What makes it different from others?

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Admirable film.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

I loved this movie. I read everything H.P. Lovecraft wrote when I was still an adolescent so I understood the jokes and references to his work. The best part of this movie is that it's lighthearted and humorous and scary. A great mix at a time when the real world is becoming scarier and scarier in a country where the president is a greedy nut job. I don't know how I missed it when it first came out but I'm glad I did because I got to watch it at a time when I was looking for a distraction from reality. With its 1940s L.A. setting, Chandleresque gumshoe and HP Lovecraft themes this movie could be turned into a great series.

Not easy to make a Lovecraft mythos film, basically because in his books there is little more than some guy terrified out of his wits by things that never really happen or are not actually described. That makes To Cast a Deadly Spell even cooler, as it combines Chtulhu with detective noir and manages to juggle successfully horror, comedy and detective stories.Not that the film is perfect. The characters are all clichés, in case they are fleshed out at all, and the story makes little sense outside its main plot. But I still enjoyed the hell out of it. It is so strange to see this film almost absent from every distribution source. I only found it and watched it on YouTube...Bottom line: this was very entertaining. If any movie deserves to be turned into a TV series, it is this one.

As much as I like Fred Ward and David Warner and the noir detective genre, this film is just a bit too silly. Filled with references to the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, this film seems to be satirizing Lovecraft's work rather than paying homage to it. The ending is way too predictable.There are lots of interesting concepts (zombie henchmen, etc.), but they just seem like individual characters/gimmicks made for a Role Playing Game.Producer Gale Anne Hurd hooked up with Fred Ward after she split from James Cameron (who hooked up with Linda Hamilton after making Terminator 2). They worked together on films like "Tremors"which have credits for 4- Ward Productions, so I wonder if that's a company she created in honor of Fred Ward.

I first saw this when it premiered on HBO in '91. With a Who's Who cast of character-actors, this first-rate production by Gale Anne Hurd (of James Cameron/Terminator fame) and directed by Martin Campbell (soon to direct Goldeneye and Mask of Zorro)is a brilliant mesh tribute to the works of HP Lovecraft. With a firm tongue-in-cheek, the viewer is taken along on the latest case of H. Phil Lovecraft, private detective in a 1948 Los Angeles where "everybody does magic". A relatively new happening, magic is real...everyone uses it, except Lovecraft. Fred Ward turns in one of his best performances to date as the hard-boiled detective, wise-cracking his way through every situation. Julianne Moore is spot-on as Phil's ex-girl, the sultry songbird in his former partner(Clancy Brown)'s club. David Warner is perfect as Lovecraft's effete client, Amos Hackshaw. It's a sharply-written noir tale with more than a few Cthulhu references, and adds some more generalized fantasy for spice. Pay attention to the details, this is where the picture really shines- from the everyday applications of magic, to the snappy banter between Lovecraft and pretty-much everyone, it's an enjoyable escape from reality-TV. The creatures are passable, not the best by today's CGI standards, but certainly not the worst seen in some straight-to-video bombs. The writing is stylish and inventive, with some really ingenious scenes/situations. Martin Cambell's direction takes you right along with Lovecraft, with some brilliant cinematography. The casting is terrific as well. I was never bored. One of my top-20 favorite films. I can't wait for a DVD version, if it ever appears. A terribly disappointing, not-so-great sequel called "Witch Hunt" was done in '94 with a completely different cast & director.