In 1953, Senator Larson Crockett, Eric Bogosian, has spearheaded a nationwide crackdown that sows fear of magic and pushes its practice underground, reshaping public opinion and the political landscape.
In Los Angeles, private investigator H. Philip Lovecraft, Dennis Hopper, is hired by film star Kim Hudson, Penelope Ann Miller, to uncover dirt on her husband, N.J. Gotlieb, Alan Rosenberg, who may be preparing to drop her from his latest project in favor of a younger, potentially more glamorous starlet. Behind the scenes, Hypolita Kropotkin, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Lovecraft’s landlady, works covertly for Gotlieb’s studio as a witch who relocates famous writers from history to the present to lend magickal polish to scripts.
Beside Gotlieb stands warlock Finn Macha, Julian Sands, a former private eye whom Lovecraft knows well. When Crockett, Gotlieb, and Macha depart the studio, Lovecraft tails them to a Los Feliz mansion. An enchanted raven disables him with spellcraft, and on waking, he finds the place emptied and shrouded in mystery.
Back at the studio, Gotlieb fires Kim, convinced she is a trophy wife clinging to wealth and influence. Soon afterward, Gotlieb is murdered in a magical fashion, and Kim becomes the prime suspect. Distressed and unsure, she hires Lovecraft to prove her innocence and uncover the killer’s true identity.
Lovecraft turns to Hypolita for help. She summons two magic users from her coven, and one of them taps into Gotlieb’s old memories, guiding the investigation to a beach house Gotlieb owned. There, evidence has been erased by magic, leaving Lovecraft with more questions than answers.
Lovecraft returns to the Los Feliz mansion, only to discover a darker side of Hollywood: a whorehouse where sex workers wield magic to transform into whatever persona a client desires. He then visits Kim again and accidentally disrupts a meeting between her and one of the workers. The intruder uses magic to steal Kim’s car and vanish, and the same woman is later found dead in the river, her body turned into a lifelike mannequin.
On another visit, Lovecraft prevents Kim from taking her own life. He learns she has been using a charm similar to the workers’ magic to enhance her conventional attractiveness and improve her chances of becoming a major star. Lovecraft reveals that he has used magic once himself: he concealed a bottle on a suspect’s boat and later “poured” out a conversation that helped close the case. The suspect, Macha, suspects the evidence came from a woman who was present and used murder to silence her.
Crockett leverages the killings to scapegoat Hypolita as part of his anti-magic crusade, and new congressional legislation threatens her life with a death sentence by public burning. Lovecraft confronts Crockett, who boasts of engineering the murders with Macha to strike at the magical community. With presidential ambitions on the line, Crockett orders the arrest of Lovecraft and Macha, only to provoke Macha’s fury and a curse aimed at Crockett.
Before the fiery execution can proceed, Crockett is suddenly repulsed by his own powers, spitting frogs as the truth of his inner intentions erupts. In the ensuing chaos, Lovecraft frees Hypolita and they escape, while Macha vanishes from sight.
Lovecraft then rides to Kim’s, only to find Macha waiting there. Macha claims to have kidnapped Kim and tries to lure Lovecraft into using magic to save her life. Hypolita channels her own magic through Lovecraft to incapacitate Macha, and, seizing the moment, Lovecraft hurls Macha from a balcony into the sea, where he drowns.
Facing the harsh realization that superstardom may not be her path, Kim abandons her magical alterations and chooses to return home. As she boards a train, Lovecraft grants her a quiet, bittersweet farewell kiss, acknowledging the fragile line between magic, power, and personal freedom.
