“Lucinda’s Spell” is fun and jaunty at times and serious in other spots and basically, Jon Jacobs hit those marks well in this movie, which features Lucinda (Christina Fulton), a sex witch who is surprised to find that Jason a.k.a. The First Horn a.k.a. the present descendant of Merlin (Jacobs) has returned to New Orleans. As it so happens, Jason is here for the Eve of Beltane, where many witches will cast their spells and the one who casts the most powerful spell, will be the one who will conceive a child with Jason, a child that will carry on the prized bloodline of his, one that apparently turns lead into gold as we find out through many people that are after Jason for that sole purpose.
Lucinda, on the other hand, just wants her son (Ajax Davis) back and believes that if she can get in touch with Jason, it will help her quest. He is the kid’s father after all. It’s also important to note that the head of the orphanage where Lucinda’s kid resides is a real bitch, and that’s another obstacle for her. Another obstacle for Lucinda is Beatrice (Shannah Bettz) who is not fond of Lucinda at all because she is a w***e. She also happens to be the head of the witches’ coven putting on this contest and doesn’t want Lucinda in the way at all because she wants to be the winner. Lucinda sees this as an opportunity to try to work on her own magic in time for this more-than-smoke-and-mirrors show.
Christina Fulton is a lot of fun here as Lucinda, especially when she changes her look and personality to match her current situation and clientele. Shannah Bettz SCREAMS “Parker Posey look-a-like” and doesn’t bring much to the table that hasn’t been done already in terms of being a bitchy witch. As for Jon Jacobs, he shows that despite being a writer and director, it’s easy for him to handle acting with a good turn as Jason, along with being funny in many spots For example, there is one scene where two guys named Jules and Jim (Fatt Natt and Brother Randy, two cops in New Orleans who moonlight as comedians) want to kill Jason for his blood. In the darkness and fog, Jules sees Jason and screams out, “We hear your blood can turn lead into gold!” and a somewhat drunk Jason, sporting a Jack Daniels bottle, disappears from the duo’s eyesight and appears farther away. He holds up the bottle and says, “Hey! 24 karat, and 86 proof!”
The “Lucinda’s Spell” DVD sports a great many features. The audio commentary by Jon Jacobs is worth a listen. He explains the on-screen action at times, and unlike other commentaries where that might seem useless, Jacobs’ talk actually enriches what is going on. He also talks about the use of the number 69 in the film and how the smoke that billows behind Jason during the contest, is not smoke at all. There are also 7 deleted scenes, including the film’s original opening in storyboard form. A few featurettes are in here, such as “Three Wishes”, which covers a premiere of Lucinda’s Spell and two segments from E! about Lucinda’s Spell with a third segment covering the cult status of“The Girl with the Hungry Eyes”. “Metropolis Apocalypse” (**** stars), “Moonlight Resurrection” (****1/2 stars), and “Sleepwalker” (**** stars) are three short films on here that show the early work of Jacobs. There are also 12 trailers for various Zero Pictures releases, along with “The Zero Story”, which explains how Zero Pictures got started, as well as the philosophies of the company and experiences, told by the head of the company, Michael Kastenbaum, as well as Jon Jacobs and others. An advertisement for a virtual world program called Project Entropia, tops it all off.
“Lucinda’s Spell” is stylish, charming, imaginative, and a heck of a lot of fun. It’s worth a look, so hop to it!
