Cursed [2005]

RRP £17.99 Lowest New Price £2.44

Suitable for 15 years and over Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm Release date: Monday 22nd of August 2005 Starring: Christina Ricci, Portia De Rossi, Jesse Eisenberg, Shannon Elizabeth, Joshua Jackson, Director(s): Format: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen, Region code: 2 Running time: 84 minutes Language: English (Subtitled) Language: French (Subtitled) Language: Italian (Subtitled) Language: Spanish (Subtitled) Language: English (Original Language) Language: Italian (Dubbed) Language: Spanish (Dubbed)

RRP: £17.99
Editorial
From the studio

• Behind The Fangs: The Making of Cursed

• The Cursed Effects

• Creature Editing 101

• Becoming a Werewolf

• Behind The Fangs: The Making of Cursed

• The Cursed Effects

• Creature Editing

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Editorial
Synopsis

With CURSED, screenwriter Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven (SCREAM) take another playful trip to the dark side. This time around, their sights are set on one of the horror genre's most popular subjects: werewolves. Set in an ultra-hip modern Los Angeles, the film tells the tale of siblings Ellie (Christina Ricci) and Jimmy (Jesse Eisenberg), who have yet to fully come to terms with the loss of their parents. Ellie works at 'The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn' and dates ladies' man Jake (Joshua Jackson), while Jimmy is a less-than-popular high school student with a crush on the prettiest girl in school (Kristina Anapau). But one night, after Ellie and Jimmy get into a car accident on Mulholland Drive, they are bitten by what appears to be a bona fide werewolf. Soon, both brother and sister are exhibiting behaviour that can only mean one thing--that they, too, have been cursed. A troubled production history notwithstanding, Craven's film remains a fast-paced, clever addition to the genre. Featuring a star-studded supporting cast (including Mya, Judy Greer, and Shannon Elizabeth), as well as an energetic modern rock soundtrack, CURSED takes viewers on a thrill-ride through the dark side of Los Angeles.

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Disappointing
Review date: 2008-06-15 Rating: 4 out of 10

From The Wolf Man to An American Werewolf in London, and even the Ginger Snaps trilogy, I've always been a big fan of werewolf films - until now that is. Set in Los Angeles, the plot for Cursed while not completely original is good enough. It tells of two orphaned siblings, who get bitten by a werewolf after being in a car accident, after which both siblings begin to show alarming behaviour that can only mean one thing. Unfortunately Cursed is unable to successfully build on this otherwise good start.

Werewolf and horror fans alike will probably be very disappointed with the rather tame levels of gore, and the disappointingly poor CGI werewolf, which really didn't work for me. The structure of Cursed seems to be jumbled up with the story seeming a bit incoherence at times, and expect plenty of loose ends to be left unanswered. Even with this, it's still quite predictable at times and doesn't offer much in terms of twists or turns. Cursed is comical in places and in all honestly seems like a film that's not meant to be took that seriously. It lacks depth and power, that special spark that some films have and some don't.

It's not a complete train wreak of a film and we are saved (for want of a better word) by some good acting from Christina Ricci. There are a couple of good scenes of suspense that have that Wes Craven hallmark. Plus a few scenes which are genuinely scary. And the sound track throughout is pretty good.

But overall nothing remotely special about Cursed, it watchable - just, but is let down too many times by too many things. Therefore there's not much reason for me to recommend it to you. If your looking for a werewolf film try the films I mentioned above instead.

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