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Now, I am not blinded to the fact that Anchor Bay makes a surprisingly successful business off of us horror fans, utilizing the bare minimum of actual titles in a barrage of releases, over and over. Through the use of "restored" editions, "anniversary" editions, "ultimate" editions, and other "you don't have this one yet and it is better than the three you DO have" editions, there catalog of horror flicks is expansive; even if it reads a little like those boring parts of the Bible. And Halloween begat Halloween: Restored. Halloween: Restored begat Halloween: 25th Anniversary Edition. Halloween: 25th Anniversary Edition...well, you get the point...
And while the Fright Pack 2 - Campy Classics collection is nothing more than a repackaged grouping of slower selling titles from within their pre-existing line (some of which have even been sold together before in double-feature formats!), they all have one thing in common. These are the title which you love to watch. Period. But even better, they are the titles that you have normally passed over at the DVD store because you were searching for that one Italian giallo which managed to escape your grasp, or were on a mission to snatch up the newest Japanese horror sensation. But now, you can grab them all in one collection...one very creatively packaged collection of six very cheesy films!
But once the original shock began to wear off and the sting of having been misled by months of marketing campaigns and self-serving magazine articles was fading, I was able to start enjoying Cursed for what it is. At its very core, Cursed is a mockery of the current horror genre, the same as Scream was a mockery of the state of horror films in the eighties and early nineties. Back then it was over-sexed high schoolers getting offed by an unknown serial killer, while only the chaste and virtuous survived. In today's world of horror it is a little different; overly-sexy yet fundamentally good kids are thrown into a horrific nightmare which they don't understand and would prefer not to comprehend lest they face their worst fears, all while talking down to and belittling the over-sexed minority. Basically, kids today like to think they are cool by being as promiscuous as they can without actually doing anything "bad". Blame emo music...I know I do.
Ellie (Ricci) and her uber-dork brother Jimmy are involved in a car accident with another motorist Becky (Shannon Elizabeth in a pointless, brief appearance), which sends them all off a dark canyon road and into the jaws of a menacing...something! While Jimmy is sure it was a giant wolf, his sister is not so sure and the police later say that it was probably a bear, but whatever it was it tore poor Becky in half and did more than a little scratching of the siblings as well. Of course, we all know what it is because we saw the previews and read the title of the film, but for these two, it will take some investigation...
...which consists of Jimmy going onto his computer and "Googling" (I still can't believe that is an acceptable word) "unsolved animal attacks". When this doesn't work, the search "wolf L.A." leads Jimmy to a site entitled "Werewolves - Fact Or Fiction?". WTF? Geesh people, does anyone actually use a computer these days, cause it shouldn't be hard to fake it better than this! Anyways, of course this all leads Jimmy to assume that the symptoms he is feeling and the brand new pentagram which is forming on the palm of his hand may mean bad, bad things.
Again, we already know what is happening to him and his sister because we have seen horror films before and as mentioned before there is the whole preview and film title things. Of course, there are those that don't know what is going on like the jocks at Jimmy's school who pick on him every day and call him "gay" (gasp!) and say that they don't want to get "homo-stained". I suppose this is what happens when older filmmakers try to pretend they know what happens in high schools of today and end up hitting a mark much closer to the grade schools of ten years ago. But these jocks are in for a rude awakening when Jimmy starts feeling the full effect of his new found "personality".
Ellie is having her own problems dealing with her transformation, not choosing to believe that it is all real even after sniffing out a delicious treat which winds up being blood or sprouting hair out of parts of her body that most girls wouldn't even think to wax. But she is distracted and all...by her boyfriend...who is suspicious...and needs a few days to himself...on the days of the full moon...and is opening a trendy horror-themed nightclub...which Lance Bass will show up at...and I could go on, but I won't.
