Cursed

Rated PG-13

~Remember when werewolves were scary?~

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By Todd Karella
February 25, 2005

   If you're looking for a classic horror film with an interesting storyline, good acting, realistic monsters and incredible special effects then you're in the wrong theatre.
   While the trailers were pitching it as an exciting horror flick it should have been obvious to everyone that it was a lie when not only did it receive a PG-13 rating, but it only opened in the smaller theatres nationwide.
   It's obvious in my town where all the blockbuster films are in one theatre and then across the street are all the children's movies, artsy films or ones that are expected to tank. And this film wasn't for children and it certainly wasn't artsy.
   The one alluring factor was that it was directed by Wes Craven, who is known for making good horror films. There was nothing scarier than the first Nightmare On Elm Street.

The film even had a number of celebrities. It might have been interesting at first with Christina Ricci and Shannon Elizabeth but then there was Mya, Craig Kilborn, Portia de Rossi and even Scott Baio. While they all did a decent job in the film, just their mere presence took away any scare factor that had been established.

While driving home one night, an animal strikes the windshield of their car sending them skidding into another car, which careens down the hillside. Leaping out of their vehicle, they rush to rescue the woman trapped in the car. Just as they manage to get her unbuckled, a large wolf-like creature bursts through the windshield dragging her away. The two siblings manage to escape with minor cuts and scratches.

The story is about a brother and sister, Ellie (Ricci) and Jimmy (Jesse Eisenberg). The two are living together after their parents passed away. Ellie is older and procures talent for the Craig Kilborn show, while Jimmy is a geeky high school student getting bullied by the school jocks.
If this sounds like a typical 80's teen flick, then you're probably right. The film's biggest redeeming feature is that it has that feel about it, and at times it can be rather entertaining.

   Normally it's a good thing to escape an attack with only minor scratches, but when you've just been attacked by a Werewolf a simple scratch can transmit a curse.
   Jimmy is the only one who got a good look at the creature and nobody will believe him when he tells them it was a Werewolf.
   Even his own sister has trouble believing him, but when they both begin craving raw meat, aquire enhanced senses and strength, and a bloody pentagram symbol appears on their hands they know they've

been cursed.
By the time they decide to hunt down the creature that did this to them, the audience has already figured out who the.Werewolf really is. It makes it difficult when Ellie's boyfriend Jake (Joshua Jackson) has a certain animal magnetism that makes all the women fall for him.

There really isn't much else to the plot and certainly nothing that hasn't been done many times before.
Even if the film is taken as a spoof on horror films it does a poor job of that as well. Some of the jokes are funny, but they aren't clever or witty enough to elicit anything other than a brief laugh.
The CGI effects aren't very good and make the Werewolves look cartoonish. The 80's film An American Werewolf in London had more realistic transformations and effects than this film done 20 years later.