The Cursed
Qualitatively this skews a lot closer to “An American Werewolf in London” than it does to “An American Werewolf in Paris.”
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“The Cursed” (now in theaters) is a worthy addition to the werewolf subgenre and even manages to turn lycanthrope lore on its furry head.
We’re in rural late 19th-century France and Lord Seamus Laurent (Alistair Petrie) and his fellow land barons are dispirited by the presence of gypsies on a nearby plot rightfully belonging to them. The men hire mercenaries to remove the Roma clan. The mercs get carried away and eradicate the tribe entirely going so far as to hack off the hands and feet of an unfortunate man (Fabien Houssaye) before hanging him up as a scarecrow and burying a gypsy woman (Pascale Becouze) alive. As she’s being buried, the woman utters a curse that should befall those responsible for the slaughter. (Much of the violence is depicted in a single long shot that’s brilliantly choreographed and reminiscent of classical paintings such as Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s “Dulle Griet” and Peter Paul Rubens’ “The Massacre of the Innocents.”) While looting the village the mercs find a set of silver fangs constructed by the unfortunate man. They bury them beside the gypsy woman.
Soon enough Seamus’ wife Isabelle (Kelly Reilly of “Yellowstone”) and children Charlotte (Amelia Crouch) and Edward (Max Mackintosh) are having nightmares depicting the carnage. Local lad Timmy (Tommy Rodger) finds the fangs and stupidly inserts them into his mouth, which turns him into a werewolf and prompts him to attack Edward. Edward gets deathly ill and shortly thereafter disappears.
Pathologist John McBride (Boyd Holbrook), who himself has experienced loss at the hands of lycanthropes, offers his services in investigating Edward’s disappearance and the deaths that have ensued.
“The Cursed” is written, produced, shot and directed by British filmmaker Sean Ellis (“Cashback,” “Anthropoid”). I haven’t seen any of Ellis’ other movies, but was impressed by the work he did here. There’s some awesome gore, an amazing autopsy scene that’s reminiscent of “Alien” and “The Thing” (1982) and Reilly sponge bathes her bare breasts. What’s not to like? The creature design differs from any other werewolf movie I’ve ever seen. It’s better when it leans practical as opposed to CG, but the monsters aren’t shown a whole lot due to what I assume was a fairly limited budget. Holbrook’s good in the movie, but I tend to prefer him as a scoundrel (see “Hatfields & McCoys,” the Liam Neeson one-two punch of “A Walk Among the Tombstones” and “Run All Night” or “Logan”) as opposed to a square like he is here.
“The Cursed” is interesting in a lot of regards. It flashes forward to World War I (very in vogue right now after “1917” with its inclusion in “The King’s Man” and “Death on the Nile” of late) and has thoughtful things to say about the displacement/mistreatment of native people for the profit of rich old white men. The movie has the look and the feel of both Hammer Films’ output and A24’s recent horror offerings. At 108 minutes it’s probably 15 to 20 minutes too long, but that’s forgivable. Qualitatively this skews a lot closer to “An American Werewolf in London” than it does to “An American Werewolf in Paris.”