History Film / CastADeadlySpell

* EldritchAbomination: Attempting to summon Yog-Sothoth, who in turn will summon the rest of the Outer Gods.

* NiceHat: This being the '40s, most everyone wears nice hats.

''Cast a Deadly Spell'' is a 1991 horror/noir movie [[MadeForTVMovie made]] for Creator/{{HBO}}. It was directed by Martin Campbell and written by Joseph Dougherty.

-->"I have henbane, mandrake root, EyeOfNewt... and Mercurochrome."

* {{Jailbait}}: Lovecraft chides Grimbaldi over his affair with Olivia (she lost her virginity to him), who's only 16, explicitly calling her jailbait. She brushes the matter off-he's more worried that his wife will find out.

'''Lovecraft:''' What makes me special is I'm my own man. When I started out I said there were things I'd do and things I wouldn't do. A lot of guys start out like that, and a lot of them sell out along the way. But the more who fall, the easier it gets. "See, look, everybody compromises, everybody cheats, everybody uses magic." So they empty their ideals out of their pockets and get down to the job of sticking it to their neighbors before they stick it to them, because that's that way it's done. To all of which I say nuts. My collar may be a little frayed, and maybe I need a shoeshine. But nobody's got a mortgage on my soul. I own it. Free and clear.

* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Connie's defence of her life takes on this edge after Lovecraft's ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules speech:

* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: Insert the word "magic" in there somewhere as well, and you have Lovecraft in a nutshell.

* {{Jailbait}}: Lovecraft chides Grimbaldi over his affair with Olivia (she lost her virginity to him), who's only 16, explicitly calling her jailbait. She brushes the matter off-he's more worried that [[YourCheatingHeart his wife will find out]].

* CampbellCountry

It's 1948. The plot follows HardboiledDetective [[Creator/HPLovecraft Harry Phillip Lovecraft]] (Fred Ward), in a fictional universe where magic is real, monsters and mythical beasts stalk the back alleys, zombies are used as cheap labor, and everyone, except Lovecraft, uses magic every day. Yet, cars, telephones and other modern technology also exist in this world. There's some implication that magic only recently gained widespread use for whatever reason. Lovecraft is hired to recover the Necronomicon, stolen by persons unknown -- although their motives probably aren't: the book contains the rituals needed to awaken and summon the Outer Gods. Complicating Lovecraft's investigation is his former partner Harry Bordon (Creator/ClancyBrown), now a crime boss, who is also looking for the book.

* {{Jailbait}}: Lovecraft chides Grimbaldi over his affair with Olivia, who's only 16. She brushes the matter off-he's more worried that [[YourCheatingHeart his wife will find out]].

* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler: Connie]]

* {{Homage}}: The gremlins are obviously based on those from the film ''Film/{{Gremlins}}''
* HotWitch: Hypolita Kropotkin

* PaperMaster: Tugwell

* TheSociopath: [[spoiler:Amos Hackshaw, a sorcerer who is willing to sacrifice his own daughter and summon the Old Gods to destroy the world so long as he can rule over the ashes.]]

* OurGargoylesRock: Hackshaw employs an animate stone gargoyle as a spy and occasional assassin. It's immune to bullets, but not a GroinAttack.

It's 1948. The plot follows HardboiledDetective [[Creator/HPLovecraft Harry Phillip Lovecraft]] (Fred Ward), in a fictional universe where magic is real, monsters and mythical beasts stalk the back alleys, zombies are used as cheap labor, and everyone, except Lovecraft, uses magic every day. Yet, cars, telephones and other modern technology also exist in this world. There's some implication that magic only recently gained widespread use for whatever reason. Lovecraft is hired to recover the Necronomicon, stolen by persons unknown -- although their motives probably aren't: the book contains the rituals needed to awaken and summon the Outer Gods. Complicating Lovecraft's investigation is his former partner, now a crime boss, who is also looking for the book.

A sequel, ''Film/WitchHunt'', was released by HBO in 1994; Dennis Hopper replaced Fred Ward as Lovecraft. It more directly parodies the 1950s Red Scare with a counter-revolution against magic use.

-->"I have henbane, mandrake root, eye of newt... and Mercurochrome."

* BuryYourGays: [[spoiler:Mickey and Larry/Lilly.]]

''Cast a Deadly Spell'' is a 1991 horror/noir movie made for Creator/{{HBO}}. It was directed by Martin Campbell and written by Joseph Dougherty.

A sequel, ''Witch Hunt'', was released by HBO in 1994; Dennis Hopper replaced Fred Ward as Lovecraft. It more directly parodies the 1950s Red Scare with a counter-revolution against magic use.

[[caption-width-right:258:[-[[SoBadItsGood If your eyes look upon it]], [[GoMadFromTheRevelation you will surely go mad!]]-] ]]