From writer-director Sean Ellis comes the Gothic werewolf horror film The Cursed (aka Eight For Silver). When the trailer debuted it automatically went on my “must-see” list. The trailer looked fantastic, but because we get so few great werewolf films these days I was expecting to be somewhat disappointed. I’m here to tell you, it exceeded my every expectation.
The film begins with soldiers in the trenches in 1917, being pelted by gas, grenades, and gunfire. We see a soldier being carried into a tent, wounded with three gunshots. The next scene jumps thirty-five years in the past. A group of gypsies is slaughtered by men out to take their land. Before the last is killed, an old woman utters a curse as she’s buried alive. Soon, everyone in the village begins to have terrible dreams of the slaughter. When a group of children ventures to the spot of the killings occurred, they discover a set of silver teeth. A child slips them into his mouth and bites his friend, Richard (Max Mackintosh) setting off a terrifying chain of events. A pathologist (Boyd Holbrook) arrives in town and begins to investigate the grizzly murders and hunt the creature, similar to the one who took his family.
The cast, which also includes Kelly Reilly (“Yellowstone,” “True Detective”), and Alistair Petrie (“Sex Education), is fantastic. Each played their part to perfection, especially Holbrook who gave an intensely emotional performance.
You may be wondering about the werewolf. It’s very different from what you expect, but it is big, grotesque, and brutal. It is something new and original. The special effects team really outdid themselves with The Cursed, giving viewers something new, plus a ton of the blood and gore that you’d expect from a werewolf movie.
While being dark and foreboding, the film looks fantastic and features great cinematography. Speaking of dark, most films get night shots all wrong, making it where you can’t see any of the action, well, The Cursed gets it right and uses the dark as a tool to manipulate the characters and audience, adding tension and mystery.
Sure, this is a werewolf movie, but it does paint the humans as the real monsters who have no problem killing in the name of greed.
To say that I was pleased with The Cursed is an understatement. I found it compelling, interesting, fresh, and yes, frightening. It is easily one of the best horror films of the year.
Sink your teeth into The Cursed, in theaters on February 18, 2022.
