Honeybeads Blog

Okay, you would think this would be a winner. I mean, look, you've got Wes Craven directing and and the almighty Rick Backer doing creature effects - how can you lose? Well, I'll tell you how. Or, better yet, watch Cursed for an example.

The script here is pretty dull and the plot, very regurgitated. Nothing even near the originality or wit of Craven's Scream. There are a few scenes that are either rip-offs or homages to past werewolf movies. Giving Wes Craven the benefit of the doubt, I'll assume they were in fact included on purpose. The first couple of times we see the werewolf, it is a decent prosthetic mask, though the American Werewolf in London shot 20 years earlier looked much better. Then, when we finally get to see the obligatory transformation, it is done with 100% computer animation and let me tell you, it is a CGI mess. I've seen better, more realistic graphics on my PS2. It really was a let down.

I love werewolves and it is a shame that in the past 20 years, no one has been able to come up with a decent werewolf movie with transformations like we saw in the American Werewolf in London and The Howling. To this day, these blow away the CGI crap we see here. The best werewolves I've seen lately are in Underworld where the make-up is all prosthetics. They even devised a leg extension-like stilt for the actors to wear to simulate the canine-like opposed hind legs. But, I digress. It's just that there's nothing good to discuss when it comes to Cursed. If anything, I suppose I did laugh a few times and there are two or three decent gore scenes, but nothing new or shocking.

Brian's Bottom Line: Directed by Wes Craven, Make-up effects by Rick Baker? What a colossal waste of two very talented filmmakers.