CURSED (2005)
2-Disc Collector's Edition
Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Duration: 97 Minutes (Theatrical Cut), 99 Minutes (Unrated)
Rating: PG-13 (Theatrical) & Unrated
Video: 1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.40:1)
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Wes Craven
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Christina Ricci, Portia de Rossi, Joshua Jackson, Judy Greer, Milo Ventimiglia, Michael Rosenbaum, Nick Offerman, Shannon Elizabeth, Scott Baio, Craig Kilbourn
Few films are as aptly titles a Wes Craven's millennial werewolf flick Cursed (2005), a troubled production that started off promisingly, advertised as a reteaming of Scream director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson with werewolf effects by none other than Rick Baker. The film was absolutely plagued by re-writes, re-shoots, and re-casting that saw the film neutered for a doomed PG-13 theatrical release, and what ended up in theatres was a limp-dicked and watered-down werewolf flick that, among other things, lost the talents of Rick Baker (An American Werewolf In London) when the original footage was scrapped, who was replaced by Greg Nicotero (The Walking Dead), who is no slouch himself, but the damage was already done and the heavily tampered with final product was a bust. When the film was released on home video we got an unrated cut with about 2 minutes of additional footage not seen in theaters. The unrated cut is definitely superior to the lackluster theatrical cut with more gore, but it's still a hot mess and not a great film.
The story, such as it is features a werewolf on the loose in Los Angeles, where brother and sister Jimmy (Jesse Eisenberg, Zombieland) and Ellie (Christina Ricci, Yellowjackets) are attacked by it, but escape with just small bites and scratches. A fortune teller Zela (Portia de Rossi, Dead & Breakfast) warns them that they are cursed, and that they must destroy the beast that bit them. As both siblings begin to display the telltale signs of lycanthropy as the full moon approaches they set out to identify the beast, who might be closer to them than they think.
Also figuring into the story are Ellie's cagey boyfriend Joshua Jackson (TV's Fringe), a snide publicists Joanie (Judy Greer, Halloween Kills), and an antagonistic
homophobe jock Bo (Milo Ventimiglia (TV's Heroes) who bullies Jimmy quite a bit. I laughed the way this Jimmy/Bo subplot resolves itself, it's pretty funny. Also be on the lookout for appearances from Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville), Nick Offerman (Devs) as a cop, Shannon Elizabeth (American Pie) as a short-lived victim, and both Scott Baio (Charles In Charge) and one-time Comedy Central's Daily Show Host Craig Kilbourn as themselves, plus a performance from millennial pop-punkers Bowling For Soup. Being that there were so many reshoots and changes it flows terribly and the characters are flat and there's zero chemistry with anyone, the relationship between Jackson and Ricci is particaurly flat.
While the unrated cut plays better in either form this is a lesser Craven entry that will probably only appeal to Craven completists and millennial horror buffs. It's a pretty throwaway werewolf flick for sure, only memorable in that it's so very average... oh, and the werewolf dog!
Audio/Video: Cursed (2005) arrives in 2-disc Collector's
Edition from Scream Factory featuring both the Theatrical Cut and the Unrated Cut on separate disc, presented in 1080p HD widescreen (2.40:1). Both cuts are 4K scans of the original camera negative and look identical, grain is fine and well-managed, colors are vibrant, and depth and clarity are pleasing.
Audio comes by way of uncompressed English DTS-HD MA 2.0 and 5.1 with optional English subtitles. Both options are clean, well-balanced and show no signs of wear. The stereo track is solid and the 5.1 opens up the soundstage a bit with surround effects and the score from Marco Beltrami (The Woman in Black) sounds fuller as well.
Onto the extras, we get what looks to be all the previously released archival featurettes, including select scenes with commentary from Greg Nicotero, plus a pair of new interview. First up is A Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing – an interview with actor Derek Mears that runs about fourteen minutes. Mears talks about his early career, landing the gig on Cursed and being in awe of meeting Wes Craven. How there are two versions of the film, including a version with a different cast and Rock Baker created werewolf costume, and how he kept being called back for reshoots. It's a fairly candid interview, though it's clear that Mears isn't the kind of guy to tear people down, he's quite diplomatic about it, but it gets the point across that this was a very troubled production. He also gets into the werewolf flipping the bird scene and how that came to be.
The 18-min A Movie That Lives Up To Its Title – an interview with editor Patrick Lussier features the editor talking about the tampered film, discussing re-shoots after test screening, and how Craven was initially reluctant to do it, feeling that it was another potential Vampire in Brooklyn. He gets into the Frankenstein nature of the edit, cobbling new footage with the original footage, and how he ended up working on the edit for a total of 19 months!
The 2-disc release arrives in a dual-hubbed keepcase with a reversible sleeve of artwork featuring basically the same original key art with a color variation and one side of the wrap featuring an "Unrated" stamp. No new artwork on this one, and the wrap features the same main artwork.
Special Features:
Theatrical Cut
- NEW 4K scan of the original camera negative
- NEW A Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing – an interview with actor Derek Mears (14 min)
- NEW A Movie That Lives Up To Its Title – an interview with editor Patrick Lussier (18 min)
- Behind the Fangs: The Making of CURSED (8 min)
- The CURSED effects (7 min)
- Becoming a Werewolf (8 min)
- Creature Editing 101 (6 min)
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min)
Unrated Cut*
- NEW 4K scan of the original camera negative
- Select Scenes with Audio Commentary by special effects artist Greg Nicotero and actor Derek Mears: Car Wreck (6 min), Parking Garage (5 min), Tinsel (6 min), Final Fight (1 min)
*Please note: The Unrated Cut is not the original Craven cut of the film featuring different actors in the roles
