Wes Craven's Cursed 2005 Horror Film
A Killer Werewolf Stalks The Streets of Los Angeles
Sep 10, 2009
Director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson were the brains behind the Scream films.
In Cursed, a brother and sister are forced to confront the fact that the animal that has attacked them after a car accident was actually a werewolf, and they are going to change into werewolves too, unless they can track the beast down and kill it.
Cursed's Plot and Key Characters
Ellie (Christina Ricci) and Jimmy (Jesse Eisenberg) hit an animal whilst driving, and then collide with another car. They go to the aid of the girl in the other vehicle and as they try to help her she is dragged into the bushes and killed. The animal slashes at the pair, cutting them both. It is later that Jimmy starts to believe that they had encountered a werewolf, but no one believes him.
Jimmy and Ellie both start to develop new powers, and Jimmy uses his new found strength to beat three wrestlers at school with ease. His skin also burns when he touches anything silver. Jimmy reads up on werewolf mythology and discovers that if he and his sister are to become normal again then they must kill the werewolf that attacked them.
The rest of Cursed follows Jimmy and Ellie as they try to figure out a way of finding the werewolf that attacked them before they become werewolves (a fate worse than death, apparently)
Pros and Cons
Cursed is a deeply flawed film, and quite frankly the minds behind the Scream films should have been able to come up with something a little more original. Ellie is obviously sceptical about her brother’s explanation for what is happening to them, but does start to believe what he is talking about as she develops strange new powers.
The only strength of this film is the young cast. Former Dawson’s Creek star Joshua Jackson plays Ellie’s boyfriend Jake and Heroes’ Milo Ventimiglia provides some support as the gay bully Bo, who Jessie beats in the wrestling match. Both actors are given limited screen time but work hard to give the film some depth, unfortunately, there is very little that can be done to save this film.
The werewolf is a CGI creation that does not look frightening or real. Gone are the days when the transformation of human into werewolf is an agonising process in which the unfortunate person begs for help (think American Werewolf in London). Sadly with them have gone the good times when werewolves were savage and dangerous creatures driven to hunt and kill by nature. Again American Werewolf in London is one of the best examples.
In Cursed the person who transforms into a werewolf still has his own mind, acts on his own desires and can be goaded into making mistakes. But nothing robs a werewolf of its menace quite as much as the scene in which the werewolf gives Ellie the finger. A werewolf is supposed to rip a person limb from bloody limb, not make rude gestures from across the room.
There are other unbelieveable plot points, too. Like when Jimmy uncovers information that suggests the marks on a werewolf’s human hand can be joined to create a five pointed star. When he looks on his hand he finds those exact marks to create the star. It seems incredibly convenient that he is able to find exactly what he is looking for.
All in all Cursed is a poor addition to the werewolf genre. It has nothing original, nor does it show werewolves in a new light. The scenes in which Jimmy’s dog turns into some kind of CGI dog crossed with a werewolf or when Jimmy silences the neighbours’ dogs with a loud howl are laughable.
3/10
The minds behind Scream should have been able to something much better than this.
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