THE WRETCHES OF ECCHFLICK

THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK (1987)
dir: George Miller

THE WRETCHES OF ECCHFLICK
MAD #276, January 1988
w: Frank Jacobs
a: Mort Drucker

Tells the story of three friends, widow Alexandra Medford (Cher), divorcee Jane Spofford (Susan Sarandon), and single mother Sukie Ridgemont (Michelle Pfeiffer), who all meet and are seduced by Daryl Van Horne (Jack Nicholson).

Titles of other Jack Nicholson movies are on labels throughout.

The three women have a weekly meeting and over wine talk about who would be the perfect man. They don't realize that the new man in town is the man they conjured up. Daryl has bought the Lenox mansion, a historical landmark because witches had been murdered there centuries ago. They all first meet Daryl at a town concert that he interrupts snoring in the back row. Neighborhood housewife Felicia (Veronica Cartwright) knows that Daryl is really the devil and tries to warn everyone and nobody believes her. Her husband (Richard Jenkins) tries to calm her down. Later, Alexandra runs into Daryl who invites her over for lunch and seduces him. She finds him vulgar but is drawn to him.

Felicia falls down a flight of stairs at the recital, and in the hospital is convinced Daryl is responsible. He visits Jane, who played cello in the town recital, and teaches her to be uninhibited with her music. The three woman meet at the mansion, and initially angry after finding out Daryl's been seeing both Alexandra and Jane, and has the hots for Sukie, all play tennis and realizing he's magic agree to share him. Felicia is reporter for the town paper and has slut-shamed them in the newspaper, but at one of their bacchanalias Daryl tells them not to worry as he swallows cherries, which Felicia regurgitates in her house. Since the movie is directed by the man who made the Mad Max and Babe movies, the puking is somewhat stylized.

Felicia's character assassination of Daryl becomes too much for him and he gets his revenge by telekenetically killing her, which convinces the women to cut him off, which makes him angry. He casts spells on all the woman, and puts Sukie in the hospital. The women also find out they've been knocked up by him and hatch up a plan where they feign interest in him and move into his mansion. While he's gone, they cast a voodoo spell and get rid of him. A couple years later it shows them with their babies that Daryl tries to reach through the TV.

German cover

Interesting trivia: This was George Miller's first American production. He didn't know that everyone had trailers on shoots and he told them he didn't need it. The producers saw this as a sign of weakness and took and advantage of it by not giving him what he wanted, until Jack Nicholson fought on his behalf.