Spellbinder (1988) User Reviews (65)

"You don't know what you're getting into."

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 27 July 2014]

Jeff Mills (Tim Daly) is a likable, good looking nice guy lawyer in L.A. who's tired of the dating scene. He chances to meet a gal named Miranda Reed (gorgeous Kelly Preston) in a parking lot one night, and brings her home to his pad, soon striking up a relationship with her. Unfortunately, his impulsiveness turns out to be a bad mistake, as Miranda's past then catches up with them. It turns out that she was part of a witches' coven, and that they "want her back" because they need a human sacrifice for the winter solstice, which is coming up. Blinded by his love for her, he goes out of his way to try to keep her safe, and to deal with her scummy associates, including Aldys (big haired Anthony Crivello) and the deceptively cheery Mrs. White (Audra "Mrs. Roper" Lindley).

The solid supporting cast of nicely chosen actors also features Diana Bellamy as Jeffs' loyal (and intuitive) secretary Grace, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as somber faced police detective Lt. Lee (an expert in occult related crimes), Julian Christopher, Kyle T. Heffner, and the amiable Rick Rossovich as Jeffs' circle of friends, and the very amusing M.C. Gainey as lively survivalist Brock. Overall, the movie is nothing special in terms of presentation, with competent but undistinguished direction by Janet Greek, but it does have its moments (the best occurs when a bunch of mysterious people gather at a window), and isn't totally without atmosphere. The story, written by Tracy Torme (son of Mel), who went on to script one more feature ("Fire in the Sky") and work for television series ranging from 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' to 'Sliders' to 'Carnivale', is pretty absorbing, and does have some effective twists near the end.

It's a good movie in general, and is worth a look for 80s horror fans who want to check out everything that the decade has to offer.

Seven out of 10.

See you in Hell.

[lastliberal-853-253708 · 6/10 · 21 April 2012]

Just seeing a 25-year-old Kelly Preston makes this movie worth watching, and, boy, do we get to see her.

Jeff (Tim Daly) apparently finds the girl of his dreams (Preston), and things are going great until her friends show up looking for her. She has a past that she hasn't explained.

Soon, they are battling a coven of witches that want her back. It all builds up to the night of the Winter Solstice.

The twist at the end caught me by surprise, and really made the movie.

You have to give props to writer Tracy Tormé, who really stacked some surprises in this film.

I was Spellbound by Kelly Preston for 99 minutes

[Stevieboy666 · 6/10 · 15 January 2022]

Two young LA lawyers step in when a beautiful woman is beaten by her nasty boyfriend in an outdoor car park. One of the lawyers (Jeff, played by Timothy Daly) then offers shelter for Miranda (Kelly Preston), they instantly become lovers but both of their lives are in danger from a cult of Satanists. I have this on VHS, first watched it decades ago but enjoyed revisiting it. I would describe it as a combination of romance, thriller and horror. The late Kelly Preston looks totally bewitching and does strip off for a few love making scenes. Some reviewers and critics bemoan the plot as predictable, I disagree. I found the ending shocking but in a good way. Without giving too much away I was reminded of Rosemary's Baby and Race with the Devil in that Satanic cults can stretch deep within communities. Spellbinder is a moderate entry in the world of Satanic cinema but well worth a look.

Great plot twist at the end of the movie!

[jagripino · 12 September 1999]

A cool terror movie, that will leave you on your toes on the final moments and make you astonished at the amazing plot twist at the end. Ok, it's not a movie I'd be looking for, but if you can catch it on tube it's pretty entertaining and will give you subject for a few good conversations on plot twists.

Good and great

[imdb-19602 · 7/10 · 3 December 2007]

The plot is kind of interesting and a bit twisted, so that's fun. What's even better is a young Kelly Preston in various stages of undress to get the R rating, man she was a 10 if there ever was one. Sorry, I'm but a man. I won't give away the ending, but it is kind of a surprise and ties together the movie in a decent fashion. I'm so surprised that this hasn't come out on DVD yet, I will finance it myself if they are looking for investors. I wouldn't be surprised if her hubby bought the rights to this movie just so he can keep the DVD from coming out to save a little face, even though she is topless in several other flicks that have already made it to digital disc format.

a unique movie that people miss it

[fahadff-33928 · 7/10 · 10 May 2017]

i like this type of movies, and of its kind i think its realistic and has such a good drama, this movie about satanism and its not like other satanism movies that are a terrible mix-up crab that lack the sins of drama. but this one is different its decent also has a solid script and brings you the satanism picture in a real good way, it's has this clever satanism scheme and gives you an example of how they doing their things

its real entertainment to watch, i think its more thriller than horror.

here's a thing, couple years back i heard this story that literally match the story of this movie!!

a highly recommend this one, don't miss it.

