Witch Hunt (1994 film)

Witch Hunt
Genre	Crime Fantasy Mystery
Written by	Joseph Dougherty
Directed by	Paul Schrader
Starring	Dennis Hopper Penelope Ann Miller Eric Bogosian Debi Mazar
Music by	Angelo Badalamenti
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	Joseph Dougherty (co-executive producer)
Producers	Gale Anne Hurd David Gale (co-producer) Betsy Beers (co-producer)
Cinematography	Jean-Yves Escoffier
Editor	Kristina Boden
Running time	100 minutes
Production companies	HBO Pictures Pacific Western
Distributor	HBO
Release
Original network	HBO
Picture format	Color
Audio format	Dolby SR
Original release	December 10, 1994 (1994-12-10)

Witch Hunt is a 1994 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, with Hopper playing private detective H. Phillip Lovecraft replacing Fred Ward. Additionally, many characters have different backstories 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]

Cast[]

• Dennis Hopper as Harry Phillip Lovecraft (same initials as Howard Phillips Lovecraft)
• Penelope Ann Miller as Kim Hudson
• Eric Bogosian as Senator Larson Crockett
• Sheryl Lee Ralph as Hypolita Laveau Kropotkin
• Julian Sands as Finn Macha
• Valerie Mahaffey as Trudy
• John Epperson as Vivian Dart (as Lypsinka)
• Debi Mazar as The Manicurist
• Alan Rosenberg as N.J. Gotlieb

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 (Miller) 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[]

External links[]

• Witch Hunt at IMDb
• Witch Hunt at AllMovie

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