It's got all the elements of a true 40s noir, from the hard-boiled gum-shoe and slinky lounge singer, to an assortment of odd-ball characters and the quest for a coveted object. But there's a twist. This isn't just Los Angeles noir, it's alternate reality Los Angeles noir, with magic, murder, and monsters...

It's 1948 Los Angeles, sort of. This is a Los Angeles of werewolves, voodoo queens, and succubi (and long before Angel hit the airwaves, too). Our anti-hero is Harry P Lovecraft (Fred Ward), a former cop and broken-down private dick unwilling to use magic in a city where magic is as commonplace as the zombies mixing your cocktails. Our villain, played by classic character villain David Warner, is questing for the Necronomicon, which has been stolen, along with its fake twin, from a sleaze-ball gangster who used to be Harry's partner. A pre-stardom Julianne Moore plays the chanteuse and moll still carrying a torch for Harry. (We warned you it hit all the noir notes.)

Detective Bradbury of the LAPD asks Harry to find the books, since his lack of spell-casting makes him undetectable by magic means. As Harry follows clues and red herrings, we get to take a tour of old Los Angeles, but with that special Lovecraftian twist.

There are so many references and riffs from the occult, scifi, and mystery worlds that you'll be hard pressed to keep up. As with a big handful of other movies (like one of our favorites, Army of Darkness), this flick is loosely based on H. P. Lovecraft's "Mad Arab" story. It was produced for HBO by Gale Anne Hurd, who's responsible for such classics as Terminator, Aliens, and Tremors, and who seems to have a pretty good eye for cult classics.

Horror, humor, noir, and some pretty keen special effects - it's not a meaningful movie by any stretch, but it's a great Saturday night flick! It's not on DVD yet, so you're stuck with VHS, but HBO's usually pretty good about releasing their movies, so I continue to hope. Plus there's a sequel - look for our review of Witch Hunt featuring Dennis Hopper, coming soon.

"I'm serious."
"Then why are you wearing that hat?"

reviewed by Karen