The defence The Arthouse Gremlin
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
Back to trending 
Cast a Deadly Spell
TV Movie · Mystery · Comedy · 1991
In a fantastical 1940s where magic is used by everyone, a hard-boiled detective investigates the theft of a mystical tome.
Movie details
Cast a Deadly Spell
“Bullets! Demons! The end of the world! Can’t hold a man like this!”
1991 TV Movie · Mystery · Comedy 1h 36m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.1 / 10
Community rating
In a fantastical 1940s where magic is used by everyone, a hard-boiled detective investigates the theft of a mystical tome.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Cast a Deadly Spell?
For the defence
The Arthouse Gremlin
“The stranger, the better.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
The Witches of Eastwick
Comedy · 1987
Three single women in a picturesque village have their wishes granted, at a cost, when a mysterious and flamboyant man arrives in their lives.
Death of a Unicorn
Horror · 2025
A father and daughter accidentally hit and kill a unicorn while en route to a weekend retreat, where his billionaire boss seeks to exploit the creature’s miraculous curative properties.
Nekrotronic
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A man discovers that he is part of a secret sect of magical beings who hunt down and destroy demons in the internet.
Gremlins
Fantasy · 1984
After receiving an exotic small animal as a Christmas gift, a young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet, which unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous creatures on a small town.
Pumpkinhead
Fantasy · 1988
When a group of teenagers inadvertently kill his only son, Ed Harley seeks the powers of a backwoods witch to bring the child back to life.
John Dies at the End
Horror · 2013
A new drug promises out-of-body experiences, but users are coming back changed forever, and an otherworldly invasion of Earth is underway.
The Empty Man
Horror · 2020
On the trail of a missing girl, an ex-cop comes across a secretive group attempting to summon a terrifying supernatural entity.
Nocebo
Mystery · 2022
A fashion designer suffers from a mysterious illness that puzzles her doctors and frustrates her husband until help arrives in the form of a Filipino caregiver who uses traditional folk healing to reveal a horrifying truth.
Army of Darkness
Fantasy · 1992
Ash, a handsome, shotgun-toting, chainsaw-armed department store clerk, is time warped backwards into England's Dark Ages, where he romances a beauty and faces legions of the undead.
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie
Thriller · 1990
A young boy tells three stories of horror to distract a witch who plans to eat him.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Martin Campbell
Written by
Joseph Dougherty
Fred Ward
Det. Harry Philip Lovecraft
David Warner
Amos Hackshaw
Julianne Moore
Connie Stone
Clancy Brown
Harry Bordon
Alexandra Powers
Olivia Hackshaw
Charles Hallahan
Det. Morris Bradbury
Arnetia Walker
Hypolite Kropotkin
Court is in session
Put Cast a Deadly Spell on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Prestige Tourist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.