Maledetto sortilegio

Low budget Canadian knock-off of superior major releases such as "The Exorcist" and "The Omen" is nonetheless fairly pleasing on a "so bad it's good" level. It begins in the 1930s, as a man (Peter MacNeill, "Crash", "A History of Violence") and his young daughter perish in a car accident. 40 years later, the girls' now grown-up brother George (Alan Scarfe, "Double Impact", 'Seven Days') moves into the old family home with his wife Vivian (Beverly Murray, "Street Smart", "The Carpenter") and their kid, Cathy (Randi Allen). Soon, the kid is behaving strangely, the wife is coming unglued, and various bizarre & macabre things are happening.

"Cathy's Curse" is NOT without entertainment value: it's slipshod - and hysterically scripted - enough to make it pretty amusing in spite of itself. The acting is pretty bad from just about everybody, but that doesn't mean that it isn't enjoyable. The pretty Murray is the worst offender; she seems incapable of delivering a good performance if her life depended on it. Young Allen is a hoot, especially as the story progresses and the movie gets more and more priceless.

Special effects and gore are kept to a minimum, with French-born co-writer & director Eddy Matalon ("Breakout", "Sweet Killing") struggling in vain to give his movie some semblance of gravitas and atmosphere. But ultimately, "Cathy's Curse" is entertaining because of it being so laughable. It's hard to say whether this was intended; the actors, as underwhelming as they are; do largely play the material straight. Roy Witham ("Agency"), as old caretaker Paul, is amusing, as is Mary Morter ("The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane") as the medium. Best of all is when the dialogue suddenly turns vulgar, and the kid is hurling insults at her elders.

A must if you're eager to delve into the cheesier side of Canuxploitation, but don't go in expecting anything resembling a good film.

Filmed in Quebec.

Five out of 10.

Possessed by the spirit of her aunt, who died in a childhood car accident, a young girl acquires supernatural powers in this strange Canadian variation on 'The Omen' and 'The Exorcist'. The film gets off to a mediocre start with a poorly edited, intertitle-heavy exposition segment that tells us the circumstances by which the aunt died even though it has little bearing on the plot. The film improves somewhat as it cuts to decades later with an expressive Randi Allen well cast as the young protagonist who gradually progresses from using foul language to becoming totally unhinged as the movie plods along. The doll that she finds (and which supposedly leads to the possession) is pretty creepy too; same goes for a painting upstairs with glowing eyes. Unfortunately none of the adult actors here are up to Allen's level. Beverly Murray is particularly over-the-top as her overbearing mother and the less said about the man who plays a constantly coughing drunk who she befriends the better. The biggest issue (or 'curse' if you like) with the film though is that it never really makes up its mind what it wants to be. There is no tangible motivation driving the possessed aunt and a lot of what Allen does comes off as weird for the sake of it. The film does benefit from a pulsating music score and refreshingly minimal (decent) special effects, but to what end here is uncertain.

Even though this film is cheesey and uber-low budget, it's not too bad. Although many of the scenes are more than shades of The Exorcist, Omen, Carrie, and The Fury, there are some unique moments that gave me the shivers (such as the snake-and-rats scene and when Cathy appears and disappears before her mother on the steps). The low-budget, grainy film quality and super cheesey "score" are at the same time distracting and effective, and although the gore quotient is modest, it's gross fun when you get it. The editing and story are a little loose and sloppy at times, but not so much that you want to give up on the film. Sometimes, these weaknesses create an (I'm guessing) unintentional ambiguity that adds to the spooky fun.

In my world, haunted kids and (even more so) freaky-looking dolls are always the makings of a good horror film. This film has both in spades. I found it on Brentwood's "Possesion" 4-movie DVD set, which is a steal at $8. Don't expect winning performances or slick effects, but check it out if you want some good B horror movie fun.

Cauchemars (nightmares in french, no "e" in word) was made using the tax credits afforded by Quebec and Canada governments; even if in co-production with France, it was made in English, in Westmount (rich English section in Montreal) with a ridiculous budget(The production co. doesn't exist anymore). Acting is really bad (but I suppose acting direction was also!). This is a bad "b" movie. Only for collectors of such genre (90% of action evolves in or around the house!). French actor Hubert Noel, who played the role of the doctor, dubbed the voice of Prentiss Hancock in the french (Quebec) version of Space:1999. You can find this movie in DVD collections (like 20 movies on 10 double-sided discs). Won't make history...

The unholy spawn of The Exorcist, The Omen, and The Bad Seed, Cathy's Curse feels like a made for TV or family approved riff on all those movies without any of the scares. Poor little possessed Cathy won't curse like Regan in The Exorcist, but she will call people "fat cows" with a nice amount of vitriol.

As silly as it is, there is some great low budget 70's ambiance in here that keeps it from being a total misfire and it's not a very long movie, so it won't feel like a complete waste of time.