that scene was what saved the movie after the surprisingly dark turn the film took in the middle of the movie. Despite the title of the movie, the real star here is Nicholson. There is one particularly interesting scene in the movie where Nicholson is ranting around his mansion and bumps into a life size doll that looks remarkably like a version of the Joker from the Batman comics. (Batman was still a couple years away in Nicholson's filmography at this point...)

Not that Cher, or Sarandon, or Pfeiffer are not up to snuff in the film.  All three manage to carry their own throughout. But each pales by comparison when Nicholson is in the scene. 

I saw this movie in the theater when it was released. I have no idea what drew me to it at the time. I would have thought it was a "chick flick" if I were to see it advertised today, and I wasn't a huge Nicholson fan at the time, even though I like The Shining and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by then.   On retrospect of seeing it for only the second time, 40 years hence, I thought it was fairly well done.