The Cursed

2022 - 2 - 17

Post cover — Image courtesy of "Polygon"

The Cursed review: a gory werewolf story built around terrible ... (Polygon)

Sean Ellis' vivid, rich horror movie has startling practical effects and a real eye for spooky images, but it leans too much on a racist trope and familiar ...

Movie Review: THE CURSED (Assignment X)

Movie review of THE CURSED starring Boyd Holbrook, Kelly Reilly, Alistair Petrie, Roxane Duran, Amelia Crouch, Max Mackintosh, Pascale Becouze, ...

Review: 'The Cursed' is a bold, artful werewolf movie (Los Angeles Times)

'The Cursed' review: Boyd Holbrook plays a pathologist in 19th century Europe investigating a werewolf outbreak in an artsy monster movie from filmmaker ...

On the whole though, this is a fairly sedate and serious film, low on pulp thrills. The trouble starts for the Laurents when Seamus and his peers hire a band of goons to slaughter the inhabitants of a Romany encampment on their lands. Ellis makes some bold choices with “The Cursed,” beginning with his opening scene set on a World War I battlefield.

In <i>The Cursed,</i> Werewolf-Type Beasts Put a Greedy ... (TIME)

The Cursed, written and directed by English filmmaker Sean Ellis, isn't a werewolf picture in the strict sense: there's nothing shaggy or wolflike about the ...

At one point before her death, the Roma grande dame explains the bargain she and her people have made with the beastly spirit behind the curse in question: “We have protected it for generations, and it has protected our generations.” There’s nothing cuddly about the were-creatures of The Cursed. But there’s no question that they get the job done. They dream of a human scarecrow, by far the movie’s most horrifying image, and of that set of silver choppers. The Cursed is your classic cautionary tale about the price of greed and bigotry, and less an allegory about the unruliness of nature. Werewolfdom is sometimes a manifestation of adolescent confusion, of bodily changes that are bewildering and scary. But they are, as the title suggests, beings brought to life by a deadly bite, their unearthly cravings an affliction foisted upon them by an unnamed ancient spirit. The goons notice that the elderly Roma matriarch (Pascale Becouze) has in her possession a set of silver false teeth, each sharp little spike marked with a cross; they decide the things are too scary to seize and melt down.

Movie Review: 'The Cursed' (KCCI Des Moines)

Bringing new ideas to a well-worn film genre is quite a feat these days, especially with the number of movies—between theaters and streaming—that flood us ...

Review: Gruesome, atmospheric 'The Cursed' falls short with ... (Fayetteville Flyer)

It's a spooky tale with plenty of jump scares and gruesome imagery that is mostly set in 1882 France. It both is and isn't a traditional werewolf movie, ...

The movie truly is Reitman’s ode to the type of romantic-comedies director Frank Capra crafted in the 1930s and ‘40s. In the mean time, while first fooled by Dave when they had little contact, Ellen discovers Dave’s secret and then begins to fall in love with him. Bill Murray is at his comedic best in this film that catapulted him to movie stardom, but he’s not the only funny performer in the film. Of course Tim Burton wound up directing Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson in those roles in the now classic “Batman” from 1989, bringing the character to the big screen for the first time since the 1960s. However, when Dave is duped by Alexander into signing a bill that goes against his ethos, Dave begins to undercut their plans to popular success. It’s probably been a couple of decades since I’ve watched “Stripes.” This weekend might be a good time to refresh my memory. His character is a cross between Dr. Van Helsing from “Dracula” and Richard Dreyfuss’ Matt Hooper from “Jaws,” basically playing the same role as both, the expert brought in to defuse a monstrously murderous situation. John Larroquette of “Nightcourt,” Sean Young and P.J. Soles have memorable supporting roles. Harold Ramis co-stars as his buddy who joins the Army with him because basically they have nothing better to do with their lives at the moment. • The Cursed ( watch trailer) / (R) 1 hr. For movie buffs who spent their teen years in the 1980s or 1990s, the recent passing of Ivan Reitman was a particular blow. The film is artfully staged and shot by Ellis who toiled as his own cinematographer.