If you like this film...which I do especially as a guilty pleasure for a very young and hot Kelly Preston, then be sure to check out The Wicker Man. The main plot twist of Spellbinder is taken straight from this film, whcih is far superior in almost every respect. Hard to beat a young Kelly Preston though...
share Do you mean in the sense that
SPOILER
The whole thing is a ploy to get the hero killed?
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I saw this movie on the sly on cable as at age twelve and the ending traumatized me. Years later I saw Wicker Man and thought the ending was similar.
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The ending shocked me and I wanted to cry - I love Tim Daly!!!!!
"It's like people only do things because they get paid. And that's just really sad."
Yeah, I love Tim Daly, too. But the character he played in this movie was about five IQ points above imbecile. How he managed to pass the Bar exam, I just don't know.
shareI just happened to catch this late one night several weeks ago. I liked the film and thought it was good to watch. It did take me by surprise the ending of the film though I will not lie about that.
Dedicated to USA UP ALL NIGHT and the fans! http://usaupallnight.webs.com
Agreed. I actually saw this movie before the wicker man. Wicker man is better but both are good. This one is underrated, good entertainment.
Ed Powers = Woody Allen
Hear, hear! I have always thought the same thing.
"I'm afraid Angelique has a rare case of brake fluid...bran fluid...bran flavor...."
Just a follow-up...
This is a surprisingly well-made film for a B-movie thriller, and I'm surprised it has yet to be released on DVD, especially for Kelly Preston and Tim Daly fans. I always thought this film didn't get a fair shake.
That said, even though the story is basically "The Wicker Man Does L.A." it's still FAR better than that awful remake by Neil LaBute.
The war is not meant to be won... it is meant to be continuous.
I don't mind when people put spoilers in their posts, and I appreciate it when they give me fair warning as the poster above did. But you made the title of the entire thread a spoiler. Just glancing down at the movie's message board and seeing the title of your post gave away the plot of the movie for me. I would appreciate it if you would either edit your post or remove it.
shareMessage boards for movies that are 20 years old are for people who are discussing the movie and not just the title.
Kay: Senators and presidents don't have men killed.
Michael: Oh, who's being naive, Kay?
by drinkerofh2o
Just glancing down at the movie's message board and seeing the title of your post gave away the plot of the movie for me. I would appreciate it if you would either edit your post or remove it.
I would appreciate it if you stop whining.
Even if the TC's title noted the similarity of this movie's plot with another movie this movie is still worth seeing regadless.
It's not like as though knowing that bit of info will completely ruin your enjoyment of the movie.
Not to mention, I don't see how his title can be considered a big spoiler in any way (maybe a litle).
He only mentioned that the plot is "borrowed" .. but he never clarified in what ways the plot is similar so it's no big deal.
It's nothing serious that you had to make a request for him to edit/delete his thread just because YOU don't seem to like it.
I never understood why people come to this board before watching a movie and then whine because there are spoilers posted in this section.
If you don't want to know how a movie ends, {gasp} don't read about it.
All I know is this movie creeped the living sh*t out of me. This story is funny to me now, but in fall '89, I saw it on cable. The movie ended, and I realized "hey, I'm missing the World Series." So I put it on ABC, and there's no one in the stands, and Al Micheals is recapping what had just happend, which was the big San Francisco quake of '89. And, man--I got a case of the retroactive creeps like you wouldn't believe. You know--like the two events (me watching the film and the quake)were related. Which is ridiculous, of course--but that's the way I felt at the time.
This is the only movie I've ever seen that even remotely came close to the creepiness factor of The Exorcist.
Noticed that as well, though they made Tim Daly's character much dumber than Edward Woodward's.
shareHe was sooo dumb in this movie. It certainly was nice of his friend to give him, of all things, a damn flashlight before crashing the satanist party.
It's totally the wicker man updated for an 80s crowd. The Wicker Man at least had those subtle 70s ulterior political statements.
Much dumber than a police officer who gets dropped off on an island inhabited with weirdos, to investigate and possibly make arrests, with no back up and no way of contacting anyone?
I didn't even remember posting that oddly enough, and now this is four years after your post; but all of those aspects you mentioned would be the duty of the police department not Woodward's character himself. The investigator usually also wouldn't flat out make an arrest on his or her own, they gather the intel and then present it to the department and go through a process before making an arrest.
shareInteresting. Thats the first thing I thought when watching this movie. I won't say its a total ripoff of The Wicker Man, but its basically the same movie just rewritten a bit. Still a decent enough movie although predictable, but maybe thats because I've seen both versions of The Wicker Man.
shareThere are no new ideas in Hollywood, just recycled and repackaged.
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You think you know the law because you're a cop....in Dog River?
Yes a young Kelly Preston she was hot all right and still is a very attractive woman to this day. I prefer her as a brunette than a blond in my opinion.
Dedicated to USA UP ALL NIGHT and the fans! http://usaupallnight.webs.com
I agree. I just saw this movie on Amazon. Somewhere mid way I predicted the big twist because I've seen "Wicker Man".
Show me the holes!
I guessed the ending before it happened. Probably because in other devil cult movies the forces of evil always triumph. Other examples of this are ROSEMARY'S BABY, BROTHERHOOD OF SATAN, RACE WITH THE DEVIL and SATAN'S SLAVE.
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