'The Cursed' Review

Arlington TX

21 February, 2022

2:55 PM

Description

By Joe Friar, Fort Worth Report February 20, 2022 English filmmaker Sean Ellis who gave us the Nazi thriller "Anthropoid" four years ago, returns with a horror film that has its roots in the 1941 Universal classic "The Wolf Man" written by Curt Siodmak. When "The Cursed" premiered at last year's Sundance Film Festival it was known as "Eight for Silver" and has since undergone a few edits and a revamped score, along with the title change. Horror fans who venture out to the theater won't be disappointed. If you like tension, gore, and special effects that recall John Carpenter's "The Thing" you should enjoy this fresh spin on the werewolf mythology. Before taking a deep dive into beasts that roam the land, Ellis returns to the battlefield with a prologue that drops viewers into the trenches of World War I. We see a wounded soldier in triage. The graphic scene concludes with a silver bullet removed from his torso, an omen of what's to come. The timeline then jumps back 35 years taking us away from the bloody war to the peaceful and scenic countryside of 19th century France. The gothic horror film introduces us to the wealthy Laurent family led by greedy land baron Seamus (Alistair Petrie) who along with the other British landowners, decides to have a group of Romani gypsies exterminated after they lay claim to land that is legally theirs. They hire a group of mercenaries who ride in on horseback to murder the clan and torch their campsite. Before being buried alive a gypsy woman (Pascale Becouze) curses the men warning of "the dark one" who will come seeking revenge. Ellis takes a fresh approach when dealing with werewolf folklore by relating the shapeshifting creatures to the bible. The gypsies melt down cursed silver from the time that Jesus walked the earth to forge a pair of sharp dentures used to transform anyone who is bitten into one of the man-wolves. We also don't see anyone growing fur during the metamorphosis, instead, there are glimpses of root-like limbs that envelope the person suggesting that the victim doesn't necessarily transform into the beast, rather he becomes possessed and absorbed by the creature. The CGI effects are touch and go. Some look better than others. The practical effects, however, are first-rate, a tribute to Rob Bottin's fantastic work in John Carpenter's "The Thing." To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.