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The Cursed - New Type of Horror@reviewzzz702d
"The Cursed" is a horror-thriller film about a mysterious curse that affects a small town. The story begins when a group of corpses is discovered in a nearby forest, causing panic among the townspeople. A detective specializing in strange crimes is called in to investigate these incidents, and discovers that there are supernatural forces working in secret.
What sets "The Cursed" apart is its dark and mysterious atmosphere. The film succeeds in keeping the audience on the edge of their seats by slowly building tension and gradually revealing details of the curse. The acting performance was good, especially by the main characters, who presented their roles realistically and poignantly. The direction and screenplay added to the atmosphere of the film, making it one of the films that leaves an impact after watching it.
The film's photography was excellent, as the director used lighting and landscapes to provide a sense of isolation and horror. The soundtrack was also an important factor in enhancing the tense atmosphere, as it fit perfectly with the scenes and stimulated a sense of fear.
"The Cursed" is a must-see movie for horror and mystery fans. Although it may not offer many surprises to fans of this genre, it succeeds in providing an exciting and suspenseful experience thanks to its atmosphere charged with mystery and the distinguished performances of its actors.
In addition to the distinct elements I mentioned, it should be noted that “The Cursed” presents a story that deals with deep themes of fear, regret, and consequences. The film not only shows horror and thriller scenes, but also touches on human nature and how past actions can haunt us. These elements add depth to the story and make the viewer think about the events more deeply.
Events escalate gradually, allowing the audience to get to know the characters and understand their motivations. The story takes unexpected turns, making it difficult to predict what will happen next, which adds to the excitement of the film. Although some moments may be predictable for some, good execution and skillful direction make these moments an exciting and tension-filled experience.
In terms of disadvantages, it can be said that the film may suffer from slowness in some parts, which may affect the continuity of events and make some viewers feel bored. However, this slowness builds tension and makes the terrifying moments all the more impactful. Also, the film may not suit everyone, especially those who do not prefer horror films with a slow and mysterious nature.
In conclusion, "The Cursed" is a film that combines horror and excitement in an artistic and exciting way. It offers an enjoyable cinematic experience for fans of this type of film, with an exciting story and distinguished performances from the actors. If you are looking for a horror film that carries within it elements of mystery and deep emotions, “The Cursed” deserves to be on your watch list.
Modificado en Canva por mí | Modified in Canva by me
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It has been a good while since the last time I saw a dark fantasy film with a bit of horror, so when I checked this film out it didn't take me much time to decide to give it a watch.
This film is categorized as a horror production, but if you are familiar with the "horror" productions of recent years, you should have no problem admitting many films don't really belong in that category even though they are officially categorized in there.
In the case of The Cursed, I am happy to say the film deserves to be included in the horror category thanks to several scenes that could only be described as very horrific.
What was the movie about?
The main part of the story takes place in the late 19th century and it was an interesting mix between dark fantasy and horror. The settings is just a regular small town from that era, with landowners, peasants, servants, and gipsies.
The gipsies is the group of people who are key to all of the craziness that will happen in this film. As is usual in most stories involving gipsies, they are despised by the local people, and this will naturally cause a lot of conflict between them. The gipsies are obviously less powerful and with less resources, so they are pretty much at the mercy of the local people.
Since they have no way of properly defending themselves, they need to rely in other unconventional methods to protect themselves. The story doesn't explore how they acquire their knowledge related to dark fantasy, but it doesn't really need to because exploring the consequences of that knowledge being put into practice is entertaining enough.
The dark fantasy parts of this story involve strange visions in the mind of vulnerable people such as children, as well as magical teeth made of silver that cause horrible mutations. The curse is able to lure these vulverable people and encourage them to take certain decisions, that can then trigger a series of events causing total chaos.
Ha pasado un buen tiempo desde la última vez que vi una película de fantasía oscura con un poco de terror, así que cuando me conseguí con esta película no me tomó mucho tiempo decidirme a verla.
Esta película está categorizada como una producción de terror, pero si estás familiarizado con las producciones de "terror" de los últimos años, no deberías tener problemas para admitir que muchas películas no pertenecen realmente a esa categoría a pesar de que están categorizadas oficialmente allí.
En el caso de The Cursed, me complace decir que la película merece ser incluida en la categoría de terror gracias a varias escenas que solo podrían describirse como bastante horribles.
¿De qué trataba la película?
