Common Sense Media Review
By Beth Pratt
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Dumb werewolf movie may leave you feeling cursed.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
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Cursed
What's the Story?
When twenty-something Ellie (Christina Ricci) and her teen brother Jimmy get into a car accident on a dark, winding road, they try to free the other driver of the car (Shannon Elizabeth), only to see her get dragged away by a large wolf. Ellie and Jimmy get scratched by the wolf, but don't think anything of it right away. After all, Ellie is focused on work and her new boyfriend Jake (Joshua Jackson) and Jimmy is busy trying to make it through the horrors of high school, where he is the victim of some bullying boys from the wrestling team. But soon tell-tale signs that Ellie and Jimmy were infected by a werewolf start emerging, and the siblings find themselves fighting the urge to go to the dark side.
Is It Any Good?
It's hard to tell if Cursed is supposed to be a campy, sarcastic film like Scream or a true horror movie. Although it offers funny touches like a Scott Baio cameo, it's not clever and biting enough to be a send-up of horror movies, but it's not scary enough to be a horror movie, either. Basically, it's a just a mess of a movie -- that's the best that can be said about it.
Originally rated R, the film was reshot and edited down to make it PG-13. It appears that a sensible plot and any kind of character development were edited out as well. And they must have run out of money before they hired the special effects team, because the computer-generated werewolves look fake and decidedly not scary. They would have been better off not showing the werewolves at all, because then the anticipation of seeing the beasts would create some real interest and suspense.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the parent-less Ellie and Jimmy take care of each other. They could also discuss the way the movie handles homophobia.
Movie Details
- In theaters : February 25, 2005
- On DVD or streaming : June 21, 2005
- Cast : Christina Ricci , Joshua Jackson , Shannon Elizabeth
- Director : Wes Craven
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Dimension
- Genre : Horror
- Run time : 90 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : violence, sexual content, crude humor and a drug reference
- Last updated : March 14, 2020
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