Forgotten film that should probably be left forgotten...

[KittyKelly1976 · 4/10 · 12 July 2016]

The summary above may sound harsh, but after just recently re-checking this film out after many years of forgetting about it the first time around when it was initially released, I can not really be anything but honest.

Kelly Preston is (of course) beautiful, stunning, in fact, but her acting skills are just not really up to par for this title, and I don't think they ever truly improved a great deal from this either.

In saying that, this film has a few jump-scares (the "classic jump-scares, not these modern day fillers), which are rather effective, and I really love the dog and cat which are in the film, they're so cute!

Another fine thing about this film is it's soundtrack, in particular the instrumental piece by Tom Scott - "Siren's Song" which plays on the stereo system in Jeff's apartment when he first brings Miranda home. This is true 80's jazz influenced brilliance in all it's glory, and I wish I had a copy of the tune itself, but it is incredibly hard to track down (and I don't think included anywhere but within this film's soundtrack).

All in all, a 4 out of 10 is rather generous, but I do love the animals in this, and Kelly's beauty is a nice distraction from this otherwise cliché and very boring late 80's thriller.

Not bad, if you have reasonable expectations.

[smatysia · 6/10 · 2 April 2003]

A fairly OK B-picture. SEMI-SPOILERS AHEAD: I will have to give it credit for one thing, though. This one does NOT have the typical Hollywood ending. Parts of the denouement I saw coming a mile away, but some I didn't. Tim Daly was neither as good nor as bad as some other commenters have said. Interesting that the comments I read had this film being a masterpiece, or total dreck. It was neither. Grade: C

Predictable

[isabelle332 · 1/10 · 24 October 2004]

Caught this one Sunday afternoon on TV. As I didn't see the beginning, I was curious to see what the movie was. I thought it ws a story about a woman who was going to be killed by her evil mother-in-law. It wasn't, but as it had supernatural events happening, I decided to stick with it. Well, the "spell" wore off quickly, and I began trying to guess what would happen next. And I did. Over and over again, right down to the ending, in which the characters' true natures were revealed to be exactly what I thought they would be. The movie is insipid, most of the "scary" parts are actually funny, and the ending is obvious even if it isn't happy. Unless you can't remember anything before two minutes ago, you'll be able to guess the ending too. If you're looking for a good horror movie don't bother with this one. It's not that spellbinding.

excellent spells

[trashgang · 7/10 · 28 September 2009]

A long time ago, more then 15 years I guess a friend of mine gave me a VHS with this movie on it. I was stunned. This movie really got me, in fact I started to search a decent version of the movie but I failed. No where I could find it. Then the internet appeared and again I searched for it, no luck in the states until some Australian send me an official version on a sub label of MGM. The circle was round, I had my copy. For me this movie is full of surprises and plot changes. It starts off with a guy making trouble with a girl, of course someone is helping the girl and from there on it starts going. The filming and the acting is excellent, it is strange when I'm talking to a lot of geeks out there that only 5% knows this movie. It isn't gory but the blood flows. And it has suspense and some creepy scene's. Even those bootleg sellers doesn't have copies of this underrated flick. And Kelly Preston stars in this movie, as did Tim Daly. But at the end of the day all I would say, get yourself a copy, only available in Australia.

Derivative and very low budget, but it just has a certain charm about it.

[callanvass · 5/10 · 23 August 2013]

Spellbinder is a movie that I didn't mind at all. It looks and feels like a cheap T.V movie, and that's essentially what it is, but it has a fair amount going for it. It's derivative of other films, but despite that, I still managed to have an OK time with it. Devil cult films started getting big around the 60's and 70's, but I highly doubt any of them had such a gorgeous female lead like Kelly Preston. This was before she was solidified as a star, so I highly doubt she'll look back fondly at this one. My only real problem with this one is that I figured out where this was going in 25-30 minutes into the movie. I knew how it was gonna all boil down. Predictability isn't always a bad thing. I'm just saying I knew where it was going to head. It delivers some decent suspense for a T.V film, though. Despite the predictability of the finale, it was still rather intense. I don't mind predictability at all if it manages to be effective. Kelly Preston is spellbinding herself. Her beauty is near untouchable, but she's also a very solid actress. Her unpredictable show is rather unheralded in my opinion. Tim Daly is OK, but he was pretty wooden at times. I didn't really buy him as the lead, but he was tolerable at least. Rick Rossovich is solid as per usual as the supporting friend. Audra Lindley is absolutely chilling. Let's just say she has one scene you won't soon forget.

