Cursed

I went into "Cursed" with high expectations, I'll admit. But how could I resist the re-teaming of the "Scream" team, director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson? I should have known after re-shoots and delay upon delay of the film's release (It should have come out last November), that this would not be another masterpiece in the works. Though I tried to keep my hopes up, the results of this recombination are mixed at best.

Christina Ricci ("Monster") and Jessie Eisenberg ("Roger Dodger") star as siblings who are attacked by a mysterious animal in the Hollywood hills while trying to pull a woman from a wrecked car. Both are wounded by this animal and as the days go by, they begin to change. Eisenberg is most convincing as the younger brother who researches the animal that attacked them. He believes they were infected by a werewolf. The rest of the film chronicles their changes and quest to find the beast who infected them.

Aside from Ricci and Eisenberg the cast mainly consists of a smorgasbord of television actors, mostly from the WB. And I'm not sure that I'd call what they were doing acting. It seemed they mostly showed up and had a good time. Which can work, as long as the audience is enjoying it, too. However, I found myself groaning at much of the dialogue and wincing during emotional moments.

The film is slow to take off but does pick up the pace in the middle before falling off again towards the end. The computer graphics already look dated, and the werewolf makeup is most definitely sub par. A word to filmmakers everywhere, if you can't make a werewolf transformation look convincing, then don't show it at all. There's a lot to be said for implication.

Though there are several scenes where something pops up in the frame to make you jump in your seat, nothing haunts you as you leave the theater. There's no fear of bad dreams here.

Overall, the geniuses behind one of the classic fright films of the 90s (and possibly of all time) did not bring their best work into this decade. I hate to say it, but Wes Craven seems to be suffering from his own curse - the loss of fright.

For a smarter, more imaginative take on the werewolf theme, check out "Ginger Snaps" or "Dog Soldiers."

After five years without directing a film, I bought this DVD expecting a good return of Wes Craven to the genre horror teen movie. I like his last works in this genre ("Scream 1, 2 & 3") and also the drama "Music of the Heart", and Christina Ricci is very cool. Unfortunately, "Cursed" is a forgettable and predictable collection of clichés. It is amazing how the viewer can predict the next scene! Further, it is amazing how easy is to replace a fancy car in Hollywood: Ellie wrecks her car in the middle of the night, and on the next day she has a brandy new car. Jake breaks the window of the driver of the new car, and on the next sequence we see Ellie driving in a rainy night in high speed without disheveling her hair. Ellie's brother Jimmy unsuccessfully tries to be funny. If you want to see a great werewolf movie, there are many excellent options, but you can forget "Cursed", which is only recommended for killing time. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Amaldiçoado" ("Cursed")

I did not expect much, and while the film is not great or anything, I was very entertained. I enjoyed the performances, some of the dialogue was clever and funny. I wanted more gore, but I did like the film a good amount. It did not take itself as seriously as I thought it would, so that was a good thing. I also very much expected a twist ending, or it to end unhappily, but surprise, surprise, it ended happily. I do not know why the film was as critically-bombed as it was, I expect trashy, cheesy, but fun films like these to get at least mixed reviews (like Jennifer's Body). But I very much enjoyed this film, and I expect it to age well with time (as comedic, trashy films like these most of the times do).

From creators ¨Scream¨,bring us this ¨Cursed¨,a creepy terror movie that have you breathless.After an appointment with her boyfriend(Joshua Jackson), a publicist(Christina Ricci) along with his brother,a geeky high school student named Jimmy(Jesse Eisenberg) are going at home.But they have an accident against the occupant(Shannon Elizabeth) another car in Mulholland road,Hollywood,Los Angeles.An strange animal spontaneously bites to the driver and the brothers. Later they are developing an extraordinary force and aware themselves which there happened more than an accident and they have a terrible curse who cannot to control.Then they undergo a dental and hirsute transformation at the night and going on a murderous rampage every time the moon is full.They increased strength,heightened senses and unnatural sexual allure and they sprout hair and pointy ears,their hands have a five-pointed star like a pentagram,but it's the mark of the beast and pretty freaks occur them.They've been infected,there're cursed ,they've got to sever the line of the beast.They bear the marking of the beast,the only way to break the curse is to find the werewolf which attack them.The problem is how to kill the werewolf , no with silver but actually have to separate the head from the heart ,silver just hurts a lot.

The motion picture displays action,suspense,terror with fun touches and is quite amusing.It's a crossover with a little of the classic version Lon Chaney Werewolf,John Landis' Werewolf in London and Michael J Fox's Teenwolf and wrapped in a postmodern style.It's some different but with clear reference to previous films.The transformation of man into werewolf is complex and is made by computer generator FX,and a device under remote control ,thus the radio-control moves the eyes,ears,nose, lips werewolf ,besides an actor into the suit brings the life and of course a magnificent make up by the master Rick Baker and Greg Nicotero. The story contains various versions Nc 13 parents guide and Nc 17 with more or less gore.The famous screenwriter Kevin Williamson provided a well-knit plot with mystery and horror,giving full rein to Wes Craven natural talent for the terror genre.The film is dedicated to the producer movie Dan Arredondo.It's a standard terror and sometimes graphically gory and turns out to be an average attempt to cash in the werewolf sub-genre.

'Cursed' has already earned a place in Hollywood history for it's infamous production problems. Massive re-shoots (rumored up to 75% of the movie), recasts, rewrites, over a year of delays, basically any and everything that could possibly go wrong. Pass this off as credit to Craven as a director and Williamson as a writer that they were still able to pull off something of a fun movie.

A pair of siblings are bitten by a werewolf following a car crash that leaves one woman dead. Amidst their sudden development of new powers they must contend with the traumas the curse brings. Discovering that the only way to lift the curse is to kill the cause of the infection, they must now find out whom the beast is.

On the evolutionary ladder of Craven's films, this is above 'Shocker', below 'Scream', right about on par with 'People Under the Strairs'. Meaning there is some good, gory fun to be had if one doesn't take it too seriously. Those in the market for some blood and laughs ought to have a fine time.

What hurts so much about this, and is the source of much of the films bashing, is that it could have been so much better. While the talents involved worked hard to salvage as much as they could it still feels like an overall missed opportunity. The scares are OK, but not great; the jokes are OK, but not great; the pacing is OK, but not great; noticing a pattern? Technically it's a mixed bag. Great, energetic camera work with some lively stunt work adds a lot of energy, but on/off pacing slows things down again. Characters and scenarios are OK, but dialogue lacks pizazz. And while there is some good gore being tossed around, the creature itself never looks all that believable (neither in CG or costume incarnations).

In the end this is not the ultimate failure fan-boys have tried to pass it off as; time will be kind to Craven's unfortunate child and horror fans should too.

7/10 (Note: review based on R-rated version of film)