Film

The Witches of Eastwick

Name: The Witches of Eastwick
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
Released: 1987
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer, Veronica Cartwright

The Witches of Eastwick is a slyly wicked comedy about desire, small-town gossip, and the devil turning up exactly when three lonely women wish him into being. Nicholson chews scenery magnificently as Daryl Van Horne, but it's Cher, Sarandon and Pfeiffer's sisterly chemistry that gives the film its warmth. Expect broad seduction, satanic special effects, and a genuinely gleeful sense of mischief throughout.

TMDb rating

6.5

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Practical Magic1998

Sisters not strangers this time, but the same alchemy of witchcraft, small-town suspicion and swoony romance. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman have terrific chemistry, and the film's happy to be both funny and genuinely moving about family curses.

But It's softer and more sentimental than Eastwick, with none of Nicholson's devilish menace to sharpen the sweetness.

Death Becomes Her1992

Same director's-era gleeful vanity of practical effects and Faustian bargains, but here it's eternal beauty instead of eternal desire. Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn go delightfully feral chasing immortality, with body horror played entirely for laughs.

But It trades Eastwick's sultry atmosphere for slapstick and gore; subtlety is not on the menu.

Bedazzled2000no page yet

Elizabeth Hurley's devil grants wishes with the same gleeful cruelty Nicholson brings to Daryl, twisting every desire into its worst possible version. Brendan Fraser is a lovable stooge, and the film's funniest when it's meanest.

But It's broader and more juvenile than Eastwick, aimed squarely at easy laughs rather than mood or menace.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Rosemary's Baby1968

Both hinge on the devil quietly infiltrating an ordinary woman's life through neighbourly charm rather than horror-movie theatrics; Eastwick plays that idea for wicked comedy, this one for existential dread.

Polanski's classic is the serious, suffocating ancestor of Eastwick's satanic-neighbour premise, and Mia Farrow's unraveling is one of horror's great performances. It's patient, precise dread rather than devilish fun.

But There's no comedy here at all - it's slow, paranoid, and genuinely upsetting rather than playful.

The Craft1996

Teenage witches instead of grown women, but the same bargain: power granted comes with a price and a reckoning. It's moodier, angrier, and became a cult touchstone for a reason.

But The tone is far darker and more melodramatic; there's little of Eastwick's wit or comic relief.

Chocolat2000

A mysterious woman arrives in a buttoned-up village and unlocks everyone's appetites, echoing Daryl's arrival in Eastwick almost beat for beat. Juliette Binoche's chocolate shop is temptation dressed as kindness rather than devilry.

But It's gentler and more sentimental, with no supernatural stakes at all and a much cosier ending.

American Horror Story2011

A whole season of witches behaving badly in a gothic New Orleans academy, with the same camp, cattiness and gleeful excess that Eastwick trades in. Jessica Lange devours every scene like Nicholson devours his.

But It's a longer commitment with a soapier, more sprawling plot, and the horror is played straighter and gorier.

Warlock1989no page yet

A genuine warlock, not just a charming devil, terrorises a modern setting with real horror-movie stakes. Julian Sands is icy where Nicholson is warm, but the theme of evil hiding behind charisma carries over.

But It's a straight horror-thriller with none of Eastwick's comedy or romance, and the effects show their age.

Stardust2007

A fairy-tale romp with witches, wishes and a wicked sense of humour, plus a starry cast having a ball. It shares Eastwick's mix of the fantastical and the flirtatious, just aimed at a younger audience.

But It's family-friendly fantasy adventure rather than adult comedy-horror; the devilish edge is entirely absent here.

Hocus Pocus1993

Three witches wreak havoc on a small town in a broader, campier register, with Bette Midler clearly having the time of her life. It's the Halloween-party cousin to Eastwick's more grown-up mischief.

But It's a kids' comedy at heart, with none of the sexual tension or moral weight of Eastwick.

Hail Satan?2019

Where Eastwick imagines the devil as a literal seducer granting wishes, this documentary follows real people who've adopted Satan as a symbol of feminist and civic rebellion - the same wicked wish-fulfillment fantasy, made political and true.

A genuinely funny, sharp documentary about the Satanic Temple's activism, full of the same gleeful mischief and provocation that makes Eastwick fun, but rooted in actual First Amendment battles.

But It's a documentary with talking heads and courtroom footage, not a mood piece - anyone wanting fantasy or horror should look elsewhere.

Wicked2024no page yet

Both are about a woman branded a witch by a frightened community, and both ask whether that label is a curse or a kind of freedom; Wicked just sings the question instead of whispering it.

A lavish musical that takes the 'wicked woman' myth and makes her the heroine, with Cynthia Erivo turning green-skinned otherness into something soaring rather than sinister.

But It's a big, earnest musical spectacle with none of Eastwick's irony, adult wit, or devilish charm.