CURSED (2005)
Starring Christina Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg
Despite being one of the finest horror directors of the past 100 years, Wes Craven has nonetheless displayed an uncanny willingness to occasionally show up for his job and just accomplish enough to collect his paycheck and go home.
Every decade seemed to have its share of Craven classics, then some Craven crap too. It had looked like, over the past 18 years or so, that Craven was no longer making crap -- not ever. "The Serpent and the Rainbow," "Shocker," "The People Under the Stairs" and of course the "Scream" franchise. All good to great.
Now comes "Cursed," a return to "Hills Have Eyes Part II"-level crap. Once again, Craven demonstrated a willingness to suit up, show up, and accept that check.
What's perhaps most tragic about "Cursed" is the wasted presence of Christina Ricca, a fine actress who looks marvelous in this movie. Ricci has a comedic timing that is flawless, and without her this film would be a zero, a black hole of cinematic emptiness. Because she's in the lead role, "Cursed" is at least watchable.
She plays a TV producer for the Craig Kilborne late-night talk show (which had actually been cancelled by the time this long-in-development film finally made it to theaters), who is bitten by a werewolf following a car accident. She's now "cursed," along with her brother (Eisenberg) who was also at the scene.
The film's best moments follow her and her brother's transformations, very much in the spirit of the far superior "Wolf," which came out about a decade earlier. Whimp Eisenberg becomes a tough guy, while Ricci struggles with animal urges. There is some funny gay humor, but tragically the story seems contrived, as if it had been invented at the last minute. That may be because about 3/4 of the film was actually reshot at the last minute when Miramax decided they hated the finished product. Much of the gore was also trimmed out of the PG-13 theatrical release. Leaving it in probably would have helped.
The film was a box office failure. No sequels are planned.