''Witches' Brew'', also known as ''Which Witch Is Which?'', is a 1980 American

comedy horror film Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...

co-written and directed by Richard Shorr, and starring

Richard Benjamin Richard Samuel Benjamin (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of well-known films, including '' Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), '' Catch-22'' (1970), '' Portnoy's Complaint'' (1972), '' Westworld'', ...

Teri Garr Terry Ann Garr (December 11, 1944 – October 29, 2024), known as Teri Garr, was an American actress. Known for her comedic roles in film and television in the 1970s and 1980s, she often played women struggling to cope with the life-changing ex ...

, and

Lana Turner Julia Jean "Lana" Turner ( ; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over a career spanning nearly five decades, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized personal life. ...

. It was based (though without any screen credit) on Fritz Leiber Jr.'s horror-fantasy novel ''

Conjure Wife ''Conjure Wife'' (1943) is a supernatural horror novel by American writer Fritz Leiber. Its premise is that witchcraft flourishes as an open secret among women. The story is told from the point of view of a small-town college professor who disco ...

''. Herbert L. Strock directed additional sequences for the film. The film is set in a college campus. The wives of several academics practice

witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

to advance their husbands' careers. A skeptical husband convinces his wife to cease practicing witchcraft, and then experiences a decline in his career and an attack by a disgruntled student. Meanwhile, a dying witch is trying to use a body swapping technique to eliminate the professor's wife.

Plot

As in earlier film versions of Leiber's story such as ''

Weird Woman ''Weird Woman'' is a 1944 noir- mystery horror film, and the second installment in '' The Inner Sanctum Mysteries'' anthological film series, which was based on the popular radio series of the same name. Directed by Reginald Le Borg and star ...

'' (1944) and ''

Night of the Eagle Night, or nighttime, is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of ...

'' (1962), the story is set around a college campus where rivalries for various chairmanships of faculties take place. While the script's touch is notably lighter than in earlier film versions, verging on comedic in places, the story is basically the same. Several of the wives practice witchcraft in order to advance their husbands' careers. Joshua Lightman does not believe that his wife Margaret's spells and hocus-pocus have been helping him, and makes her cease practising witchcraft. Immediately things begin to go wrong for Lightman. He cuts himself shaving; he is accused by a male student of having accosted him (which loses him the chairmanship of the psychology department); and a disgruntled female student tries to kill him by sniping with a rifle from the college rooftop. Meanwhile, Vivian Cross is controlling several of the other wives via a sculpture of an egg (modeled on a demonic witches' egg they find in a book on witchcraft) in which a being is hatched. This winged creature whose eyes shoot green flames chases Joshua's car and nearly kills him before Vivian destroys it via her magic. Vivian, who is close to death, then hatches a plot to trade bodies with Margaret. Margaret is sent driving off a pier in her car; but Joshua uses magic to save her. Vivian succeeds in swapping souls with Margaret, but the tables are turned on her; Vivian is destroyed and Margaret is returned to her own body and starts practicing witchcraft again to help Joshua.

Cast

as Margaret Lightman *

as Joshua Lightman *

as Vivian Cross *James Winkler as Linus Cross *

Kathryn Leigh Scott Kathryn Leigh Scott is an American television and film actress and writer who is best known for playing several roles on ''Dark Shadows''. Early life and education Kathryn Leigh Scott (born Marlene Kathryn Kringstad) was born of Norwegian de ...

as Susan Carey *Bill Sorrells as Nick Carey * Kelly Jean Peters as Linda Reynolds *

Jordan Charney Jordan Charney (born April 1, 1937) is an American character actor known for ''Ghostbusters'' (1984), ''Network'' (1976) and ''Hill Street Blues'' (1981). Early life and career Charney was born in Brooklyn, New York,Barbara Minkus as Saleswoman *Bonnie Gondel as Marcia Groton *

Angus Scrimm Angus Scrimm (born Lawrence Rory Guy; August 19, 1926 – January 9, 2016) was an American actor, author, and journalist, known for his portrayal of the Tall Man in the 1979 horror film '' Phantasm'' and its sequels. Early life Scrimm was born ...

as Carl Groton *

Steve Bond Steve Bond (born Shlomo Goldberg, , on April 22, 1953) is an Israeli-American television actor and model. Early life Shlomo Goldberg (later Steve Bond) was born in Haifa, Israel, to a Romania-born mother and a Hungary-born father who immigrated ...

as Mike

Production

Although ''Witches' Brew'' was not officially presented by the producing company as an adaptation of Fritz Leiber Jr.'s original story, Shorr's film was thought to "follow the general plot line of ''Burn, Witch, Burn''". The novel had been adapted in 1944 as ''

'' starring

Lon Chaney Jr. Creighton Tull Chaney (February10, 1906 – July12, 1973), known by his stage name Lon Chaney Jr., was an American actor known for playing Larry Talbot in the film '' The Wolf Man'' (1941) and its various crossovers, Count Alucard (Dracula ...

, and in 1962 as ''

'' (also known as ''Burn Witch Burn!'') starring

Peter Wyngarde Peter Paul Wyngarde (born Cyril Goldbert, 23 August 1927 – 15 January 2018) was a British actor. He was best known for portraying the character Jason King, a bestselling novelist turned sleuth, in two television series: '' Department S'' (19 ...

and

Janet Blair Janet Blair (born Martha Janet Lafferty; April 23, 1921 – February 19, 2007) was an American big-band singer who later became a popular film and television actress. Early life Janet Blair was born Martha Janet Lafferty on April 23, 1921 in A ...

. It is Lana Turner's final fiction role in a feature film.

References

External links

* * {{Fritz Leiber 1980 films 1980 comedy horror films Films based on American horror novels American comedy horror films Films about witchcraft United Artists films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films Films set in universities and colleges Films about body swapping Films based on works by Fritz Leiber English-language comedy horror films