WARLOCK III: THE END OF INNOCENCE (1999)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *drama*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *metaphysical*

I suppose I may be grading the mythicity of the third and last WARLOCK film a little high. But at least it's a relatively straightforward horror flick, and it does reference a little of the conflicts between "childhood innocence" and "adult experience" in the story of viewpoint character Kris Miller (Ashley Laurence).

Once again the idea of The Warlock starts from scratch, with no reference to any previous installment, and this time the titular fiend is played by Bruce Payne, though he's made up to resemble Julian Sands somewhat. This Warlock even uses a human alias, though it's likely to be a false one, given that like the original he's born in the 1600s. 

He's also not interested in the world-destroying schemes; he just fixates on making a Satanic sacrifice of a witch-child from his own time period. True, if he succeeds, he can place a demon in the girl's body, he can spawn a "race of evil" with that demon. But we don't really see his grand plan on the screen, and it doesn't entirely track. If he'd succeeded in sacrificing the little girl in the 1600s, wouldn't he, or his Satanic master, have to wait a while for her to be capable of mothering a new race? If the Warlock has a deeper contingency plan, it doesn't come to light.

However, the mother of the selected sacrifice is a skilled witch. She not only confines the Warlock to his own house, she somehow sends her daughter forward in time (a trope slightly borrowed from the first film), and the little girl forgets her past upon being adopted and given the modern name Kris Miller.

Director/co-writer Eric Fresier utilizes a couple of very hoary plot-devices. First is the "house inheritance," in which the future victim of spooky conspiracies checks out her supposed bequest. Closely related is the "bringing along friends to serve as expendable victims" trope. Thus Kris is accompanied by her boyfriend Michael and four friends, one of whom is a practicing follower of the contemporary wicca religion. The latter character comes in handy for explaining some of the mystical goings-on, though in the end she's as much a victim as the others.

However, while most victims in "old dark houses" are just slaughtered to keep up suspense, the Warlock not only kills the friends but forces them to forswear Kris before they die, in order to break Kris' will. However, though she doesn't have witchy powers, Kris learns enough about sorcery to turn the tables on The Warlock.

There are a handful of nice scary jolts, and principals Laurence and Payne play off each other well. It's at least an okay conclusion to the series, if not anywhere as good as the first or as bad as the second.