La parte principal de la historia tiene lugar a fines del siglo XIX y fue una mezcla interesante entre la fantasía oscura y el terror. El escenario es solo un pequeño pueblo normal de esa época, con terratenientes, campesinos, sirvientes y gitanos.
Los gitanos son el grupo de personas que clave en todas las locuras que sucederán en esta película. Como es habitual en la mayoría de las historias que involucran a los gitanos, la gente del lugar los desprecia, y esto, naturalmente, causará muchos conflictos entre ellos. Los gitanos son obviamente menos poderosos y con menos recursos, por lo que están prácticamente a merced de la población local.
Como no tienen forma de defenderse adecuadamente, necesitan confiar en otros métodos no convencionales para protegerse. La historia no explora cómo adquieren sus conocimientos relacionados con la fantasía oscura, pero en realidad no es necesario porque explorar las consecuencias de poner en práctica ese conocimiento es lo suficientemente entretenido.
Las partes de fantasía oscura de esta historia involucran visiones extrañas en la mente de personas vulnerables como niños, así como dientes mágicos hechos de plata que causan horribles mutaciones. La maldición puede atraer a estas personas vulnerables y alentarlas a tomar ciertas decisiones, que luego pueden desencadenar una serie de eventos que causan un caos total.
There is a lot of violence in the film and it has sufficient high quality gore for the people who love seeing that type of content. The way the immense danger is slowly revealed was also nicely done, leaving a lot to think about in the first few scenes when the nature of the threat is still unknown.
There are scenes that can be a bit tense, and can be considered as horror scenes, however, it shouldn't be too scary for most viewers. The dark fantasy genre needs to have its creepy scenes, and in this case, these scenes were excellently done.
There is a lot of drama involved in the story as well which is to be expected given all the chaos that takes place. There were also some nice touches where it was made clear how were the social dynamics typical of that era, and how these dynamics are involved in the origin of the curse.
All in all, I found this film to be very decent and worth watching. It was a high quality production despite not having many popular names involved in it.
Main names associated with the film
The director and writer of the film was Sean Ellis, this is a person who usually does both jobs when participating in a production, and some of his previous creations are Anthropoid, Metro Manila, and The Broken.
Boyd Holbrook played the main character in the story, a pathologist called John McBride. He doesn't really live in the towns where the crazy events take place, but he was just passing by as he was doing some of his research. Previously this actor participated in other productions such as The Fugitive, We Can Be Heroes and In the Shadow of the Moon.
Hay mucha violencia en la película y tiene suficiente gore de alta calidad para las personas que aman ver ese tipo de contenido. La forma en que se revela lentamente el inmenso peligro también fue muy bien hecha, dejando mucho que pensar en las primeras escenas cuando aún se desconoce la naturaleza de la amenaza.
Hay escenas que pueden ser un poco tensas y pueden considerarse escenas de terror, sin embargo, no debería asustar demasiado a la mayoría de los espectadores. El género de fantasía oscura necesita tener sus escenas espeluznantes y, en este caso, estas escenas se realizaron de manera excelente.
También hay mucho drama involucrado en la historia, lo cual es de esperar dado todo el caos que tiene lugar. También hubo algunos toques bien hechos en los que se dejó en claro cómo eran las dinámicas sociales típicas de esa época y cómo estas dinámicas están involucradas en el origen de la maldición.
Considerándolo todo, esta película me pareció muy decente y vale la pena verla. Fue una producción de alta calidad a pesar de no tener muchos nombres populares involucrados.
Nombres principales asociados a la película
El director y escritor de la película fue Sean Ellis, esta es una persona que suele hacer ambos trabajos cuando participa en una producción, y algunas de sus creaciones anteriores son Anthropoid, Metro Manila y The Broken.
Boyd Holbrook interpretó al personaje principal de la historia, un patólogo llamado John McBride. En realidad, no vive en los pueblos donde tienen lugar los eventos locos, pero solo estaba de paso mientras investigaba. Anteriormente este actor participó en otras producciones como The Fugitive, We Can Be Heroes y In the Shadow of the Moon.
Alistair Petrie plays Seamus Laurent, a wealthy man who owns a lot of lands, and sometimes he can be very brutal and selfish. He can be a dangerous man if he considers you his enemy, but due to his personality, it is also easy for him to get into trouble. This is no problem for him because he is used to being the most powerful person around. We can find this actor in the series Deep State, Year of the Rabbit, and Sex Education.
