The Curse of the Necklace

But for reasons only known to certain people, parents never can explain the simplest things to their children. Like your dad is a drunken obnoxious thief who stole a piece of costume jewelry as a make up gift for his wife who see him for the POS that he is. Or when told to do something, these kids do the opposite, and a better ending would have been all of them not making it top the final credits, but here we go with the BS Happily ever after nonsense. But what else did you expect when this movie was co-produced by the principle actors families.

I didn't find this very watchable, predictable yes, but hardly watchable due to the many cliched teenage angst/malcontent and basically being rebels without a clue.

Given my love of the horror genre, then of course I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch "The Curse of the Necklace", from writer John Ducey and director Juan Pablo Arias Munoz, as I happened to come across the movie by random luck here in 2024. I had never actually heard about the movie, so I didn't know what I was getting myself into here. But the movie's cover and title sounded interesting enough. And the fact that it was a horror movie that I hadn't already seen, certainly was also a convincing point.

Right, well writer John Ducey delivered a fair enough script for the movie. And if you are a newcomer to the horror genre, then you're certainly in for a treat, no doubt about that. But if you, like me, am a seasoned horror veteran, then "The Curse of the Necklace" was a walk in the park. It was a generic, predictable and straightforward possession horror movie, for better or worse. Sure, I was entertained throughout the course of the movie, but I wasn't impressed.

Of the entire cast ensemble, I was only familiar with actor Henry Thomas. However, it should be said that the acting performances in the movie were fair.

Visually, then the movie was okay. It wasn't a movie that had special effects that will blow you away, but I will say that the special effects in the movie were adequate and definitely served their purpose well enough.

Watchable, for sure, but hardly a memorable foray into the horror genre for seasoned horror veterans. And if I have to be bluntly honest, then this movie will never make it around for a second viewing on my screen, as it just didn't have the contents to support more than a single viewing.

My rating of director Juan Pablo Arias Munoz's 2024 horror movie "The Curse of the Necklace" lands on a mediocre five out of ten stars.

Frank is a cop who's been exiled by wife Laura, and he thinks he found a way back into her good graces when he stumbles onto an amulet from a cold case in the evidence room. However, it ends up in the clutches of their daughters, Ellen, who begins seeing a mysterious little boy, and Judith, who begins seeing a sinister woman.

To be blunt, the target demographic on this movie is teenage girls, and it's sure to please them. This is a period piece and has a real Conjuring/Insidious type of vibe, with a smattering of The Exorcist. Good acting, compelling characters, effective creepiness, a mix of both practical and CG FX.

But I'm a jaded old fart and couldn't help but feeling a sense of "been there, done that." All of the pieces came together very well, but it just didn't feel like it had anything to really make it stand out from other movies of the ilk. Still, on its own merits, it's a good movie... I'm just way outside the target demo.

With a title like that, the movie already promised a generic plot, and that is exactly what you get here. A cop, played by Henry Thomas, tries to buy his way back into the lives of his estranged wife and two daughters, played by Violet McGraw and Madeleine McGraw, by gifting his ex-wife an antique necklace he found in an old police cold case file. With that, he unknowingly unleashes an evil entity onto his family, and from that point on, we get a very generic possession story involving a ghost child.

The most interesting aspect the movie has to offer is the cast, with Henry Thomas and the McGraw twins, whose careers I was curious to follow. They do a decent job with the material given, and the rest of the cast is also overall fine. The story itself feels very familiar and ends up being underwhelming, even though the movie has decent production quality. I have definitely seen worse movies, but The Curse of the Necklace doesn't offer anything particularly interesting or unique to the viewer. It is completely forgettable, and not even the likable cast could salvage anything from this flick. If you are a seasoned horror fan, you have seen similar movies hundreds of times, and this one lacks the strengths needed to make its narrative either memorable or enjoyable. [4.0/10]

Turns out to be a possession'ish story, one that needs to be shortened a lot. Be prepared for a lot of padding unless you need something to put you to sleep. I would really liked to have rated this higher because its a well made movie and there's a lot of very nice cinematography in it. The special fx are nice and they keep it pretty dark.

There are a lot of 'I would like to haves' but what's the point. What is this necklace? You must wait 1hr till any information about it comes forward. Jumping forward 1hr isn't a bad move because up until that point its just a mildly tormented family story. You'll want some coffee for this one because you don't want to fall asleep. It gets pretty good in the last leg.

Better movies like this that I would recommend; The Amityville Horror(1979), The Omen(1976), Poltergeist(1982), Pet Sematary(1989), or The Exorcist(1973).