"Cursed" (2005)
Starring Christina Ricci, Joshua Jackson, Jesse Eisenberg
Directed by Wes Craven
Director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson, the team behind "Scream," give us a too-hip-for-its-own-good take on werewolves in their latest film "Cursed."
Christina Ricci ("Monster") and Jesse Eisenberg ("The Village") star as siblings Ellie and Jimmy, who are bitten by a werewolf. Naturally all the typical weird changes begin to emerge such as heightened sense of smell, cravings for raw meat, unusual sexual attractiveness. Soon they discover that they are "cursed" and must find the original werewolf to reverse it.
Due to script rewrites, the film was delayed for a year and was recast since the original cast members were no longer available. To make matters worse, Craven was forced to make cuts to secure a PG-13 rating. The cuts weren't too noticeable, and aside from excess gore and language most audience members probably won't notice the differences between this and an R-rated version of the film. After seeing the final product it would be interesting to see what they "fixed." As it is, there are times where the script tried too hard to be as hip as "Scream" was for the slasher genre.
Since "Scream" was released there have been an assortment of imitators. With "Cursed" Craven proves that the "hip horror movie" well has pretty much dried up. "Cursed" in some respects is a distant cousin to Michael J. Fox's "Teen Wolf," although Craven's film leans more towards horror than comedy. Craven would've fared better to move even further towards horror.
The movie is set in Los Angeles, which allows the film opportunities for an abundance of in-jokes. Ellie's job is as a producer on "The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn," also allows for an assortment of cameos. That's right, you get such celebrities as the aforementioned Kilborn, Lance Bass and Scott Baio. Can you handle the star power? To be fair, Baio does rather well in his cameo, especially since the joke involving him being third guest behind Ashton Kutcher and Carrot-Top on an episode of the "Late Late Show." The fact that Craig Ferguson recently replaced Kilborn as the host of the "Late Late Show" makes this segment of the film already feel dated, but that is the risk you run when adding cameos. We are also treated to a performance in the beginning of the film by the band Bowling for Soup, who sing their version of "Little Red Riding Hood."
Some of these in-jokes feel a bit over the top. These jokes are not in the same satirical spirit of "Scream" and instead make fun of L.A. culture rather than the conventions of the werewolf genre. The film should have stuck with the scares over the humor. That said, there is some interesting tinkering with the werewolf myth by stating that werewolves can only die when their heads are separated from their bodies and that silver only "hurts like hell". The performances are fine, with Ricci doing an adequate job as Ellie and Eisenberg doing well as the character that knows what's really going on, but of course, no one will believe him. The performances would have been better if they had been given a better script to work from.
Jimmy's plot line was probably the most interesting part of the story. In the beginning, he starts out as a nerd in love with a girl with a brutish boyfriend. After he becomes a werewolf he is finally able to stand up for himself against the bully. If this plotline were developed more the film would have been much better. Of the rest of the cast, Joshua Jackson ("Dawson's Creek") is given the thankless job of playing Ellie's boyfriend Jake. Jackson does what he can with a character that is for the most part one note. His lines mostly consist of telling Ellie, "I want you," "I want to be with you", but not really justifying why he wants to be with her after only two months. Judy Greer ("The Village") fairs somewhat better than Jackson as an annoying publicist. Greer gives her character a cattiness that makes a great foil for Ricci's Ellie.
The film did provide plenty of "jump" moments and provided some decent scares during the course of the story, but there was certainly room for improvement. Some of the editing is dizzying because of how fast things are cut together and while the transition from human to werewolf was fine, the actual werewolf design is too hokey. It looked like a guy in a suit pretending to be a werewolf. For excellent creature effects you're better off renting something more classic like "An American Werewolf in London."
If an R-rated version surfaces, it may prove to be a better film, but for now, we are stuck with this mediocre fare In either case if Craven and Williamson team again they should stop being "hip" and focus on the scares.
Note: this review was written before the current DVD release. I have yet to see the R-Rated version, but I doubt it's any better.
