“The Cursed” opens in 1917, amidst the most heated period of World War I. After that brief interlude, it flashbacks 35 years earlier to the French countryside, with a tale of both human and non-human monsters.
The story centers on Seamus Laurent (played by Alistair Petrie), a wealthy landowner whose property has been “invaded” by gypsies. Despite the fact that the gypsies claim the land is theirs by right, Seamus wants them gone, setting into motion the titular curse and unleashing monsters on the land.
A Plodding Pace Filled with Brutal Horror
The film moves at a plodding pace, as Seamus and his family move through their estate like ghosts, barely talking to each other. They whisper to the staff and carrying candles about the halls, wind causing the flames to constantly cast dancing shadows on the walls. It’s like watching a far less interesting version of “Downton Abbey,” with creatures tossed in. When the horror moments come, they’re shockingly brutal and violent, with one sequence in particular akin to a scene from Herschel Gordon Lewis’s “Two Thousand Maniacs!” It’s a jarring, whiplash-inducing change in style that doesn’t really gel.
There are a few good creepy moments in the film, particularly when Seamus’s children have nightmares of a scarecrow in an empty field. Also, the monster in the film is fascinating, kind of a mix between a zombie and an HP Lovecraft-style eldritch horror, turning other people into monsters when it bites them. Unfortunately, we barely get to see it throughout the film except for quick flashes and one chilling dissection scene, which borders on Cronenberg-style body horror.
Some Creepy Moments, but Not Enough to Save ‘The Cursed’
Seamus and John McBride (played by Boyd Holbrook) are the main characters of the film. Seamus is the worst kind of evil, an ineffectual, feckless man who has others do his dirty work for him. He’s dead inside, as shown in one scene early in the film where he accidentally walks in on his wife Isabelle (played by Kelly Reilly) taking a bath. He stares at her, but not as a man attracted to his wife, but as if she were some knick knack randomly sitting out of place on a dusty shelf. She and everything else in his huge estate are just objects to him.
McBride is a visiting pathologist, called in to determine what’s going on, and who has run into the film’s monster in the past. He’s the stereotypical tragic hero, having a backstory that wouldn’t be out of place in a Marvel film. Despite his background and good intentions, it’s hard to root for him because his personality is as wooden as the trees that surround Seamus’s estate.
“The Cursed,” despite some great cinematography and a few creepy moments, is a bland horror film with an interesting creature that should have gotten more screen time. Issues such as class warfare and immigration are touched upon, but the end result is a film that only the most die-hard horror fan would like.
“The Cursed” is currently only available to watch in cinemas. No streaming options exist for this title.
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