The Curse
The Curse is a period horror film corning writer/director Sean Ellis first shown under the original title Eight for Silver at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival but now known as The Cursed. I personally think the original title is great but that’s my opinion because The Cursed sounds too plain in reverse. Yet chances are it’s the more sale able one.
Dieppe, a small village in France, is put under a curse when its land baron, Seamus Laurent (Alistair Petrie), orders the extermination of roaming gypsies who claim the land. However, it is not the case until Edward (Max Mackintosh), Seamus’s son, gets lost while being enamored by the silver fang.
Shortly after, kids in the village discover a triangulated scarecrow which is made out of the remains of the gypsies. Suspicions arise when Edward goes missing soon after he becomes infected by the fangs that he has buried. As victims of animal attacks pile up in confusion, pathologist John McBride (Boyd Holbrook) has different thoughts. There are two elements at play, a curse that went unnoticed, the gypsy curse.
Werewolf movies are films that I cringe to bring up because liking them seems almost childish. However, the fact is that my fascination with werewolf movies was such as that I even sought obscure films in that genre. It is only natural. But, like everything else, there are good werewolf films and there are bad ones.
The Cursed is not your typical werewolf film which begs the question as to what, rather who, these creatures really are. At its’ most entertaining, The Cursed offers intriguing monster violence and some decent suspense. However, at its’ least entertaining, it has a dragging pace without much horror with the film coming off more as a slow-thriller at some times, and that is never a good thing. It gives it a very inconsistent feeling.
I remember feeling quite uninterested over large intervals only to have an attack re-energize my interest only a while after. Ellis was also the film’s Cinematographer so it would be correct to say that he made sure this feature looked good. The cast puts in a strong performance as well, especially Laurent and Holbrook. The Cursed should be a great addition to a collection containing great monster-centric films but ends up failing. What a shame.
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