Buy "Cursed" on DVD
Directed by Wes Craven
Director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson, the team behind "Scream," give us a too-hip-for-its-own-good take on werewolves in their latest film "Cursed."
Christina Ricci ("Monster") and Jesse Eisenberg ("The Village") star as siblings Ellie and Jimmy, who are bitten by a werewolf. Naturally all the typical weird changes begin to emerge such as heightened sense of smell, cravings for raw meat, unusual sexual attractiveness. Soon they discover that they are "cursed" and must find the original werewolf to reverse it.
Due to script rewrites, the film was delayed for a year and was recast since the original cast members were no longer available. To make matters worse, Craven was forced to make cuts to secure a PG-13 rating. The cuts weren't too noticeable, and aside from excess gore and language most audience members probably won't notice the differences between this and an R-rated version of the film. After seeing the final product it would be interesting to see what they "fixed." As it is, there are times where the script tried too hard to be as hip as "Scream" was for the slasher genre.
Since "Scream" was released there have been an assortment of imitators. With "Cursed" Craven proves that the "hip horror movie" well has pretty much dried up. "Cursed" in some respects is a distant cousin to Michael J. Fox's "Teen Wolf," although Craven's film leans more towards horror than comedy. Craven would've fared better to move even further towards horror.
The movie is set in Los Angeles, which allows the film opportunities for an abundance of in-jokes. Ellie's job is as a producer on "The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn," also allows for an assortment of cameos. That's right, you get such celebrities as the aforementioned Kilborn, Lance Bass and Scott Baio. Can you handle the star power? To be fair, Baio does rather well in his cameo, especially since the joke involving him being third guest behind Ashton Kutcher and Carrot-Top on an episode of the "Late Late Show." The fact that Craig Ferguson recently replaced Kilborn as the host of the "Late Late Show" makes this segment of the film already feel dated, but that is the risk you run when adding cameos. We are also treated to a performance in the beginning of the film by the band Bowling for Soup, who sing their version of "Little Red Riding Hood."
Some of these in-jokes feel a bit over the top. These jokes are not in the same satirical spirit of "Scream" and instead make fun of L.A. culture rather than the conventions of the werewolf genre. The film should have stuck with the scares over the humor. That said, there is some interesting tinkering with the werewolf myth by stating that werewolves can only die when their heads are separated from their bodies and that silver only "hurts like hell". The performances are fine, with Ricci doing an adequate job as Ellie and Eisenberg doing well as the character that knows what's really going on, but of course, no one will believe him. The performances would have been better if they had been given a better script to work from.
Jimmy's plot line was probably the most interesting part of the story. In the beginning, he starts out as a nerd in love with a girl with a brutish boyfriend. After he becomes a werewolf he is finally able to stand up for himself against the bully. If this plotline were developed more the film would have been much better. Of the rest of the cast, Joshua Jackson ("Dawson's Creek") is given the thankless job of playing Ellie's boyfriend Jake. Jackson does what he can with a character that is for the most part one note. His lines mostly consist of telling Ellie, "I want you," "I want to be with you", but not really justifying why he wants to be with her after only two months. Judy Greer ("The Village") fairs somewhat better than Jackson as an annoying publicist. Greer gives her character a cattiness that makes a great foil for Ricci's Ellie.
The film did provide plenty of "jump" moments and provided some decent scares during the course of the story, but there was certainly room for improvement. Some of the editing is dizzying because of how fast things are cut together and while the transition from human to werewolf was fine, the actual werewolf design is too hokey. It looked like a guy in a suit pretending to be a werewolf. For excellent creature effects you're better off renting something more classic like "An American Werewolf in London."
If an R-rated version surfaces, it may prove to be a better film, but for now, we are stuck with this mediocre fare In either case if Craven and Williamson team again they should stop being "hip" and focus on the scares.
Note: this review was written before the current DVD release. I have yet to see the R-Rated version, but I doubt it's any better.
Buy "Cursed" on DVD
posted by ScoopOnFilm @ 11:59 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home