Spellbinder
Following a late shift in Los Angeles, attorney Jeff Mills and a colleague rescue a young, beautiful woman from an abusive boyfriend. He quickly develops a romantic relationship with her and becomes entangled in the intrigue that shadows her, despite a string of ominous incidents and his secretary's repeated warnings.
Director(s)
Janet Greek
Craig West
David Kelley
H. Bud Otto
Cast & Crew
Details
Reviews
kevin2019
"Spellbinder" draws most of its inspiration from the undisputed genre classic "The Wicker Man" (1973) and it manages to add a few extra touches of its own (the satanists making a blood sacrifice). It also draws some additional inspiration from Dennis Wheatley's classic "The Devil Rides Out" (1968) with the satanists relentlessly pursuing Miranda (Kelly Preston) after she has gone missing. However, this film also expertly misleads you throughout until the very end - the police arrive on the scene during the climatic action of the denouement, but not to arrest anyone. No, they are actually here to actively participate in the sacrifice of Jeff Mills (Timothy Daly) - and the director Janet Greek has done a splendid job and she has delivered a well paced and thoroughly engaging film.
Wuchak
**_Timothy Daly and Kelly Preston enjoy a romance and grapple with cultists in SoCal_** A lawyer in Los Angeles (Daly) helps a woman (Preston) abused by a mysterious man. As they develop a relationship, he discovers that there’s a secret group of people who don’t want him to have her. “Spellbinder” (1988) is occult-oriented thriller/horror in the vein of “The City of The Dead” (1960), “The Wicker Man” (1973/2006), “Race With The Devil” (1975) and “Bay Coven” (1987). Thankfully, the story is more compelling than the original “Wicker Man” and “Race With the Devil.” I’d put it on par with “Bay Coven” albeit with slightly better production values since it had a limited theatrical release. Daly makes for a likable protagonist while Kelly never looked better. The flick is comic booky and is reminiscent of Marvel’s Werewolf By Night from the 70s. While readily available on streaming now, it was hard to find for decades. Travolta evidently used his Sciencefictionology connections to make the film disappear since Preston, his wife since 1991, appears top nude and the story revolves around a dubious cult. (Kelly unfortunately passed away in 2020). The film runs 1 hour, 39 minutes, and was shot Los Angeles, Santa Monica YMCA and El Matador State Beach in Malibu. GRADE: B
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Spellbinder FAQs
The directors of Spellbinder are Janet Greek, Craig West, David Kelley, and H. Bud Otto.
The cast of Spellbinder includes M.C. Gainey as Brock, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Lt. Lee, Tim Daly as Jeff Mills, Christopher Lawford as Phil, John DeMita as Brad, Stefan Gierasch as Edgar DeWitt, Audra Lindley as Mrs. White, Rick Rossovich as Derek Clayton, Anthony Crivello as Aldys, Diana Bellamy as Grace Woods, Don Woodard as Steve, Richard Fancy as Sgt. Barry, and more.
The duration of Spellbinder is 1h 39 mins.
Yes. Spellbinder has 2 trailers on Fanbiz, including 4K UHD Restoration Trailer. Watch them on this page.
Spellbinder was released on 23 Sep 1988.
Spellbinder is listed under Horror, Drama, and Romance on Fanbiz.
Spellbinder has 2 reviews on Fanziz, with an average rating of 7.5/10. One reviewer wrote: ""Spellbinder" draws most of its inspiration from the undisputed genre classic "The Wicker Man" (1973) and it manages to add a few extra touches of its own (the satanists making..."
