El maleficio

The Curse (1987) was a film that was loosely based upon the short story "The Colour from Outer Space". This seminal horror/science fiction prose was written by the master of horror H.P. Lovecraft. The problem with adapting his original material is that the film makers tinker with success. Whilst a few directors such as Stuart Gordon and Dan O'Bannon have been successful in translating his stories for the silver screen, most of them are pure nonsensical tripe that's best avoided (except for John Carpenter's trilogy of the apocalypse that captures the aura of Lovecraft perfectly).

The Curse had all the makings of being a decent film. But the director and writers just don't fully understand the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Dumbingt down the man's work for a pedestrian horror film just doesn't cut it. Whilst it get's an A for effort it get's an F minus in execution. Bad acting, sloppy direction and lousy dialog dooms this movie from the get go. Better luck next time.

Not recommended, unless you're a H.P. Lovecraft completist.

There certainly are elements in this film that could have been left out, and the film would have been better off for it; why the cheap monster/demon makeup?(The increasing blisters are great though..) Why having that obnoxious fatso-brother appear in the film at all? And let's face it, the special effects in places were not exactly state of the art either, neither were the editing. So why give it an 8 then? Well my rating couldn't have been any lower, and this is based solely on the fact that the film positively reeks of unique and creepy atmosphere, atmosphere so dark that I put it up there with the Kane-scenes in "Poltergeist 2", and the atmosphere in "Exorcist 3". There truly are some psychotic and memorable scenes. Two that stands out are when the mother of the family tries to " connect the dots" on Cyrus's back, the other is when she sits quietly in the living-room sowing, and then starts to jam the needle and thread into her hands! Excellent! Not to mention the infested fruit and vegetables! All in all,there is in this film a disturbed and unsettling tension that you seldom get to witness in other horror flicks of the same decade, and certainly not in contemporary and crappy Hollywood blockbusters, that's for sure. If you are just curious, rent! If you are a true horror-fan, buy!

while i give this an "average" score, it is a pretty good version of the story. in fact i was driven to write this review because i am currently reading "the colour out of space" (and yes, that is how the title is spelled) . i saw this movie a few years ago, but some of the parts will be stuck in my mind forever. the acting is par, (it isn't that bad, but isn't that good), the film work is par, but it does what Lovecraft's story did, it has turns in it that will stay in your mind for a very long time. perhaps the most disturbing thing i saw in it (other then their use of meal worms for certain effects) was the melting effect, if you watch this movie, that will stay with you for a very long time indeed, especially when the movie comes to its climax. it was a very good scare, and i recommend seeing it like i did, at 2:00 in the morning with no lights on, after all that is the best way to experience Lovecraft and his works. though it does not match the book by any stretch in terms of dialog, or even setting and writing, it is still very close to the original in terms of the way the plot develops. and after all what movie has been totally true to its literary counterpart? anyway, if you want a bit of a scare, and don't have a weak stomach, or are in to a "Twighlight Zone" type of scenario, this movie is for you.

Don't watch this movie. Wil Wheaton has described how incredibly abusive the whole experience was. From his parents forcing him to do it, to him and his sister being overworked and put in damaging situation, to even sexual abuse. Oh, and his abusive parents spent all the money.

Just google Wil Wheaton and the title of the movie, and read what he said. But here you have some snipets:

"I told my parents I didn't like it and didn't want to do it. I clearly recall thinking it was a piece of sh-- that would hurt my career."

"The experience was awful. It was the worst experience I have ever had on a set in my life, by every single metric. The movie is awful, and it is the embarrassment I knew it would be."

"When you watch The Curse, you are watching two children, me and my sister, who were abused on a daily basis. The production did not follow a single labor law. They worked us for twelve hours a day, (...) without any breaks, five days a week"

"I was inappropriately touched by two different adults during production. I knew it was wrong, but I was so scared and ashamed, and I felt so unsupported, I didn't tell anyone. I knew my dad wouldn't believe me, and my mother would blame me. Anything to keep the production happy, that's what she did."

"My sister is in a scene where she goes to get eggs from some chickens, and they attack her. So they hired Lucio Fulci, the Italian horror master, to direct her sequence. His idea, which everyone was totally on board with, was to throw chickens at my sister. Live chickens, live roosters, live birds. Just throw them at a nine-year-old girl. Oh, and then tie them to her arms and legs so they'll peck her. All of this happened under my mother's observation, and with her full participation."

"The makeup department decided they would literally cut my little sister's face with a scalpel, in three places, and put bandages over them."

"As I predicted and feared, this piece of -- movie cashed me out of respectable films forever. I got offers for movies, but they were always mindless comedies or exploitative horror films. They were never the serious dramas I wanted to work in after Stand by Me."

And there's more to it. Go read it.

Truly disturbing to see how children can be treated in Hollywood. No one to look after them.

Seriously. Shame on the director, the make-up crew, and all the production, the studio executives, and Wheaton's parents. Oh, and Fulci too.

I love this movie, I watch it all the time. When I first saw it on HBO around the time it first came out 87-88 it scared the hell out of me. The thing I think that really scared me about this movie was how in the beginning all the character seemed so innocent, so pure. then all of a sudden they started acting acting crazy, losing their minds and starting doing all these weird things. The character that frightened me the most was Frances. That whole thing about the water being contaminated freaked me out alot when I was little. After seeing this movie I was afraid to drink water for a long time. this film gave me nightmares for weeks. I would say that I was traumitized a little by this movie as a kid. I loved horror movie back then and still do. But this has to be one of the only movies that truly scared me. I finally saw this movie again a few years ago. And I wasn't scared of it anymore. I thought I might be. But I wasn't. Instead of being scared when I saw it, this time I laughed my ass off. The funniest part in the movie has to be the part when Frances plays connect th dots on cyrus's butt. Thats one of the coolest things I've ever seen done in a movie. I laugh everytime. So I recommend this to anyone who like cheesy 80's horror movies. but remember you probably won't want to drink any water for a while after seeing this movie, cause i know I didn't. Watch this movie!