Warlock: The Armageddon (1993)

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

This dated film is merely an exercise in special effects, both with prosthetics and the then new computer graphics. While the prosthetics are pretty darned good, the computer effects in this case have dated particularly badly, looking straight out of the '80s and no match for the CGI we see in the cinemas today. Therefore this film has some kind of historical appeal for the viewer to see how far effects have come in such a short space of time; witness the 'floating dagger' scene and see how bad it really is in today's light (then again, with the atrocious effects of THE SECOND ARRIVAL, maybe we haven't come far at all).The plot is virtually missing; the film consists of two sub plots and constantly flips back and forth between each one. We have Sands killing people as he gathers the gemstones, and the two young warlocks preparing themselves for his arrival. That's it. That's the plot. I mean everybody knows that Sands will die and the young boy and girl survive at the end, so it's all a bit pointless really, a foregone conclusion.The music is totally unmemorable, as is the acting on the main part. The two young leads are typically bad, the older actors, while familiar, are neither memorable enough nor given any interesting lines. Joanna Pacula turns up but is dispatched in an instant, so it's left really to Julian Sands and his considerable charisma to carry the film. Sands is perfect in this role as the cold, calm killer, not flinching as gore rains down around him, and he is well cast and believable too, even though he doesn't change his expression once. We're rooting for him as the film goes on.While watching you will probably notice a lot of scenes being ripped off other films. I did and I lost count. The boy training with his mental powers? STAR WARS, anyone? This was virtually a step-by-step takeoff of a scene in that film where Skywalker learns to use a lightsaber and chases that hovering ball thing. There are also bits from HELLRAISER, THE TERMINATOR, a final shock scene directly lifted from CARRIE, and many more horror film clichés which are wince-inducing, like the tired "is the baddie really dead?" routine.So it's basically the special effects which are the reason to keep watching. Aside from the poor computer graphics, the gore is plentiful and quite good, in scenes where the Warlock tricks people, which seem to have inspired WISHMASTER in a way. The special effects at the end of the film are very good, where the Warlock melts into a skeleton and into the ground, and there are some stabbings, impalings, scalpings, splatterings, breakings and interesting morph work too. These bits keep the time moving by quite quickly and are fun, if a bit cheesy. WARLOCK: THE Armageddon is a typically empty film of the '90s, with no new ideas, but the SFX will keep you watching.

Back in the late eighties/early nineties, when the horror genre was being fed consistent revenue from a still-growing home video market, just about any scare film could spawn a franchise. The original "Warlock" was only a modest success but that was still enough to justify a sequel two years later. "Warlock: The Armageddon" has a more ambitious story then the original, a more comedic tone, and is simultaneously more fun and less satisfying then the first.Only loosely connected to the first film, "Warlock II" builds a wildly different mythology around the titular villain. There's some typical nonsense about lunar and solar eclipse and how the wall between Earth and Hell is thin during this time. This is a opportune moment for the Warlock, upgraded from merely a powerful witch to the literal son of Satan, to reemerge. A sect of druids protect the five rune stones the villain needs to bring about Hell on Earth. A prophecy marks two of their children as the true warriors that will prevent the end of days. The film follows the druids training their youngest members for battle while the Warlock travels across the country, collecting the remaining stones and committing magically-assisted murders."Warlock: The Armageddon" is essentially two movies stapled together. One is campy but incredibly entertaining while the other is campy and boring. The Warlock's killing spree provides the trashy thrills horror-fans are likely looking for. The film beings with the evil witch being reborn, in a sick and twisted moment, and continues in similarly outrageous fashion. The Warlock comes across each owner of the stones, offing them in ways related to their personality. The death scenes are high-pitched and ridiculous. A gas station attendant has his eye torn out, a snooty art collector is bent into a piece of modern art, a hooker gets scalped, not to mention a lengthy stop at a carnival sideshow. Julian Sands is having a ball. He hams it up, digging into each cheesy one liner the script gives. Sands never winks, maintaining the seriousness of the Warlock character, while letting the audience know what a good time he's having. Gory, silly quasi-slasher thrills like this are probably what you'd expect from an underachieving sequel to a sorta-popular eighties horror movie.The other movie "Warlock 2" also is doesn't entertain in the same way. The tale of the druids raising two new warriors is snore-inducing. The audience certainly doesn't care about Chris Young's protagonist, a gee-shucks young kid named Kenny. His romance with Samantha, played by a wooden Paula Marshall, is of no interest at all. The storyline, involving rune stones and ancient prophecies, is horribly clichéd. It's the kind of mythological story we've heard hundreds of times before in horror and fantasy films. Any time the movie focuses on this plot line, the audience really wishes it would be back to the Warlock killing people.Director Anthony Hickox had previously directed the "Waxwork" films, "Sundown: The Vampires in Retreat," and, most pressingly, "Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth." Like "Hellraiser III," Hickox has made a movie about a formally serious villain suddenly performing over-the-top kills and cracking wise about it. Luckily for us, the Warlock is a far better fit for this style then Pinhead. Hickox's direction is energetic, with multiple tracking shots of bodies flying through the air. His creativity, which has always been fun but undisciplined, is best displayed during the final fight. The Warlock explodes a building, walking back to Earth on an invisible staircase. He dismembers enemies with his hands and shoots them down with his finger. However, the climax proves a bit underwhelming. Not only is the bland hero pitted against the far more charismatic Sands, the way the villain is defeated comes out of nowhere.I've never gotten around to seeing "Warlock III" but the lack of Julian Sands doesn't make me quick to check it out. "Warlock: The Armageddon" probably wouldn't be half as much as it is without Sands' camping it up. It's a fairly undemanding flick for horror geeks and certainly would have prospered from a more balanced and creative script. But, then again, what can you expect from an in-name-only sequel to a sort-of obscure movie.

