I have it on my to-do list. I am kind of put-off by it having the comedy tag - i feel it kind of dilutes the horror, but I will give it a try.

I watched it for the September Challenge and had this to say of it :

Watched Cast A Deadly Spell (1991) last night. Set in an alternate LA in 1948, in which everyone uses magic except our hero, private detective Philip Lovecraft (Fred Ward). Low on funds, he takes on the task of recovering a stolen book for wealthy eccentric Amos Hackshaw (David Warner), and gets caught up with former partner gone crooked Harry Borden (Clancy Brown) and femme fatale Connie Stone (Julianne Moore). The book? The Necronomicon of course! First things first, this isn't really a Lovecraftian film. Sure, it throws some names around and the climactic creature looks a little that way, but the names could just as well be totally different. Really it's its own beast, an old school detective pastiche with a fantasy twist and the humour dialled up. It jumps right in with minimal fuss or explanation (a little text, then a rooftop ritual, blue moon in green sky), and little serious exploration of its profoundly altered world, even though magic is noted as being the future, not some old fact of life. For pacing and budgetary reasons, probably the best way to go.

There's some great stuff here, writing that wittily mixes sharp back and forth with deadpan absurdity, fine effects work (including an excellent early death), limited but exciting action and performances that are totally in the zone, just the briefest of pauses in dialogue exchanges about the only indication that anything is other than normal. I particularly liked Clancy Brown (Kurgan!!!), so smooth and affable you could swear he's a goodie. Alas, this doesn't quite deliver on all its promise at the end, the end is good but a little pat, lacks a certain something. A couple of bits of broader humour stick out, and there's awkward homophobia and unexamined racism. These may have been appropriate to the period but they jar with the general light, unreal feel of the film. I also could have gone for a bit more of the macabre and fantastical, a bit more weirdness and wooliness apart from the main plot. And more gore. The gnarliest scene is early on. so the most horror minded may be let down. But still, there's great stuff here. Recommended.