Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Jack Nicholson | ... | Daryl Van Horne | |
Cher | ... | Alexandra Medford | |
Susan Sarandon | ... | Jane Spofford | |
Michelle Pfeiffer | ... | Sukie Ridgemont | |
Veronica Cartwright | ... | Felicia Alden | |
Richard Jenkins | ... | Clyde Alden | |
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Keith Jochim | ... | Walter Neff |
Carel Struycken | ... | Fidel | |
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Helen Lloyd Breed | ... | Mrs. Biddle |
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Caroline Struzik | ... | Carol Medford |
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Michele Sincavage | ... | Ridgemont Child |
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Nicol Sincavage | ... | Ridgemont Child |
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Heather Coleman | ... | Ridgemont Child |
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Carolyn Ditmars | ... | Ridgemont Child |
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Cynthia Ditmars | ... | Ridgemont Child |
All three previously married but now single, best friends sculptress Alex Medford, cellist Jane Spofford and writer Sukie Ridgemont are feeling emotionally and sexually repressed, in large part due to the traditional mores overriding their small New England coastal town of Eastwick. After their latest conversation lamenting about the lack of suitable men in Eastwick and describing the qualities they are looking for in a man, mysterious Daryl Van Horne and his equally mysterious butler Fidel arrive in town. Despite being vulgar, crude, brazen and not particularly handsome, Daryl manages to be able to tap into the innermost emotions of the three friends, and as such manages to seduce each. In turn, the three women blossom emotionally and sexually. After an incident involving one of the town's leading citizens, the ultra conservative Felicia Alden, the three women begin to understand how and why Daryl is able to mesmerize them so fully. The three decide to experiment with some powers ... Written by Huggo
Subtle, it ain't but George Miller's film version of John Updike's "The Witches of Eastwick" is extremely entertaining. Jack Nicholson, in a role you feel he was born to play, is Darryl Van Horne, 'just your average, horny little devil' who, it would appear, is conjured up by three New England women, (Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer), one stormy night and whose presence in their lives turns them into 'the witches' of the title. He's magnificent and very funny but the movie goes to pieces before the end. What starts out as a satire on New England prudery and what, I suppose, could be called 'the battle of the sexes' just becomes another Faustian horror-comedy about selling your soul to the Devil but, at least on that level, it's great fun, (and you do get the impression that these witches are having a ball). Throw in Veronica Cartwright as one of those New England prudes who sees Nicholson for what he is and not just a great lay with supernatural powers and you have a female-centered movie of the first order. It may be no classic but it's a great guilty pleasure.