Warlock 2 on the other hand eschews any semblance of care and attention in favour of ramping up the gore quotient and introducing a little nudity to the mix, and while neither of those things are bad in isolation the fact is that this is considerably more low rent that its predecessor.Julie Sands returns as the Warlock in spectacular fashion. How about this: when a woman dons the wrong necklace during an eclipse the usual process of impregnation, gestation and delivery are amalgamated and fast tracked to a 40 second process – I wouldn't be surprised if the Japanese were involved, they make everything run more smoothly – imagine her surprise (if all that wasn't shock enough!) that her new child is immediately adult sized and can speak.In a further miraculous turn she instantly regains her pre-baby body (Hollywood stars = JEALOUS!!), only to have the unfortunate news that she is about to die and have her own skin turned into a map.The upshot of W2 is that once again the Warlock is trying to bring about naughty things, this time the birth of Satan's son. He has but 6 days after his 'rebirth' to collect 6 precious stones in between eclipses while God ain't looking.Of course he can't have it all his way, two "I know that guy from somewhere" character actors and an old guy turn out to be modern day druids hellbent on stopping the Warlock from succeeding, only they can't do it alone so they conscript two young teens named Kenny and Samantha to be Druid-Warriors (what a combo that must be in Dungeons and Dragons) to do most of the leg work for them.So again we have a situation where the Warlock fangs around collecting things while the good guys prep his downfall from a remote location. This is because realistically there is no way known that two kids could take on a Warlock, so they must keep the two sides apart until the finale, by which time the audience no longer cares and will believe anything if it helps end the movie.Training for the young witch-fighting duo consists of learning to deal with dodgy CGI – seriously this was made in the 90s and Star Wars puts it in the shade as far as FX go – and tension is created by them repeatedly being told the same facts about the Warlock… he's dangerous, he'll kill you, blah-blah-blah.The amusement on the other hand is created unintentionally by a Reverend and father of Samantha, through his overacting and hamming up every scene that he appears in. I know this was never going to be a serious drama but surely someone better than him was around? Final Rating – 4.5 / 10. All that aside if there is one thing to take from this review it is don't watch Warlock 2: The Armageddon. It is less than not very good.

First off, let me say that you can watch "Warlock: The Armageddon" without having seen the first "Warlock" movie. Of course you will have more depth to the warlock character, if you have seen it, but you will not miss out on anything if you haven't.This sequel is as good as the first movie in the series.Again, the role of the sinister warlock is portrayed by the charismatic Julian Sands. And in this movie the character is much more dark and evil, far more twisted than the warlock portrayed in the first movie. Julian Sands is so perfect for the role of the warlock.The cast is good, and the roles of the druids are good, both for the young druids and the elderly druids.The movie has a bunch of cool effects and wicked magics, something that have to be seen. However, it is not all good though, the scene with the knife went horribly wrong. That knife is perhaps the worst CGI effect I have seen to date.For fans of adventure genres or for people who like to play D&D games, this movie provides good entertainment. And like the first "Warlock" movie, this also have enough entertainment for more than one watching. I never grow tired of it, at least!