Phillip Covington: The Warlock

balogo

villain

Bruce Payne as Phillip Covington in The Warlock III

"A Warlock of Boundless Power" by CMoon

Beware of charming strangers. That could be the message of Warlock III. Or know who your real friends are! warlockjacket2

The story starts in England in the 1600s. A witch (the good kind) is trying to save her daughter from being kidnapped by the local warlock. Not nice. He wants to make her his bride. We hate when that happens. But the witch is able to outwit the warlock and save warlock & girl

her daughter. The warlock, however, is very persistent and he doesn't mind waiting a few centuries. We should be so patient.

Forward to the present. When Kris inherits a house, she inherits a lot more than she bargained for. Unknown to her, she is the descendant of the original witch. When she and her college buddies decide to stay in the creaky old house overnight, living nightmares replace sleeping dreams. Phillip Covington is back for another try at matrimonial bliss, warlock style. Of course, the students don't know at first who the charming, mysterious stranger is or what he has in store for them. Like exquisitely, diabolically horrible and sadistic torture for Kris's friends unless they help him ensnare her soul. Talk about forced marriages.

One of Bruce Payne's fortes is playing charming but evil roles. Hey, somebody has to have a talent for it and Bruce certainly does. We are not the only ones who think so. Journalist and critic John Fallon, wrote, " Bruce Payne gives a charismatic, subdued scary performance. I couldn't take my eyes off him. Bruce Payne is all charm." We couldn't have said it better. As warlock Phillip Covington, Bruce is smooth, slick, mysteriously charming, and utterly warlockpants

gorgeous in black leather pants and coat. Ooh-la-la. But why don't the other guests at the dinner table notice that he isn't eating? Guess they don't watch as many horror movies as we do. warlockdinner

Bruce plays the part to the hilt, oozing evil savoir faire, mesmerizingly intense, diabolically delicious. But Kris, watch out for that tongue...Yikes! In spite of our [pardon the expression] tongue-in-cheek asides, Warlock III is a cut above most films in this genre, thanks to Bruce's entrancing performance. Critic Richard Scheib, writing for the Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Film Review Database, said "As the Warlock, Bruce Payne, an actor who has magnificently theatrical charisma, and presence is actually better in the part than the perpetually overwrought Julian Sands." We couldn't agree more. Few actors today can pull off villain roles with equal pizazz and presence.

“Bruce Payne when given enough air time and a role he can flex his abilities in can keep a viewer interested. And he does it here in Warlock III. There is the usual teenybopper horror storyline, but Payne surprises one in what would be just another sequel. Payne is capable of a sense of presence and cultured delivery. He exhibits it here. He’s glossy stuff. If you like his work and want to see him weave a character into his own, this is it”
-- a reviewer from Amazon.com

"Bruce brought to the film his own brand of evil intensity and the suave charisma that was required for the Warlock. In the first two movies, Julian was very smooth as the character, but Bruce makes for a scarier villain. You feel he is capable of more evil than Julian."
--Eric Freiser, director/co-writer of Warlock III from Fangoria Magazine, October, 1999