Witch Hunt (1994 film)

Witch Hunt (1994) is an HBO fantasy detective television film directed by Paul Schrader and starring Dennis Hopper[1] and Eric Bogosian.[2] The film, written by Joseph Dougherty,[3] is a sequel to the 1991 film Cast a Deadly Spell. It is a sequel to the HBO-produced film Cast a Deadly Spell, with Hopper playing private detective H. Phillip Lovecraft in place of Fred Ward. Additionally, many characters have different back-stories than in Cast a Deadly Spell. For example, Lovecraft refuses to use magic in Cast a Deadly Spell on principle, but in Witch Hunt he refuses because of a bad experience he has had. The original music score was composed by Angelo Badalamenti.[3]

This article is about the 1994 film. For the 2019 film, see Witch Hunt (2019 film).
Witch Hunt
Genre
  • Crime
  • Fantasy
  • Mystery
Written byJoseph Dougherty
Directed byPaul Schrader
Starring
Music byAngelo Badalamenti
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
Production
Executive producer(s)Joseph Dougherty (co-executive producer)
Producer(s)
CinematographyJean-Yves Escoffier
Editor(s)Kristina Boden
Running time100 min.
Production company(s)
  • HBO Pictures
  • Pacific Western
DistributorHBO
Release
Original networkHBO
Picture formatColor
Audio formatDolby SR
Original release
  • December 10, 1994 (1994-12-10)

Cast

Plot

The film takes place in a fictional Los Angeles where magic is real, monsters and mythical beasts stalk the back alleys, zombies are used as cheap labor, and everyone—except hardboiled private investigator H. Philip Lovecraft (Hopper)—uses magic every day. Yet, cars, telephones and other modern technology also exist in this world. The year is 1953, at the beginning of the Second Red Scare, but in this universe magic is substituted for communism and the McCarthy-esque proceedings are being run by Senator Larson Crockett (Bogosian).

Lovecraft is hired by film star Kim Hudson (Cruz) to dig up dirt on her husband, producer N.J. Gotlieb (Rosenberg), who is about to replace her on his latest film with a young starlet he may be having an affair with. Gaining entry to the studio with the help of practicing witch Hypolita Kropotkin (Ralph), his friend and landlady who is working for the studio, he encounters Finn Macha (Sands), a warlock and former private investigator with whom he had once crossed paths. When Gotlieb is murdered by magic, Senator Crockett uses the crime to make Kropotkin a scapegoat for use in his Anti-Magic crusade and uses newly-passed Congressional legislation to have her sentenced to death by public burning. Lovecraft must now not only save Kropotkin and uncover the real murderer, the motive behind the murder and the secrets Kim Hudson is hiding, but also confront the demons in his own past...a past that includes Finn Macha and the reason why Lovecraft will not use magic.

References
  1. "Dennis Hopper filmography". The New York Times.
  2. "Eric Bogosian filmography". The New York Times.
  3. "Witch Hunt credits". The New York Times.


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