Cursed (DVD)

This DVD was screaming out for me to buy it, as Christina Ricci, Joshua Jackson and teen horror flicks are all among my favourite things in the world! Indeed the film is packed full of stars, although some of the cameos almost border on indulgent (oh look its Scott Baio parodying himself! How post modern!).

However the film has a lot to recommend it, not least the performances by the ever reliable and likeable Ricci and Jackson, as well as a lively turn by young star Jesse Eisenberg, and the film delivers all the thrills, visceral shocks and just general cool factor you would expect from the writer/director team of Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven.

But something just doesn't quite click with the film as an overall package. For a start, the CGI effects of the wolf don't do it for me at all, and don't bear comparison with the excellent effects created by the more old fashioned techniques (ie the scenes where it actually is just a guy in a wolf suit). The script doesn't crackle along with that mixture of humour and shocking twists that we got from 'Scream', indeed the plot itself is really disappointingly predictable. Having said all that, though, this film is still a lot of fun, at least for one like myself for whom the end of the spate of enjoyable teen horror flicks of the last few years- which these guys spearheaded- would also signal the official death of my teenage years.. nooo!

I went into "Cursed" with high expectations, I'll admit. But how could I resist the re-teaming of the "Scream" team, director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson? I should have known after re-shoots and delay upon delay of the film's release (It should have come out last November), that this would not be another masterpiece in the works. Though I tried to keep my hopes up, the results of this recombination are mixed at best.

Christina Ricci ("Monster") and Jessie Eisenberg ("Roger Dodger") star as siblings who are attacked by a mysterious animal in the Hollywood hills while trying to pull a woman from a wrecked car. Both are wounded by this animal and as the days go by, they begin to change. Eisenberg is most convincing as the younger brother who researches the animal that attacked them. He believes they were infected by a werewolf. The rest of the film chronicles their changes and quest to find the beast who infected them.

Aside from Ricci and Eisenberg the cast mainly consists of a smorgasbord of television actors, mostly from the WB. And I'm not sure that I'd call what they were doing acting. It seemed they mostly showed up and had a good time. Which can work, as long as the audience is enjoying it, too. However, I found myself groaning at much of the dialogue and wincing during emotional moments.

The film is slow to take off but does pick up the pace in the middle before falling off again towards the end. The computer graphics already look dated, and the werewolf makeup is most definitely sub par. A word to filmmakers everywhere, if you can't make a werewolf transformation look convincing, then don't show it at all. There's a lot to be said for implication.

Though there are several scenes where something pops up in the frame to make you jump in your seat, nothing haunts you as you leave the theater. There's no fear of bad dreams here.

Overall, the geniuses behind one of the classic fright films of the 90s (and possibly of all time) did not bring their best work into this decade. I hate to say it, but Wes Craven seems to be suffering from his own curse - the loss of fright.

For a smarter, more imaginative take on the werewolf theme, check out "Ginger Snaps" or "Dog Soldiers."

Not bad film,picture quality is good but could be better. The acting is not too bad but again, could be better.