Kelly Reilly played Isabelle Laurent, the wife of Seamus Laurent and a very innocent woman who just wants to live a peaceful family life with her husband and children. This actress has also participated in the series Yellowstone, as well as in the films The Take and Heaven is for Real.
How were the performance from the cast, the scenery and the camera work?
I liked how the cast played their roles, and this includes the kid actors and actresses who made very convincing performances. One of the best aspects of the film is its photography, the film provided beautiful images throughout all the film showing not only the well-chosen scenery but also the dread prevailing in this place. I absolutely loved when the film simply showed images after images of this little rural town.
The camera work did a nice job during some intense scenes when the local people are starting to discover the darkness they will be forced to face. The way this darkness is subtly introduced was made even better thanks to the way the director designed how the camera should move during very key moments.
Final thoughts
The Cursed was a very entertaining movie despite the fact it had a slow pace. It didn't bore me out, on the contrary, it made me feel intrigued about the inexplicable threat that was affecting the life of the local people in this town.
I believe many horror fans can enjoy this film, especially those that can easily tolerate or are simply looking for a movie that takes its time to develop the plot, while also showing glimpses of what will happen in the future. It is not a fast-paced movie, however, it has some parts that could certainly make the viewer's heartbeat much faster.
Thanks for reading!
Alistair Petrie interpreta a Seamus Laurent, un hombre rico que posee muchas tierras y, a veces, puede ser muy brutal y egoísta. Puede ser un hombre peligroso si te considera su enemigo, pero debido a su personalidad, también es fácil que se meta en problemas. Esto no es un problema para él porque está acostumbrado a ser la persona más poderosa. Podemos encontrar a este actor en las series Deep State, Year of the Rabbit y Sex Education.
Kelly Reilly interpretó a Isabelle Laurent, la esposa de Seamus Laurent y una mujer muy inocente que solo quiere vivir una vida familiar pacífica con su esposo e hijos. Esta actriz también ha participado en la serie Yellowstone, así como en las películas The Take y Heaven is for Real.
¿Cómo fue la actuación del elenco, la escenografía y el trabajo de cámara?
Me gustó cómo el elenco interpretó sus papeles, y esto incluye a los niños actores y actrices que hicieron actuaciones muy convincentes. Uno de los mejores aspectos de la película es su fotografía, la película proporcionó bellas imágenes a lo largo de toda su duración que muestran no solo el escenario bien elegido sino también el pavor que prevalece en este lugar. Me encantó cuando la película simplemente mostraba imágenes tras imágenes de este pequeño pueblo rural.
El trabajo de cámara hizo un buen trabajo durante algunas escenas intensas cuando la gente local comienza a descubrir la oscuridad a la que se verán obligados a enfrentarse. La forma sutil en que se presenta esta oscuridad se mejoró aún más gracias a la forma en que el director diseñó como la cámara debería moverse durante momentos clave.
Reflexiones finales
The Cursed fue una película muy entretenida a pesar de que tenía un ritmo lento. No me aburrió, al contrario, me intrigaba la inexplicable amenaza que estaba afectando la vida de los habitantes de este pueblo.
Creo que muchos fanáticos del terror pueden disfrutar de esta película, especialmente aquellos que pueden tolerar fácilmente o simplemente buscan una película que se tome su tiempo para desarrollar la trama, al tiempo que muestra atisbos de lo que sucederá en el futuro. No es una película de ritmo rápido, sin embargo, tiene algunas partes que ciertamente podrían hacer que el corazón del espectador lata mucho más rápido.
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›"The Cursed" (2022) - Movie Review@shortshots1562d
THE CURSED
"In rural 19th-century France, a mysterious, possibly supernatural menace threatens a small village. John McBride, a pathologist, comes to town to investigate the danger - and exorcise some of his own demons in the process."
(from IMDB)
Why did I watch this?
I'm a fan of horror movies and the imagery of silver fangs made me curious about what kind of werewolf movie this might be. The trailer was okay, but I think it was the victorian rural setting that caught my eye most.
What did I think of the movie?
2022's THE CURSED bites off more than it can chew in its attempt at a unique spin on the werewolf genre and in the end never enters the jaws of true horror.
First off I'd like to start with the fact that until I copied and pasted the film's synopsis from Internet Movie Database dot-com, I had no inkling this story even took place in rural France and thought the setting was the rural American South instead.
