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By
WAYNE KLEIN
With as many cast and script
changes as this film experienced, it's no surprise
that "Cursed" seems to fit the film to a T.
Luckily, this film is better than I expected. It's
not likely to be revered as an American Classic on
the other hand it's an entertaining diversion for
horror film fans. The Werewolf movie grew long in
the tooth before such offbeat humorous classics as
"The Howling" and "An American Werewolf in
London." Wes Craven and "Scream" scribe Kevin
Williamson take a bite out of this type of horror
film and almost bite off more than they can chew.
Williamson's usual ability with witty dialog
brightens some the weaker moments of "Cursed" but
it's the performances that really sell the movie
and for that we can thank the cast and Wes
Craven's ability with actors. When "Late, Late
Show with Craig Kilborn" TV producer Ellie
(Christina Ricci) and her geeky brother Jimmy
(Jesse Eisenberg) are in a car accident and try to
help a woman pinned in her car, they both are
bitten by a werewolf. Needless to say, they
develop a super strength, heightened smell,
quicker reflexes, thirst for human flesh and could
both use electrolysis treatments at afterwards.
I suppose the original theatrical release was
compromised by the attempt to earn a PG-13 rating
(how else to explain the choppy nature of the film
and Craven's clear lack of interest in promoting
the film the way he has other projects). Either
way, the unrated version (which is actually the
original R rated cut that Craven submitted to
Dimension Films prior to it being recut for the
MPAA) is superior to the theatrical cut in many
ways adding in the gore, humor and visual effects
that were cut for the film. That doesn't mean that
"Cursed" is perfect; it's fundamentally flawed
with a narrative that meanders and a villain you
can guess after the first 20 minutes of the film
but its not medieval torture to sit through
either. You can tell when a movie has been
compromised by being rewritten one too many times,
has too many cast changes and other issues. That's
clearly what happened with "Cursed." Luckily, the
talent behind the film manages to jump most of the
obstacles placed before it.
The transfer is sharper than a…werewolf's tooth
with only some minor edge enhancement as an
occasional issue. The flesh tones look delectable
and make you want to wolf down the whole movie in
one sitting.
Behind-the-Fangs" is a standard making-of
featurette with interviews, behind-the-scenes
footage and everyone talking to the camera about
how important this movie is. It's by the numbers.
""The Cursed Effects" will be of interest to fans
of horror films because of the explanation about
the visual effects. A warning though to
purchasers—don't watch this featurette during a
full moon or before you've watched the entire
movie as footage shown here will act as spoilers.
"Creature Editing 101" demonstrates how good
editing can make or break a movie by lingering too
long on a less than perfect visual effect or make
up effect. The editor of the film comments how
"editing can save a movie" and he's right; the
editing of a film will improve the overall feel of
the movie. The editor is honest about the fact
that Craven made an R rated movie but had to
change it to a PG rated movie. "Becoming a
Werewolf" takes us behind the scenes into the
transformation of the man to wolf hosted by star
Jesse Eisenberg who also made a documentary on the
make up effects. The video quality on the
documentary picture quality is OK -- it was
clearly shot with analog video. It doesn't compare
to the other professionally shot sequences but has
an energy and creativity missing from those
featurettes. I actually prefer the "documentary"
presented here to the boring "Behind the Fangs"
featurette. Most of the extras are solid but could
have been significantly better and that's too bad
as compromised as this project was, it's well made
enough and witty enough to deserve far better in
the way of extras than it received.
A solid horror thriller that pays homage to
classic movies like "The Wolf Man" and later
classics like "The Howling" (my personal
favorite), "Curse of the Werewolf" (finally coming
to DVD, yea!) and "An American Werewolf in London"
(and, yes, even "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" and
"Teen Wolf" are wittily referenced throughout the
movie). Craved tried to revive the Werewolf movie
in a fashion like he did the slasher genre with
"Scream." Although this film doesn't quite
succeed, it's better than the theatrical release.
The commentary points out that the tone shifted
considerably during the shooting which affected
the success of the movie with audiences and the
indecision of the studio, the writers, etc. all
make this a less than perfect movie. On the other
hand, it's still a witty and fun, well worth
watching for horror fans. |
