Even as a longtime admirer of Wes Craven’s films, I stayed away from his werewolf movie “Cursed” when it hit theaters in 2005.
This article is part of Trick or Stream, a seasonal series where Tom's Guide writers share their favorite horror movies and thrillers.
“Cursed” seemed like the appropriate title for a movie that was delayed for two years, reshot and rewritten multiple times, with entire performances cut out of the finished product. The reviews (with an abysmal 16 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes) further encouraged me to stay away, and I wasn’t the only one, since the movie was a box office failure and quickly gained a reputation as a massive flop.
So I was surprised when I finally got around to watching “Cursed” nearly a decade later to find an entertaining, campy werewolf movie with fun performances, some amusingly snarky dialogue and a few nasty kills. Maybe the earlier versions that the studio forced Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson to scrap would have been stronger, but the final result is much better than its toxic reputation suggests.
Away from the context of its troubled production and release, “Cursed” is an enjoyable foray into a subgenre that horror legend Craven never got another chance to attempt. It’s now streaming on Paramount Plus for anyone like me who initially dismissed it.
‘Cursed’ offers a familiar yet slanted take on werewolf mythology
It’s pretty clear that producers were hoping for “Cursed” to be the “Scream” of werewolf movies, especially by reteaming Craven and Williamson, who had previously collaborated on three highly successful movies in the neo-slasher franchise. While “Scream” deconstructs the slasher formula to offer a clever self-reflexive take on familiar elements, “Cursed” mostly plays its werewolf mythology straight, with only slight variations on decades of similar stories.
When the Myers siblings, Ellie (Christina Ricci) and Jimmy (Jesse Eisenberg), are attacked by a mysterious large animal following a highway crash in the Hollywood Hills, they start to exhibit stock werewolf traits, including a hunger for raw meat, heightened senses, increased strength, and animalistic behavior. Jimmy almost immediately determines that the creature they encountered must have been a werewolf, thanks to some online research and a lot of comic-book reading.
“Cursed” doesn’t have to reinvent the werewolf concept in order to have fun with it, though. The nerdy Jimmy develops emo hair that resembles Peter Parker’s in “Spider-Man 3” and finds the confidence to stand up to school bully Bo (Milo Ventimiglia), even using his newfound powers to dominate a school sport like in “Teen Wolf” — although here it’s wrestling rather than basketball.
Ellie tries to downplay her own transformation, but her growing needs manifest themselves at inopportune moments, like when she licks the blood off her boss’ cut finger.
The offbeat cast keeps ‘Cursed’ fresh
Ricci and Eisenberg are an unlikely pair, both as siblings and as werewolves, but they make for an unexpectedly effective team as they try to uncover who is responsible for their curse. Joshua Jackson gives a fairly straightforward performance as Ellie’s boyfriend Jake Taylor, who’s getting ready to open a Hollywood history-themed nightclub, although he eventually gets to cut loose in the finale.
Judy Greer plays a delightfully catty publicist who’s a constant annoyance to TV producer Ellie, and she delivers some of the movie’s best dialogue. Not many actors can pull off a line like “I guess there’s no such thing as safe sex with a werewolf,” but Greer makes it seem effortless. When she undergoes a full-on villain turn late in the movie, “Cursed” reaches its full camp potential.
The casting also marks “Cursed” as a very early-’00s pop-culture artifact, with both Scott Baio and Craig Kilborn playing themselves, and an opening performance by one-hit-wonder pop-punk band Bowling for Soup. Shannon Elizabeth and Portia de Rossi make memorable impressions in their brief roles.
One of the many changes that was made early in the development was to move the story to Los Angeles, and Craven and Williamson embrace the Hollywood setting, from the memorabilia in Jake’s nightclub to Ellie’s job on “The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn.” It’s a winning combination of kitsch and glamour.
‘Cursed’ is a stylish if flawed horror movie
Craven may have had a frustrating experience making “Cursed,” but his mastery of the horror genre still shines through, even in simple aspects like a tense POV shot of a hand slowly opening the door of a bathroom stall, as something dangerous lurks behind it. The werewolf effects, a mix of practical work from special-effects legend Rick Baker and hastily added CGI, are rough, but Craven still stages a fantastic climactic set piece in Jake’s club as the werewolf rampages through the various themed areas.
Craven’s career is full of highs and lows, and while “Cursed” doesn’t compare to classics like “Scream” or “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” it’s still an enjoyable detour, and a worthwhile watch for horror fans. I’m glad I didn’t let its bad reputation keep me away forever, and other connoisseurs of Craven’s work or werewolf movies in general would do well to give it a chance, too.
“Cursed” is now streaming on Paramount Plus.
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