Cursed (2005 film)

Cursed
Promotional poster
Directed by	Wes Craven
Produced by	Bob Weinstein Harvey Weinstein Kevin Williamson
Written by	Kevin Williamson
Starring	Christina Ricci Joshua Jackson Jesse Eisenberg Judy Greer
Music by	Marco Beltrami
Cinematography	Robert McLachlan
Editing by	Patrick Lussier Lisa Romaniw
Studio	Outerbanks Entertainment
Distributed by	Dimension Films
Release date(s)	November 7, 2004 (2004-11-07) (AFM) February 25, 2005 (2005-02-25) (United States)
Running time	97 minutes 99 minutes (Unrated cut)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$38 million
Box office	$29,621,722

Cursed is a 2005 horror film directed by Wes Craven and written by screenwriter Kevin Williamson, who both collaborated on Scream. The film stars Golden Globe-nominees Christina Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg as the main sister-and-brother protagonists. The plot focuses on two young adults who are attacked by a werewolf loose in Los Angeles. The movie premiered on November 7, 2004, at the American Film Market and was released theatrically in 2005. It was filmed in Los Angeles, California, United States, with special effects shot in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Despite being a critical and commercial failure, it gained a cult following among Wes Craven fans and later found more success on the unrated DVD.

Plot

The film begins when two friends, Jenny Tate (Mýa) and Becky Morton (Shannon Elizabeth), are at a pier and decide to get their fortune told by Zela (Portia de Rossi). She foretells that they will suffer a horrible fate, but they don't believe her and walk away laughing. A little while later, Becky realizes Jenny has disappeared and can't find her on the pier; Becky was driving. One night, while in a car together, Jimmy (Jesse Eisenberg) and his sister Ellie (Christina Ricci) hit an animal and another car. They attempt to rescue the other driver, Becky Morton, but she is suddenly dragged and eaten by an unknown creature. Jimmy and Ellie are both slashed by the creature's claws. Jimmy starts to believe that the creature was a werewolf, but no one will believe him. He and his sister start to exhibit wolfish tendencies (such as both of them eating raw bacon, Ellie catching a fly in her bare hand, and being attracted to the smell of blood) but Ellie denies it, apparently proving her point by touching a silver picture frame and not getting burned. Jimmy becomes much stronger, as exampled when a bully named Bo (Milo Ventimiglia) forces him to join the wrestling team. He easily defeats three wrestlers, including Bo.

Meanwhile, Jenny is torn apart in a parking garage by a wolf-like creature. Zela's prediction for Jenny and Becky comes true. Eventually, Ellie starts to believe the werewolf idea, and Jimmy proves it when he holds a silver cake server and gets burned (he then discovers that the picture frame Ellie touched was actually stainless steel). He goes to warn Ellie with the help of Bo, who shows up at their house to say he's gay and apparently likes Jimmy. Bo and Jimmy race to where Ellie is, and in the meantime she figures out that her boyfriend, Jake (Joshua Jackson), is a werewolf. He confirms that, but claims it wasn't him that attacked her and Jimmy. Another werewolf attacks, seemingly proving his story. Bo and Jimmy try to help, but Bo is knocked out. The new werewolf is revealed to be Joanie (Judy Greer), a publicist who had a one-night-stand with Jake and became a werewolf (with proof of a pentagram on her right hand). She wants revenge by killing all of the other girls he dates. He refuses to let her hurt Ellie, and she knocks him out. Joanie soon turns into a werewolf and starts attacking. Ellie and Jimmy fight her, and she finally runs and hides when the police arrive. The two draw her out by insulting her, which she (in werewolf form) gives them the finger. The police open fire, apparently killing her. The only way to kill a werewolf is to separate the brain from the heart. As she rises again, a cop shoots her in the head, finally killing her. Bo is okay, but Jake has disappeared.

Jimmy and Ellie return to a wrecked home. Their dog bit Jimmy and became a werewolf as well and destroyed the house in an uncontrollable rage. As Jimmy goes to try to fix the power, Jake arrives. He reveals that he did in fact bite Ellie and Jimmy, and he wants Ellie to live forever by his side after he kills Jimmy. She refuses, and the two fight it out, but her werewolf side only emerges and disappears at small intervals, while he has complete control over his werewolf side and dominates the fight. Jimmy joins in, climbing across the ceiling and biting Jake, distracting him long enough for Ellie to stab him with the silver cake server, badly injuring him. Ellie decapitates Jake with a shovel and breaking the curse on her, Jimmy and their dog. A girl Jimmy likes named Brooke (Kristina Anapau) shows up with their dog, having learned where they live from Bo, who also shows up. Bo and Jimmy are now friends; Jimmy kisses Brooke and walks her home along with Bo. Ellie goes to clean up the mess that is their house.

Cast

• Christina Ricci as Ellie Myers
• Joshua Jackson as Jake Taylor
• Jesse Eisenberg as Jimmy Myers
• Judy Greer as Joanie
• Milo Ventimiglia as Bo
• Kristina Anapau as Brooke
• Portia de Rossi as Zela
• Shannon Elizabeth as Becky
• Mýa as Jenny Tate
• Scott Baio as Himself
• Craig Kilborn as Himself
• Michael Rosenbaum as Kyle (Uncredited)
• Bowling for Soup as Themselves (Uncredited)

Production

The film was postponed for over a year due to production and script issues. Several cast members had to be replaced due to scheduling conflicts with other films. When production was stalled, many cast members were cut, including Skeet Ulrich, Mandy Moore, Omar Epps, Illeana Douglas, Heather Langenkamp, Scott Foley, Robert Forster, and Corey Feldman. Some of them even filmed scenes which were scrapped by director Wes Craven.

The set used for the high school is Torrance High School, the same used for Sunnydale High on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and West Beverly High on Beverly Hills, 90210 and its spin-off 90210. Filming also occurred at Verdugo Hills High School.^[1]

In the United States, the film was originally to be released as an R-rated film with graphic violent scenes. However, the studio wished to have a more marketable PG-13 rating, and the film was edited and released as a PG-13 film.

Release

In Canada, the uncut version of the film was released theatrically and received a 14A in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario and a 14 in the Maritimes (after appeal) and a 13+ in Quebec. In British Columbia, the film was given an 18A and after an unsuccessful appeal,^[2] the edited US version was submitted, 14A-rated, and released in British Columbia.

Critical reception

The film received largely negative reviews, earning a 17% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which concluded that "[a] predictable plot and cheesy special effects make Cursed a less-than-scary experience."^[3]

Box office

Cursed opened theatrically on February 25, 2005, grossing $19 million at the North American box office, based on a $38 million budget.

Home media

When released on DVD in the US on June 21, 2005, two versions were available: the original theatrical version (rated PG-13; 97 min.), and also an unrated version (99 min.) which contains the footage cut to obtain a PG-13 rating and runs approximately 2 minutes longer than the original release.

In Canada, Alliance Atlantis released the unrated (marketed as 'Uncensored') version only on DVD (as opposed to Dimension Home Video in the US) and the DVD cover was changed to match the original theatrical poster.

References

1. ^ VHHS On Location! Feature Films
2. ^ Reconsideration Document for Cursed - British Columbia Film Classification Office
3. ^ "Cursed". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixter. Retrieved 2011-07-31.

External links

• Cursed at the Internet Movie Database
• Cursed at AllRovi
• Cursed at Box Office Mojo
• Cursed at Rotten Tomatoes