Final Thoughts: Not bad for a low budget film. It's quite derivative, and doesn't feature many surprises, but I still had a decent time with it. If you manage to find it on V.H.S (It's not on DVD as far as I know) or on the net, I would give it a look.

5.5/10

I liked it.

[infocyde · 8/10 · 24 January 2007]

Some of the commentators have ragged on this movie for it being predictable, and some parts of it are, but some parts of the ending really surprised me. Again, I saw this movie originally when I was about 19, so maybe what would be obvious now weren't so obvious to me back then. Anway, given the context of the late 80ies when Spellbinder was made there was all this talk about Satanism, most of which later proved to be just urban legend type of stuff, probably made the movie for me a little more spooky in the 80ies then say if someone just randomly saw it now. Anyways, the movie I thought had a pretty cool plot that had some surprises, the acting was good, Kelly Preston was hot, and the movie freaked me out a little back in the day, so I'm giving the movie 8 out 10 stars. I haven't found it on DVD yet, if I did I would buy it and add it to my collection.

Kelly Preston (1962-2020)

[bombersflyup · 7/10 · 23 July 2020]

Spellbinder has the draw card of Kelly Preston and that's pretty much what you get out of it, stunning.

Tim Daly isn't great as the lead and I gotta say I saw all of the end coming. The clue being Miranda saying a voluntary sacrifice is required and the friend, well there's no way he's doing all of this, has to be in on it. It tidies up some things, like why they didn't just kill him and why the guy let her go in the first place, so it's not as flimsy, but it's still flimsy. Don't like Jeff's disregard for his pets either. The always welcome Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa has a minor role as a police lieutenant and definitely should of been more involved.

Witches. Late 80's. Kelly Preston.

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 28 September 2020]

Janet Greek is best known for her TV work and for directing the first Weird Al video, "Ricky." This is one of her few theatrical films and it's very much of the 1988 video store get five movies for five nights era, which is by no means a bad thing.

Los Angeles attorney Jeff Mills (Tim Daly, Wings) and his friend Derek Clayton (Rick Rossovich, Top Gun) rescue Miranda Reed (the gone before her time Kelly Preston) from an abusive boyfriend who spouts Satanic epithets before running into the night. So Jeff does what any of us would - he lets her move in and take over his life. The sex is, one expects when sleeping with a witch, astounding. But then, in the cold light of day, things start to be quite frightening.

Along the way, there are appearances by Diana Bellamy (who knows something of video store rentals with credits like Critters 3, My Chauffeur, D.C. Cab, The Nest and Stripped to Kill), Sally Kemp (The Glove), Audra "Mrs. Roper" Lindley, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (the Mortal Kombat movies) and Karen Baldwin, who along with her husband, Penguins owner Howard Baldwin, would make Pittsburgh's second favorite movie, Sudden Death.

This movie was supposedly difficult to find for years, as the Church of Scientology kept it hidden due to Preston's nude scenes - I call B.S. on that one, no one was keeping Mischief from anyone and that goes way further - and the fact that she plays a witch, a fact that I can more than see them being upset about.

Excellent overlooked little thriller.

[dhmason6155 · 27 June 2004]

WARNING: SPOILERS.

I was quite surprised to see this as a made for TV movie on daytime, network television. It definitely breaks the mold. You never see this kind of subject matter in this format: Satanic rituals and devil worship. When I turned it on, I expected a standard, formulaic TV movie. Instead it kept me fascinated and guessing from beginning to end. They also got all the details right regarding the rituals, paraphernalia, symbols and incantations of the coven and that a key part of their worship of Satan revolved around the seasons, fertility and sex. If you read anything about Pagan or satanic rituals, you know that a critical part of Miranda's enslavement of the hero was that she have sex with him. All this was originally from Pagan religions, which the church condemned, falsely, as satanic. Very effective, spooky and tragic. I think the most effective portrayal of horror is to show it as part of our everyday lives.

Creepy, occult suspense movie that is better than expected.

[dlsperl · 7/10 · 30 January 2013]

The 80's were full of horror sequels that I really did not like for the most part. That was the first good thing about the movie I liked (before even viewing!). I still did not expect too much, just something to enjoy for 90 minutes. However, this was a well done movie and while I would not rate it at the level of Fatal Attraction (also a late 80's movie suspense movie), it was enjoyable and there were some very good performances. Tim Daly, Kelly Preston and Rick Rossovich all seemed right for their roles. It was Audra Lindley who had a very good performance and gave it that something extra it needed to be truly creepy and suspenseful. The setting is modern LA where Daly works and most of the occult scenes are set in coastal areas (possibly near Malibu) and occur in the evening. The ending is very well done, but I won't spoil it for you. Like most good suspense movies, watch this one with the lights out. Enjoy!

