The Witches of Eastwick

Very loosely based around the John Updike novel. Three women, bored by life in a small, sleepy New England town, find that they can make bizarre things happen. Cher, Pfeiffer and Sarandon are fine as the trio who conjure up their perfect man (Nicholson in the most manic part of his career to date). The four set up home together, but after a succession of mishaps, the girls realise that the decadent idyll has to come to an end. For three-quarters of the film, Miller triumphantly welds a strong comic element on to a taut, truly menacing atmosphere, but the last 20 minutes dive straight to the bottom of the proverbial barrel with a final crass orgy of special effects. Such a shame.