Cursed (2005)

Contrary to popular belief, this is not a bad film. It is not a bad film at all. It is by no means a masterpiece of horror, but it is a campy fun little flick that I’ve seen twice and enjoyed it both times. However, the film does have some major flaws in it. The film’s plot can wear a bit thin sometimes, and there is one sub-plot in the film that would have worked a bit better if it was taken out. I didn’t mind it, I didn’t think that it was useless, but it kind of messed with the structure of the story. Either way, the film is about two siblings, a brother and a sister (Christina Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg) who get attacked one night by a mysterious animal which kills a woman and forces their car to crash. The sister wants to just let it go, but the brother assumes that the creature was a werewolf. And guess what? He’s right. As the two completely realize their situation, they find out that they are cursed, and that they need to break the curse by killing the core of the curse. And who could that be? The film is simultaneously insanely predictable and insanely not, and it does work and does make you want to figure out who the werewolf is. And for the werewolf. The film gave me the same problem that I have with the original King Kong, being that it isn’t consistent. At some of the time, it is a CG werewolf that actually looks pretty real and quite scary. But on some other levels, it is just a man in a werewolf costume…dang it! The contrast is shown completely in one scene, where it shows the culprit transforming into the beast, and it looks completely realistic, and is kind of fascinating. But then…five minutes later, the creature shows up in a bad costume. Honestly, I don’t care what direction they choose, but I just want them to be consistent. If they went full CG, I’d be fine. If they took a campier turn with most of the film and just made it a costume, I’d be fine with that too. Just make up your mind, Wes! And yes, the film is directed by who is arguably one of the (if not the) main founders of the horror genre today, and I give him all my respect. And the film is kind of joyfully campy. It is not scary. It feels like one of those old 70s, 60s, or 50s horror films. And don’t get me wrong, I love those films. This film just made me happy and made me remember those old films. And if you like some campy horror films, definitely pick it up. It’s not great. It isn’t the best horror film. It isn’t the best Wes Craven film. It isn’t even the best Wes Craven film of 2005 (I love Red Eye like there is no tomorrow), but it is a really fun film.
8/10