We all entitled to own opinions

[jgkelley-48797 · 7/10 · 9 January 2022]

But I don't get the negative reviews to some movies. More so the extremely negative movie reviews, with responses like "worst movie ever". When you know it's not possibly the worst movie they ever saw unless it was the only movie.

I see some with the reasoning too much blood as they are reviewing a slasher movie. Or silly reasons like that. Or a "gay person doesn't even act like that". As if they are offended at the generalization. When it's them who are being the Hippocrates. Because they seem to be insinuating that they in fact know how a "gay person should act". It's literally one character who happens to be gay. I think the writer understands how he wanted that one character to act. Just silly stupid reasons to give a movie bad review & why it's so sad & frustrating that the process will never be true when it's flooded with biases, people over-analyzing, and people who are reviewing movies from genres they prob aren't even fans of. Giving us completely jaded views.

If you are a fan of & enjoy horror-ish movies, more so sub-genres of the horror genre. Then I can't imagine that you would see this movie and not like it. It's from the 80's and so whenever you plan to watch a movie, the time it was filmed & what was available to movie makers has to be taken into consideration. Some of my favorite movies are from a time well before this movie was made. But I understand a movie from the 1940's is going to be a lot dif than a movie from a year ago in 2020. The cast was good, the acting good, I thought to plot was good. I wouldn't try & sell it off as the best movie you'll ever watch. But I think it's def one of those movies where it's good to have seen once. Considering movies in genres like this usually have shoddy production & budget restraints, To me it's actually above average movie when you're grading it on a scale against other movies of its kind. Which, imo, all movies should be graded on scale with others in its genre. It's kind of silly comparing a movie like Texas chainsaw Massacre with Citizen Kane or comparing Caddy Shack to the Big Sleep with Bogey. I sometimes a movie is meant for cheap thrill & not to make a clean sweep at the Oscars: it feels like some people are disappointed at any film doesn't explain the meaning of life to the viewer or some other silly requirement . Or they offended at something in that's so silly. Or pick a reason you've seen in a review board.

They must have been joking

[Meredith-7 · 5/10 · 19 July 1999]

This film has the worst acting I have seen in a long while, particularly in the first 3/4 of the film. The actual film does pick up in the last quarter, with an interesting twist to the plot, that does not make much sense when you think about it. But I have a sneaking suspicion that you are not meant to think in this film, because if you do, you will see the numerous plot holes and one dimensional characters. Obviously the script writers could not decide or distinguish between satan worship and witchcraft, they are not one in the same like the film suggests. A pretty poor effort on all accounts.

So-so horror film about black magic and devil worship.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 7/10 · 30 April 2006]

Timothy Daly stars as Jeff Mills,a yuppie lawyer who begins a relationship with Miranda(Kelly Preston),a lovely young woman he meets when he rescues her from a parking lot quarrel with an abusive boyfriend.Turns out Miranda is an escapee from a witches' coven whose evil leader(Anthony Crivello)wants to use her as a human sacrifice."Spellbinder" by Janet Greek is a surprisingly interesting and entertaining horror film.The story is pretty good,the characters are well-developed and there are some truly creepy moments.The plot offers a few surprises,unfortunately the serious lack of gore and violence is disappointing.The ending,whilst obviously influenced by Robin Hardy's masterful "The Wicker Man",is great.Give it a look,if you have enough time to waste.7 out of 10.

Ho hum. Tim Daly is good though.

[lcburnell · 2/10 · 17 December 2012]

The Wicker Man (original not Nicholas Cage) set in L.A.

Plot twists? Where?

Lovely scenery of LA.

Was nice to see Mrs. Roper - always excellent.

Tim Daly did wonders with an unoriginal script.

Kelly Preston was a rather milquetoast witch. Britt Ekland was much more convincing.

The detective was really wasted. I wanted to see more of him. Actually it would have been an excellent film if they had him on the tail of the cult the entire time trying to save el stupido's butt. But Tim Daly did a really good job of playing el stupido you empathized with him the entire time. I didn't think he was el stupido until the office scene he should have saw that one coming a mile away.

The scene with the secretary being suspicious of Miranda was excellently played you didn't know if she was being catty or just had good instincts. They could have been more ambiguous rather than Satan worshipers or just get really hard core Anton La Vey. But then again La Vey was a joke and anyone who has bothered to read the Satanic Bible knows what a laugh riot it is to read and Pagans have so much more charisma. Pagans are Pagans and Satan worshipers are really just frustrated Christians. Have the hard core detective on their tail with a turncoat priest and this could have been fun.

