Rare Flix: Bay Cove

A Film about Witches for Women's History Month- why not?  Today's Film is Bay Cove, a 1987 Film sometimes also called Bay Coven.  If it helps my case, they never once call a Male Witch a 'Warlock,' so it is Gender Neutral.  That or they just got lazy.  In the Story, a young Couple moves out to an Island to get away and find a new way of life.  What they find is a secret group with an agenda.  Will they make it out alive?  It features Tim Matheson and Pamela Sue Martin, staples of this kind of thing from this Era.  It was Directed by Carl Schenkel, the man who made a dozen fairly not-so-notable Films.  Although he did make Knight Moves (with Christopher Lambert), Tarzan and the Lost City and...Dracula Blows His Cool.  Who would have thunk it?!?  Is this a tale of good Witchery or just plain bad...like Witchery?  To find out, read on...

After a quick Title Card (above), an old man goes to give confession.  As he does, lightning strikes him and blows up the Booth!

This couple- Martin and Matheson- live in the City, but he feels unfulfilled working in a White Collar job.

They hang out with their friend...who is Woody Harrelson?  That sure is random!

After meeting with their friends, he convinces her to move out with him to Bay Cove.

They discover that the people are a little odd, but he likes the rustic nature of it.  They also hate her dog for some reason...and then it mysteriously gets run over by a car.

When she gets suspicious, she talks to Woody's Character about it.  How does that go again?

As she gets more tense and more suspicious, her Boss suddenly wants her to stay there all the time, as opposed to commuting every weekday.  Hmm...

It turns out that all of the Residents are Witches/Warlocks who sold their souls for immortality.  As luck would have it, Matheson is the descendant of a Witchfinder and they must make him commit a human sacrifice to keep them alive.

Also her Boss lives there.

She escapes and traps them in the Church.  As they try to stab her through the door, a literal Deus Ex Machina happens as lightning blows up the Church...but only knocks her away.

It isn't that bewitching.  Bay Cove is not a bad Film, but it never fully utilizes its potential.  It is a Film about a Town full of Immortal Witches/Warlocks.  This is rife for some good Horror.  What do you get?  The off-screen death of a Dog, a magically-controlled truck, a gravestone that shoots from the ground and...walls that erase themselves.  That's all they could do?  It sure is a shame that they- the Witches, that is- were hampered by a 1980's TV Movie Budget.  The Acting is good here, but the Script is unfortunately a bit repetitive.  We get like 8 Scenes of 'I found something, now it isn't there' in this one.  You can be Olivier, but I'd still find that shit repetitive.  Is saying 'repetitive' twice in three sentences also repetitive, or do you have to say it four times?  The Premise is good, but the Film just doesn't have enough content to fill the runtime properly.  If you like these kinds of things, there are some spots to enjoy.  Hell, fully-haired Woody Harrelson may be enough for many of you.  Putting aside the magic and all that, why does this Witch House have a grammatical error on its door?

Next up, a Sequel to an After Dark Horror Film that underwhelmed.  Will it (hopefully) surpass the original?  Stay tuned...