Boston 1691 : Warlock, serviteur de Satan, semble promis à l'execution immédiate de sentences, la mort sur le bûcher. Son ennemi juré, le chasseur de sorcières Redferne se réjouit de la situation. Mais Warlock exhorte son maître de lui venir en aide. Satan, prenat la forme d'un orage d'une puissence exceptionelle, délivre son suppôt de ses chaînes. Los Angeles de nos jours : Warlock perd connaissance dans la chute. Malgrès leur inquiétude, Chas et la jeune femme qu'il loge,, Kassandra, le soignent. Toujours malfaisant, Warlock tue sauvagement son sauveteur et jette un sort à sa compagne : celle-ci vieillira de 20 ans toutes les 24 heures !
Clever and original, this horror film directed by Steve Miner (Forever Young) stars Julian Sands as a 17th century warlock who escapes the gallows and is transported--along with the witch hunter who brought him to trial (Richard E. Grant)--300 years into the future. Running loose in contemporary Los Angeles, Sands's supernatural monster sets about reuniting the scattered portions of a Devil's Book that will reveal the true name of God and thus destroy mankind. In a great twist, the last bit of the book is in a very interesting place: the grave of Grant's character, who has enlisted the aid of a woman (Lori Singer) in a hurried effort to stop imminent disaster. Genuinely involving, Warlock is aided immeasurably by sharp performances from the equally eccentric Grant (Withnail and I) and Sands (Naked Lunch). Miner invents his way through a kind of simultaneously new and old horror tale, and the results are taut, fun, and surprising.