In an alternate 1948 Los Angeles, everybody uses magic. Everyone except for that hard-boiled, chain-smoking, mechanical-rationalist dick H. Phillip Lovecraft, played by Fred Ward.Cast a Deadly Spell is an HBO cable journey into the pulp side of H.P. Lovecraft and the dark side of Bewitched. It’s a stylish world with a smart script by Joseph Dougherty, sleek direction by Martin Campbell, and sweet production by Gale Anne Hurd. In this L.A., magic is the way of the future and cheap hoods in expensive suits are master sorcerers. It’s a place where unicorns jump across country roads, monsters rise out of soup, werewolves get the third degree, zombies come six to a crate, and your landlady is a licensed witch (Calif. #8773246).The shamus Lovecraft is hired by [David Warner] to find a book stolen from his library—could it be, oh, say...The Necronomicon?—From The Lurker in the Lobby: A Guide to the Cinema of H.P. Lovecraft by Andrew Migliore & John Strysik.