Warlock: The Armageddon (1993)

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Handsome, charismatic Julian Sands reprises his role as the title character in this sequel that's pretty much just adequate all the way down the line. It has very little to do with the first movie, but has a basically similar plot, as The Warlock is reborn, and sets about uniting five precious gems in order to help his father Satan regain access to the world above. He is opposed by an order of druids; one of them is Will Travis (Steve Kahan), whose son Kenny (Chris Young) is destined to be one of two druid warriors that must battle the evildoer."Warlock: The Armageddon" has enough entertaining moments to make it passable, whether they're a great visual gag or otherwise amusing bit of business. We get an elevator FULL of blood, a human turned into a twisted Picasso-like statue, and the requisite rebirth of our antagonist. There is some juicy gore, but a lot of the visual effects only succeed in being ropey enough to induce laughter. There's nothing to make the movie particularly memorable, as the music, production design, cinematography, and the like are all competent without possessing any real pizzazz.Young ("The Great Outdoors") and the lovely Paula Marshall ("Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth") are a likeable hero and heroine, if not all that interesting. Certainly the interest lies with other cast members: Sands ("Arachnophobia") is a standout as the sardonic Warlock, and Kahan (Captain Murphy in the "Lethal Weapon" feature films), Charles Hallahan (John Carpenters' "The Thing"), R.G. Armstrong ("Children of the Corn" '84), Bruce Glover ("Diamonds Are Forever"), and Ferdy Mayne ("The Horror Star") comprise an excellent bunch of character actors. Gorgeous Joanna Pacula ("Gorky Park") is rather wasted as a fashion designer in possession of one of the stones. George "Buck" Flower ("They Live") is seen fleetingly in a crowd. And Zach Galligan, who'd worked with director Anthony Hickox on his earlier film "Waxwork", has a funny cameo.This shows the viewer a decent time, but is a little over extended at just over 98 minutes.Six out of 10.

Warlock 2 on the other hand eschews any semblance of care and attention in favour of ramping up the gore quotient and introducing a little nudity to the mix, and while neither of those things are bad in isolation the fact is that this is considerably more low rent that its predecessor.Julie Sands returns as the Warlock in spectacular fashion. How about this: when a woman dons the wrong necklace during an eclipse the usual process of impregnation, gestation and delivery are amalgamated and fast tracked to a 40 second process – I wouldn't be surprised if the Japanese were involved, they make everything run more smoothly – imagine her surprise (if all that wasn't shock enough!) that her new child is immediately adult sized and can speak.In a further miraculous turn she instantly regains her pre-baby body (Hollywood stars = JEALOUS!!), only to have the unfortunate news that she is about to die and have her own skin turned into a map.The upshot of W2 is that once again the Warlock is trying to bring about naughty things, this time the birth of Satan's son. He has but 6 days after his 'rebirth' to collect 6 precious stones in between eclipses while God ain't looking.Of course he can't have it all his way, two "I know that guy from somewhere" character actors and an old guy turn out to be modern day druids hellbent on stopping the Warlock from succeeding, only they can't do it alone so they conscript two young teens named Kenny and Samantha to be Druid-Warriors (what a combo that must be in Dungeons and Dragons) to do most of the leg work for them.So again we have a situation where the Warlock fangs around collecting things while the good guys prep his downfall from a remote location. This is because realistically there is no way known that two kids could take on a Warlock, so they must keep the two sides apart until the finale, by which time the audience no longer cares and will believe anything if it helps end the movie.Training for the young witch-fighting duo consists of learning to deal with dodgy CGI – seriously this was made in the 90s and Star Wars puts it in the shade as far as FX go – and tension is created by them repeatedly being told the same facts about the Warlock… he's dangerous, he'll kill you, blah-blah-blah.The amusement on the other hand is created unintentionally by a Reverend and father of Samantha, through his overacting and hamming up every scene that he appears in. I know this was never going to be a serious drama but surely someone better than him was around? Final Rating – 4.5 / 10. All that aside if there is one thing to take from this review it is don't watch Warlock 2: The Armageddon. It is less than not very good.

I thought the sequel to Warlock was okay. The first relied heavily on the story, which was a about a unfortunate 90's working girl who is tormented by the son of the devil when a witchhunter chases him through time to the present day. It sounds far fetched, but it is surprisingly well-written. This one is about the return of the Warlock, this time he's trying to collect 7 coveted runestones that, once collected, will spell out the true name of his demon father and ultimately destroy the world (hence the title, "The Armageddon"). This one is much campier and much, much gorier than the first. I love Anthony Hickox though, I just can't help it. He's like Brian Yuzna, crazy, far-fetched stories, campy dialogue, tongue-in-cheek humor (check out Waxwork 2) and lots of over-the-top (but tasteful enough to usually avoid being unrated) gore. A boy learns that he is a descendant of a long line of "druids", a group who has been covertly fighting the evil and superhuman for centuries. Instead of brawn, he must strengthen his mental power in order to face a final showdown of good and evil. Julian Sands once again hams it up and makes you hate him, while unleashing his unholy rage in some of the most creative kill scenes ever. I won't give much away, but he is reborn through a beautiful woman in a very painful manner, and the folks possessing the runestones get put through hell, let me tell you. The deaths are very gory, SFX-filled and creative, just watch what happens to the art collector. He becomes part of his own collection, so to speak.If you liked Children of the Corn 3, Hellraiser 3, the Waxwork series and can take campy dialogue with a grain of tolerant salt, then rent this movie for solid entertainment (for 85 minutes or so.)

A supremely wicked and powerful warlock (Julian Sands in peak sinister and sardonic form) gets reborn and plans on unleashing Satan's wrath upon the world. Two virtuous teenagers blessed with supernatural abilities have to stop the warlock before it's too late. Director Anthony Hickox, working from a grim and harsh script by Kevin Rock and Sam Bernard, handles the extremely macabre subject matter with real flair and style: Hickox relates the twisted story at a constant brisk pace, sustains a properly dark and ominous mood throughout, and tackles the grisly gore set pieces with lip-smacking nasty brio (gruesome highlights include the warlock's truly vile and revolting rebirth and the warlock ripping a woman's scalp off). Chris Young as the nice, reluctant Kenny Travis and the lovely Paula Marshall as the sweet Samantha Ellison make for engaging protagonists. The veteran cast of seasoned professional thespians helps a lot: R.G. Armstrong as the crusty Franks, Steve Kahan as Kenny's amiable dad Will, Bruce Glover as sensible priest Ted Ellison, Charles Hallahan as the foolhardy Ethan Larson, Joanna Pacula as snobby fashion designer Paula Dare, and David Gaines as obnoxious businessman Nathan Sinclair. Ferdy Mayne, Zach Gilligan, and George "Buck" Flower pop up in cool bit parts. The special effects are pretty gnarly, with the best moment occurring when the warlock turns Sinclair into a living piece of modern art. Another great scene happens when the warlock shoots two men with his fingers. The climactic battle between the forces of good and evil is lively and exciting. Mark McKenzie's spirited shuddery score hits the bull's eye. Ditto Gerry Lively's polished cinematography. An immensely enjoyable horror movie.