We want her back.......

[FlashCallahan · 7/10 · 26 May 2016]

When Los Angeles attorney Jeff Mills and his friend Derek rescue Miranda Reed from an abusive boyfriend, the trouble starts.

Miranda has no home so Jeff offers her to stay at his house. Jeff becomes involved with Miranda and the mystery that surrounds her. But as the two become closer, Jeff learns that Miranda is on the run from a witches' coven.

The coven wants Miranda as a sacrifice at the winter solstice. She must come to them of her own free will, and the coven try to force her into doing so, using sorcery to taunt the two of them.

Miranda tells Jeff, but not the entire truth, and Jeff helps Miranda out of her troubles, but in doing so creates his own........

From the trailers and the one sheet, I was expecting nothing more than a romance with a mild thriller/horror element to it. And for the most part of the film, that's exactly what it is, apart from two really random scenes involving a cut price Hugo Weaving running about like he needs the toilet before his head combusts, and a random scene in a lawyers office where an old woman goes nuts.

They are certainly out of place in this film, but then the film really turns on its head in the last fifteen minutes, and it really makes the film worth watching, despite some really glaring plot holes.

The cast are fine, we are given red herrings galore, and the chief bad guy looks like a cross between a really elaborate over the top Las Vegas Magician, and a catwalk Highlander, so that quenches any thirst you have for your eighties fix.

Present as usual is perfectly fine as the apparently innocent Miranda, which makes the final fifteen all the more satisfying.

The makers have obviously homaged The Wicker Man in essence, but that's not a bad thing if it's done right, and the final shot ends the film perfectly.

Well worth seeking out..

Tim Daly Hits the Jackpot

[utgard14 · 5/10 · 1 May 2020]

Tim Daly plays a man who saves a beautiful young woman in distress. In return she cures his back pain, cleans his house, and bangs his brains out. But uh oh turns out she's a witch and her witch friends are after her. Yeah I don't see the problem either. I'd fight a hundred witches for a woman as hot as Kelly Preston. She wouldn't have to clean my house either. I'll even forgive her crappy taste in music. This is essentially a TV movie script helped out greatly by a pair of likable leads, some much-appreciated nudity from Kelly Preston, and an unintentionally funny ending. Also Shang Tsung from the Mortal Kombat movie plays a cop.

Terrific!

[gridoon · 8/10 · 24 August 2000]

An unjustly neglected horror entry. Right from the start, it has the narrative pull of a good mystery; there are intriguing characters and one genuinely sensual sex scene. In the second half, it seems to be getting more ordinary, but then comes up with a stunning twist, worthy of an Agatha Christie. Overall, a well-acted, atmospherically directed, smart, creepy little thriller. (***)

Under Kelly Preston's spell

[BloodTheTelepathicDog · 6/10 · 26 April 2005]

Tim Daly, of Wings fame, intervenes when he notices a gorgeous woman, Kelly Preston, being beaten by her lover. He helps Kelly, and invites her back to his place, for obvious reasons. Tim quickly finds out that there is more to Kelly than meets the eye. She is a witch, but a good one, like Sabrina and not evil like the Wizard of Oz witch.

Tim quickly gets into trouble on Kelly's account, as her coven is searching for her, and will seemingly do anything to get her back. Tim is so far under Kelly's spell, that he fails to use his better judgment, and gets into deeper trouble trying to keep Kelly hidden from her coven.

This is a solid film, but takes itself too seriously at times. Rick Rossovich, in a supporting role was excellent as always, but the main draw for this film has been the nudity supplied by Kelly Preston.

Well worth a pickup, that is if you can find it.

Get Your Facts Straight

[Drakeluvr · 1/10 · 19 November 2010]

Warning: This review contains spoilers!

I recently watched this movie via Netflix and I have to say that I am thoroughly disappointed. The tag-line and the summary SOUNDED good so I watched it. The beginning was okay and the acting was decent, but the writer of this story needed to seriously check their facts before putting this one out. It is no wonder that with a movie like this out there Pagans and Witches get a bad wrap for being Satanists. Witches and Pagans WERE NOT Devil worshipers!! That was the stigma that the Christian church put on them to cause fear and panic to help weed them out so that the Christian church could take over as the dominant religion. Neither did they sacrifice humans or animals, though the Christians often did both - see the sacrificial lamb and Jesus for examples along with the Witch 'Trials'. I find it irritating when things like this are misrepresented.