The Witches of Eastwick (1987)

Elevator Pitch: In the small New England town of Eastwick, Alex, Jane and Sukie lack male companionship for different reasons, but when getting together they discuss the ideal partner. Possibly not co-incidentally Daryl Van Horne moves into the local mansion, and in the luxurious surroundings of his manor all three ladies find they can share what he has to offer. But when he puts a spell on the Cartwrights, resulting in Alden killing Felicia with a poker it is a spell too far, so the women disassociate themselves from him, and now, realising that they have powers when together, from each other. But without them Daryl is angry. What can they do?

Content: Despite the fact that the whole plot revolves around the sexual satisfaction of the ladies, there is no sex or nudity. However, they talk dirty quite a bit and the voodoo doll they fashion out of wax has an erection. Daryl is flamboyant and seduces the ladies in various ways, Jane, for instance playing the cello until the instrument smokes, and she is dishevelled and breathless. His pad contains a swimming pool, where they all swim, and the play tennis with hilarious results. Time is spent in church, and spells put on people result in projectile vomiting. There is more, but it would be a spoiler.

A View: It is telling that despite the lack of nudity, sex or violence, it still got and 18 rating in UK and an R rating in America. It shimmers with sensuality, which really makes it a lot of fun. Roger Ebert gave it 3.5 stars, although like other felt that the climax was overdone. The book was apparently a lot more serious. Although my wife and I had seen this film years ago, on the new viewing we really enjoyed it, although the killing of Felicia was a bit of a downer. So for a fun couple of hours, maybe with a couple of beers, difficult to beat.

Additional Info: One of the reviewers felt that of the fantastic elements the most fantastic was that a single mother of five (Sukie) still had time to engage in sex and magic.