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Why so much hype?

The Worst Film Ever

Simply Perfect

best movie i've ever seen.

Yuppie L.A. lawyer Jeff Mills (Timothy Daly) and his colleagues rescue a beautiful woman, Miranda Reed (Kelly Preston), from her abusive boyfriend: with nowhere to go, the sexy damsel in distress accepts Jeff's invitation to stay at his place and before long, the pair start a relationship. But Jeff's newfound happiness doesn't last long: it transpires that Miranda is a witch, and the other members of her coven want her back—at any cost.Supernatural thriller Spellbinder will hold no surprises at all for anyone familiar with The Wicker Man, for its build-up and eventual twist are all very derivative of Robin Hardy's critically acclaimed (oc)cult classic. That said, the film is still a reasonably enjoyable time-waster, with decent turns from all involved, some atmospheric chills, and the lovely Kelly Preston pleasing admirers with a steamy sex scene.6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

Every time I see this film I am amazed at its fantastic efficiency. First of all, it's a brilliant script, a very good story, which in spite of its supernatural elements sticks to logic all the way, unlike for instance "Rosemary's Baby", which lacks in realism and credibility, although more professionally made. For me this is the best of all occult films I have seen, especially for its dramatic structure, culminating in a climax which leaves you in a state of maximum impression and shock. Although basic story-telling, this is no uncomplicated story, and one of the most interesting ingredients is the Japanese police lieutenant, the only who vaguely guesses at what is going on but is realistic enough to be aware that he can do nothing about it - while he leaves you with the suspicion that he certainly will go on with his investigation. The main triumph of the film, though, is Tim Daly as the successful lawyer in the beginning of his career, he is the most promising young man with everything good to expect of life, and he finds this irresistibly beautiful woman in a distress which he simply can't dismiss, and the characterization of his case is absolutely convincing all the way, affected by the blindness of love, can't suspect anything evil about her, (she is actually nothing more than just pretty and has even healing powers,) and only gradually her complication steals into his life, catching him in a trap which he can't understand and therefore can't get out of, which is why he does everything wrong. Instead of reasonably trying to cope with the situation by analysis, he makes things worse, getting angry, losing control, and so on. It's a traumatic cul-de-sac of a nightmare situation of no return, he is just an ordinary brilliant man, and this could happen to anyone like him. Sometimes he even reminds of James Mason in this hopeless case of a romantic tragedy.To this comes the very intriguing circumstances and complications of this affair of extreme occultism. Could it actually happen? Satanists do exist, and no one really knows about their activities, since their society is covered in mystery as the most secret of all. That is why this is an important film in its effort to unveil something of this enigma. The Japanese police lieutenant is perfectly aware of how dangerous this kind of coven could be, his coldness is chilling and almost forbidding, but it's realistic. This is a film to wonder at while at the same it has the amazing faculty of each time you see it being like a new adventure.None of the names in it, like Janet Greek (director), Tracy Tormé (writer), Timothy Daly (the star) or Kelly Preston (the marvelously beautiful Miranda as femme fatale to the extreme) I have seen in any other production. Perhaps this is a unique film for them all - and it's definitely unique of its kind.

Just seeing a 25-year-old Kelly Preston makes this movie worth watching, and, boy, do we get to see her.Jeff (Tim Daly) apparently finds the girl of his dreams (Preston), and things are going great until her friends show up looking for her. She has a past that she hasn't explained.Soon, they are battling a coven of witches that want her back. It all builds up to the night of the Winter Solstice.The twist at the end caught me by surprise, and really made the movie.You have to give props to writer Tracy Tormé, who really stacked some surprises in this film.

Around the late 1980s, the ailing MGM studios made or acquired a number of movies that they didn't give much of (if any) a theatrical release. This pickup is one of them, and it's pretty easy to see why for several reasons. It's a pretty flat-looking movie for one thing - while it has elements that got it an "R" rating, aside from those elements the movie feels like it was made for television. The script has a number of problems as well. It does have an ending that is somewhat expected (though is somewhat hard to swallow when you think back of every event that happened before it), but most of the movie is a bunch of boring chat. Worse of all, actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is wasted, given only three or so brief scenes. A movie so unremarkable for the most part, one has to wonder why it was thought to be worth making.