Anyway, the movie opens with a World War I, or Great War, battle which was evident by the presence of trenches, gas-masks, and gatling guns. A soldier is taken into a medical tent and bullets are extracted from his abdomen. Curiously the last of the shells inside him has fragmented despite resting within his soft belly flesh. The doctor digs into the wound, assuming two bullets had hit the spot on the man and shattered each other but instead he pulls out a silver bullet of non-German origin and the soldier on the table dies. The films cuts back thirty-five years earlier and focuses on a wealthy family and the surrounding lands owned by them. There is a superstitious woman among the Roma, a witch, or soothsayer, who predicting the upcoming "storm" and has a man melt down silver coins, supposedly "guarded by their family for generations," into sharp teeth for a mouth piece. There is a land dispute between the head patriarch and a gypsy Roman clan with legitimate claim. The patriarch responds by hiring mercenaries to massacre the clan. It is truly the film's most haunting long scene in which we watch from a distance as the mounted mercenaries run-over, set fire to, and mercilessly hunt down and shoot every member of the Roma clan. There is no supernatural terror here, just the unbelievable cruelty of human greed and disregard for people considered to be different. The mercenaries take the Roma man who melted the silver coins into teeth from the mouthpiece, cut off his hands and feet, and string him up as a scarecrow so that he may bleed out and die in agony while left out in the cold.
The Roma woman, soothsayer or witch, clutches the silver-toothed mouthpiece in a box in her arms as she is dragged by her hair, muttering curses on the mercenary and the men who hired them as they bury her alive to drown in the dirt. Soon after, the children of the patriarch and his surrounding people begin dreaming of the scarecrow and the Roman woman. These shared dreams lead them to the scarecrow's field where the dig up the Roma woman's box. A peasant among them is seized by a sudden trance, opens the box, wears the silver-teethed mouth piece, and bites open the neck of the patriarch's son. The wounded boy is taken home and checked on by a doctor who claims it is but a wound from a wild animal but the boy grows sensitive to daylight and after being discovered by his sister to have sprouted writhing flesh tentacles, flees from his father's home for the woods. It is soon after this that the surrounding area is then plagued by vicious animals attacks like few ever seen before -- one survivor, stricken mad with fright, claiming in her supposed delirium that what attacked her was a "dragon."
The rest of the movie is the patriarch and his men hunting for "wild animal/dragon" while also searching for his missing son. A pathologist is called in by the local police to help in identifying what exact animal has befallen their neighborhood but he soon says it is no natural beast but something else instead, something that not even the army could beat in a barely-spoken-of incident-- something that can only be stopped by bullets made from pieces of silver supposedly given to Judas in exchange for his betrayal of the Abrahamic or Judeo-Christian figure of Jesus Christ. In this rendition of the werewolf tale, lycanthropy is a form of the Abrahamic God's wrath or a curse cast by being bitten by metal jaws forged from Judas Iscariot's silver pieces.
Biblical lycanthropy is usually attributed to the Old Testament tale of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar who after trying to burn alive prophets was stricken by God with a type of heavenly plague, "Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers, and his nails were like birds' claws [Daniel 4:33]."
A quick googling of the biblical history of lycanthropy should've given the writers of 2022's THE CURSED the notion that infecting the patriarch with the furry curse would've been the most poetic -- a figurative monster of a man turned into a literal monster by his greed and gypsy magic so that his loved ones and strangers suffer around him? Now that would've made for a much better story but unfortunately that much-better movie only exists in universes other than our own so instead we get the complete opposite.
I can think of so many much more intriguing werewolf movies and was surprised to see such an obviously big-budgeted production flounder into such a generic monster flick. It never crescendoed in action or drama, and basically whimpered away in its story until the closing scene.
There were scenes of brief but unreasonable nudity and the werewolf special-effects were something so atrocious I thought I was watching a sci-fi channel monster movie from the early 2000's.
While the acting was decent enough, I kept thinking that everyone deserved a spot in a much more well-done project. How in the world could they spend so much money on costumes, architectural setting, and cinematography, but aim so low when it came to writing and special-effects? Now that was the true monster of the film.
Members of its stellar cast are the true titular CURSED due to their decent performances in what unfortunately ends up being a dumpster fire of a film.
Out of respect for the film's quality production -- costumes, set, camera work, soundtrack, I give it this grade:
Hope you enjoyed this review!
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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