Cursed

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Rating 2


Directed by Wes Craven

Written by Kevin Williamson

Starring Christina Ricci, Jesse Eisenberg, Joshua Jackson, Judy Greer, Michael Rosenbaum and Portia de Rossi


Director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson got back together six years after their collaboration on the first two ‘Scream’ films to make this werewolf horror. There were numerous delays because of problems with the script and production and several actors left the project along the way – including Skeet Ulrich, Mandy Moore, Robert Forster and Corey Feldman. Numerous cuts were made to the final film to ensure a PG13 rating and it was eventually released into American cinemas in March 2005 to generally poor reviews.

Christina Ricci plays Ellie, an assistant on the Craig Kilborn late-night chat show. She also looks after her teenage brother Jimmy (Jesse Eisenberg), both parents having died in an accident. Jimmy is routinely bullied at school. One night they are involved in an automobile accident on a lonely stretch of Mulholland Drive and while trying to help the driver of the other car they witness her being dragged off into the woods and ripped to pieces by a huge wolf-like creature. Both Ellie and Jimmy are injured in the attack and afterwards they begin to exhibit changes. Jimmy is convinced they are the victims of a werewolf attack and are now themselves turning into werewolves.

Strange killings begin to occur as Ellie and Jimmy search for answers. Suspects include Jake (Joshua Jackson), Ellie’s commitment-phobic, womanising boyfriend; Kyle (Michael Rosenbaum), Ellie’s friend and co-worker; and Joanie (Judy Greer), a bitchy publicist. Meanwhile, Jimmy’s sudden heightened senses and increase in physical strength allows him to defeat three bullies in a wrestling contest at school and out his main nemesis as gay.

The film never seems to decide if it wants to be a straightforward werewolf story or a parody/homage in the style of ‘Scream’ and largely fails on both counts. The story seems to be a metaphor for Aids, not that it ever manages to make its point with any great precision. There are some nice touches, but these are somewhat few and far between.

The werewolf genre is a rather tired beast these days and the shadow of the 1981 John Landis classic ‘An American Werewolf in London’ hangs heavy over it. ‘Cursed’ pales into insignificance by comparison. It is, in fact, no match for the wonderful Canadian werewolf horror ‘Ginger Snaps’ or even the hugely enjoyable and inventive Doctor Who episode ‘Tooth and Claw’, which sees Queen Victoria do battle with an intergalactic werewolf!

The acting is by and large no more than adequate. Joshua Jackson is certainly not at his best here and Christina Ricci gives every impression she is just going through the motions. Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson are capable of much better than this and it would appear the many production problems they suffered along the way got the better of them in the end.

A disappointment.

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Scream 2

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Rating 3


Directed by Wes Craven

Written by Kevin Williamson

Starring Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Rebecca Gayheart and Portia de Rossi


“I didn’t have to push very hard because we fell in love with her, too. It’s a juicy little part and she’s rocking. I want her in every one of my movies because you know when you hire her to do a job she’s not going to be in her trailer complaining about everything. She’s going to be right out there giving you the tenth take in the freezing cold.”
Kevin Williamson (talking about Sarah Michelle Gellar)

‘Scream 2’ was released in America in December 1997 and took $172 million at the box office, making it the fourteenth biggest box office hit of the year. Sarah Michelle Gellar comes in for quite a lot of criticism online and her films are often alleged to have been flops, commercially as well as artistically. I fully accept that the box office success of a film is no indication of its artistic worth but I’m just putting the record straight.

Gellar is not a big star and I have serious doubts that she will ever join the ranks of the so-called Hollywood ‘A-list’. However, overall she actually has one of the best box office records of any female actor working in Hollywood at the moment. Having said that, I appreciate that she is not the actual reason why films like ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ and ‘Scream 2’ were successful at the box office. She does bring a fanbase with her, but she is certainly not the over-riding factor when assessing the box-office performance of genre films like this; films that already have a built-in audience. In any case, at the time these films were made Neve Campbell and Jennifer Love Hewitt were undoubtedly equally well known and popular.

Gellar’s role in ‘Scream 2’, playing Casey ‘Cici’ Cooper, is a small one, but it’s also one of the highlights of the film. I like it but I do think it’s just a bit too knowingly clever-clever at times. For me, it’s not close to being as good as the first film, which, of course, has the added attraction of Drew Barrymore, who I have a great deal of time for, and a rollicking, over-the-top performance by the wonderful Matthew Lillard.



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