Cast a Deadly Spell

In an alternate 1948 Los Angeles where magic is common, Phil Lovecraft, a detective who refuses to use magic, takes Amos Hackshaw's offer to locate the Necronomicon. Hackshaw had stolen the grim tome and it had been stolen from him in turn, drawing Lovecraft into a perilous mystery. Lovecraft agrees to the case, stepping into a city where wonders and dangers lurk beyond the law.

Lovecraft follows the trail to the Dunwich Nightclub, where his old flame Connie Stone performs. There he also meets Harry Bordon, his former LAPD partner who has become a ruthless mobster. They discuss the Necronomicon and the tangled thefts that brought them to this moment, hinting at a dangerous web of betrayal surrounding Locksteader.

The club scene reveals a bitter double-cross: Bordon had previously paid Locksteader with blank paper and later had him killed. Locksteader’s supposed Necronomicon, however, was a counterfeit filled with blank pages, casting doubt on every clue Lovecraft chases. The revelation deepens the peril as the real tome remains elusive.

The next morning, Lovecraft shares breakfast with Olivia Hackshaw at a diner. A magically summoned demon attacks him, forcing a narrow escape. He is questioned by the police as the case tightens around the Necronomicon and its whereabouts.

Lovecraft locates Lilly Willis, also known as Larry Willis, Locksteader’s transgender ex-lover and Hackshaw’s former chauffeur who had stolen the Necronomicon. Willis holds a key piece to the grimoire’s location and thus becomes a crucial target in Lovecraft’s hunt. The pursuit tightens as the stakes rise for everyone involved.

An animated gargoyle bursts in and kills Lilly Willis, eliminating a dangerous obstacle to Lovecraft’s retrieval. Lovecraft and Connie escape with the Necronomicon, narrowly avoiding capture. In a cruel turn, Connie immediately betrays Lovecraft by handing him over to Bordon.

Bordon, Connie, and Hackshaw form a plan to use the Necronomicon to summon an Old One for ultimate power. The ritual hinges on Olivia’s virginity, a detail Hackshaw has gone to great lengths to protect. The plot escalates as the trio move toward carrying out the ceremony.

In a dramatic reversal, Connie shoots and kills Bordon. Hackshaw’s zombie bodyguard maims Connie’s gun hand, ending her immediate ability to act in the ritual’s defense. The conspiracy collapses as the plan begins to unravel.

Hackshaw completes the summoning and the Old One materializes, only to reject Olivia and devour Hackshaw. The ritual fails not only because of the inverted magic but also because Olivia had already lost her virginity days earlier. The grim plot ends in disaster, with the prize slipping away.

Amid the fallout, Connie and Lovecraft share a kiss before she is arrested for murdering Bordon. Lovecraft escapes the scene with the Necronomicon, still clinging to the belief that destroying the book will safeguard the world. The man who refuses to wield magic ends up with the most dangerous artifact.

Lovecraft exits into the night with the Necronomicon, convinced that public belief in its destruction will prevent anyone from unleashing its powers. The fate of the book remains uncertain to all but him, who remains committed to guarding it. The movie closes on a note of wary vigilance in a city where magic and crime walk hand in hand.