Cursed (5/10 Rating)

Released February 25, 2005

For rent/purchase on Apple/Paramount+.

Genre: Supernatural Horror, Werewolf Horror, Comedy, Horror, Mystery

PG-13: horror violence/terror, some sexual references, nudity, language, brief drug reference

1h 37m

            What do you get when you reconnect Scream writer Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven, add horror icon Christina Ricci, top it off with seven-time Academy Award winner for Best Makeup, including The Wolfman and An American Werewolf in London, Rick Baker, and set out to make the next R-rated werewolf movie? Cursed. Not the title. Actually cursed. The film Cursed was supposed to be released in 2003, but with the Weinstein brothers in charge, it would take two more years of reshoots, changes to the plot, replacing Baker’s practical effects with terrible CGI, and scrubbing it down to a PG-13 version before it was finally released. The movie cost an estimated $38 million and grossed less than $30 million worldwide. Multiple actors were cut from the film, including Skeet Ulrich (Scream), Mandy Moore (This is Us), James Brolin, Omar Epps, Scott Foley, Robert Forster, Corey Feldman, and Heather Langenkamp (A Nightmare on Elm Street). You will recognize most of the cast remaining: Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Shannon Elizabeth (American Pie), Nick Offerman (Parks & Rec), Joshua Jackson (Dawson’s Creek), Milo Ventimiglia (This is Us), and a few more. The cast is enjoyable to watch. Pieces of a fun, entertaining script are here. Perchance. More than anything, it does have some fun moments and self-aware comedy. As silly as the practical effects looked, I found myself enjoying them. As soon as the CGI werewolves showed up on screen, it was embarrassingly bad. The plot jumps around as much as the werewolves themselves. Characters get an odd amount of screen time, some too much, some not enough. It is easy to tell this production has been chewed up and spit out a few times. The last third just keeps repeating itself and then there are basically two endings. It just does not work. Over the years, multiple people involved with the production have made comments about Cursed. Supposedly, there are multiple versions in someone’s possession. I, for one, would love to see the original R-Rated Wes Craven cut with all of Baker’s practical effects intact. Perhaps leave this one as a Movie You Missed and check out Leigh Whannell’s (Saw) recently released remake, Wolf Man.

Also released in February 2005: Boogeyman, Hitch, Ong-Bak, Because of Winn-Dixie, Constantine, Diary of a Mad Black Woman