So, in true Lost Boys (this film even features comics about werewolves <AHrip-offEM>) fashion, the two siblings deal with the introduction of a supernatural force into their lifestyle all while trying to end the curse they have been given so that they can go back to their normal lives (which for these two, suck pretty bad). Our suspicions are cast back and forth across nearly everyone in the film with all the finesse of Hulk Hogan in a Chuck E. Cheese ball pit before the startling conclusion which leads to more conclusions in true Wes Craven style. And by Wes Craven style, I mean the style he came up with the last time he tried to put his finger on the pulse of horror and pressed a bit to hard, killing the poor beast and dooming us to I Know What You Did Last <fill in the blank> hell.
Now, again, if you know what you are getting with this film, there is a good time to be had here. But when you want to see "The most terrifying movie of the year" and what you get is a werewolf that flips a room full of cops the bird before jumping out a vaulted window...there is going to be some angst. Whether it is Jessie connecting the pentagram dots on his hand with magic marker (so when we see it later we won't have forgotten what it was), or the ridiculous jeering of the over-written jock force five, Scott Baio's frequent novelty appearances (which shows that Craven REALLY understands today's youth attraction for has-been celebrities they don't recognize), or Jimmy howling at a street of dogs and making them all run away; well, there just isn't going to be anything terrifying or even terribly interesting for true horror buffs here.
For those armchair scary movie connoisseurs amongst our ranks however, the complete absurdity of the characters and the ridiculous writing make this one a laugh fest peppered with jolts and seat-jumping moments sure to have those "I wanted to rent The Notebook instead" girlfriends huddled in your arms by the end credits. Basically, anyone slightly excited after reading that the werewolf throws some cops a middle finger salute is going to love this film outright. Period. The rest of us might want something a bit less...well...less.
In the extra feature department is where this DVD release REALLY shines! I had about ten times as much interest and fun while watching the various behind the scenes featurettes and listening to some of the better commentary I have heard on a horror release. I was happy to see that so much attention was paid to the physical effects and puppetry (which were both AMAZING looking I might add) an less than normal attention was put on the soulless art of CG (which once again looked pretty crappy). The commentary wasn't wasted on a bunch of prepubescent actors who barely manage their craft and instead was spent with a laid-back discussion amongst the real stars of horror cinema...the effects guys and stunt guys (that's the dudes who make the werewolf and the dude who PLAYS the werewolf for you more green horror fans).
There were two glaring mistakes that I found in the featurette which accompanies the bonus materials. Both were statements made during interviews and both were equally alarming. "Wes has this uncanny ability to make horror films really amusing". This also translates to "Comedy is easy...scaring the piss out of people is hard. Anyone can have a werewolf flip people off." The second mistake was "You've got to have a little sense of comedy, a sense of fun, in these movies for them to work". Umm. No. Other countries and underground filmmakers in this one have been doing just fine without coddling the audience with frequent breaks of calming laughter. Obviously Wes and crew missed the current invasion of Japanese horror which knows one thing, if anything at all. People driving home from a theatre in silence while each is still scared is better than ids driving home from the theatre saying, "Dude, that werewolf TOTALLY flipped off those cops!".
Ranting aside, I can't find too much fault in this film for what it is (and the sordid history it managed to survive...but that is for another discussion). I just wish that it was marketed as what it WAS in the first place. This one is generally fun and a good time can be had by all...serious fan or otherwise; but it will take the right mindset going in. The power of the great extra features should not be taken lightly either, as I already have plans to watch the bonus materials again and pay a little closer attention to detail than the last time around. Wanting a repeat viewing of some basic featurettes is a strong testament to their content and quality.
I will be a little more prepared for the next "Wes Craven Film" than I was for this one, as it is apparent that Wes has moved off of the metaphorical Elm Street altogether and is currently residing somewhere in Beverly Hills trying to recapture a lost spark of his past along with half the WB. Wes...I know you still got it buddy; quit trying so damn hard to make us laugh and just scare the crap out of us again!
-aaron-
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