• About
  • podcasts
  • Shop

Surgeons of Horror

~ Dissecting horror films

Surgeons of Horror

Tag Archives: judy greer

Retrospective: Cursed (2005)

18 Friday Feb 2022

Posted by surgeons of horror in retrospective, wes craven's the scream years

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

christina ricci, jesse eisenberg, joshua jackson, judy greer, Kevin Williamson, lycanthrope, shannon elizabeth, Werewolf, Wes Craven

Wes Craven: The Scream years part 5 – Cursed (2005)

What should have been a dream project for Wes Craven outside of his involvement in the Scream franchise, combining once again with his writing partner Kevin Williamson would end up being something of a nightmare by the time of its theatrical release.

Boosting its potential recipe for success was a high-hitting young talent to draw in the crowds, with Christina Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg playing the siblings and our lead protagonists, ably supported by Joshua Jackson and Judy Greer.

Chief among the downfall of this werewolf flick was a case of the producers muddying the waters of creativity by insisting on making numerous changes to the script and the production, including ditching creature feature effects by the hands of the late great Rick Baker, and implanting computer generated imagery into the fold. I might be biased in this category, as I’m a huge fan of make-up prosthetics and man-made creature effects, but the CGI here is incredibly dated and looks woefully bad looking back 17 years after it had initially hit screens.

The dialogue is incredibly clunky now and it’s evident upon viewing that a lot of changes have been made to the script as it jars in several places, throwing the viewer out of the picture.

There were reshoots upon reshoots upon reshoots, as the powerhouse company kept demanding changes, proving to be one colossal headache for Craven. Supposedly these original cut versions still exist but whether they will see the light of day or be subjected to the darkness remains to be seen.

For now the version we got sees siblings Ellie (Ricci) and Jimmy (Eisenberg) at odds with one another, their relationship stifled growing up together under the cloud of their parents death. Their bond becomes stronger though when they are involved in a car accident when they are attacked by a creature. The creature we learn later is a lycanthrope, and Ellie and Jimmy go about their separate ways to uncover the truth behind the attack with a whodunnit style approach to their amatuer sleuthing before we reach the reveal and the climax of the movie.

Cursed suffers under the weight of mis-managed production but there is still life in the movie, not to be completely dismissed or left for dead. The film contains flickers of a pulse (ironic as the American remake of Pulse was initially going to be a Craven project, before he was pulled into making this movie instead) and there are moments where the Williamson humour is allowed to surface. It would have been so cool to have seen Craven’s initial vision, but unfortunately it would suffer a similar fate to A Vampire in Brooklyn, where the trust in Craven is quashed. Maybe he should have steered clear of the Gothic-style inspirations and kept carving out his own macabre musings, but when the wind forces you in one direction, you have no choice but to bow. A great shame.

  • Saul Muerte

Related Links:

Movie Review: Scream (2022)

10 Scream inspired movies

Retrospective: Vampire in Brooklyn

Retrospective: Scream (1996)

Retrospective: Scream 2 (1997)

Retrospective: Scream 3 (2000)

Movie review: Halloween Kills (2021)

03 Wednesday Nov 2021

Posted by surgeons of horror in Halloween franchise, Movie review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

andi matichal, anthony michael hall, Halloween, Halloween franchise, halloween kills, Jamie Lee Curtis, judy greer, laurie strode, michael myers, Nick Castle

It seems an age ago when David Gordon Green and Danny McBride did the impossible and reignited a struggling franchise, bringing a much more brutal Michael Myers to the screen in Halloween. 

The main question posed to the creative team here though is, could they repeat the success of its predecessor?

To answer this, I draw on the Surgeons 6 rules to making a good sequel.

1. ​​Identify the ideas, themes & executional elements that make the first film great.  Or at least good.  Or at least worthy of being sequelised.

Part of its appeal alongside the sheer force of The Shape carving his way through Haddonfield once again, juxtaposed by the fragility and strength of Laurie Strode, magnificently portrayed by Jamie Lee Curtis, was how the film played to the damaging effects that trauma has on humanity, and how some condition themselves to the impact that this has had on their lives.

Where Halloween 2018 leaned into early stages of trauma through the eyes of the Strode family, who are in complete denial, numbed to the exposure that Laurie’s turmoil has taken, or through the taking on the pain and guilt of surviving such an ordeal, the latest outing needs to take this to the next level, Anger and Bargaining. The only problem with these emotions is that there isn’t a lot on the dial to play with. Each character that embodies these emotions invariably meet their grisly end as a result. Not that this completely squashes the narrative however, as the re-introduced character of Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall) who leads a vigilante group on a mission to end evil and kill Myers for good. It certainly shines a light on the consequences that a mob mentality can have when confronting trauma. Brute force against brute force will always lead to ruin where there are no winners.

It’s biggest strength is in its central antagonist, Michael, who never holds back, continuing the theme from the 2018 feature. As it should be. He is and will always be the draw card to the franchise, and I’m glad to say that he never disappoints, arguably his portrayal here is one of the finest in the franchise.

It’s other strength from 2018, is with Jamie Lee Curtis.. Every moment she is on screen, you are willing for her to bring the same exhaustive performance. However, she is subjected to a more minor role, still an important one, as between her and the wounded Deputy Frank Hawkins (Will Patton) provide hope through acceptance, through what will be the final step in moving through a traumatic event.


2. Pay homage and do not violate/ignore said ideas and themes and elements                                                  

Here, Green still pays homage to the franchise as a whole, using elements that have played key roles or images that have been instilled from previous films, such as Halloween III: Season of the Witch, with the skeleton, pumpkin, and the witch. The creative team have proven before that they are lovers of the franchise and here is no exception to that rule. So, for this, they continue to immerse the viewer and expand on that sense of nostalgia without causing damage at all.

3. Introduce new/expanded themes, ideas and elements that will NATURALLY ALIGN to your first ideas, themes & elements.
As mentioned, the new elements introduced in this movie expand on the themes of trauma, most notably anger. This feels like a natural cause of action following the 2018 feature. The second part of this trajectory is through bargaining, a trait that is mostly seen through Karen (Judy Greer), in many ways the heart of the movie, pleading with her mother Laurie to listen to reason, desperately trying to save the life of the prison inmate, wrongly identified as Michael. This only makes her actions bittersweet in the face of the movie’s climax, a step that needed to be taken in order for the survivors, whoever they may be, to heal.

4. DO NOT rehash the first film and just give people “more of the same”.

This is where the movie starts to fall down a little.
While it tries to push the story arc along, it fails to resonate a beat and quicken the pulse at all. It is happy to play with the same kind of energy, but in doing so falls flat and starts to feel like it is a filler movie between Halloween and what will ultimately be Halloween Ends.It struggles to shift outside of this and doesn’t deliver as a result.

5. DO NOT-NOT rehash the first film by giving more of the same…. BUT “BIGGER”.

It could be argued here too that they’ve tried to go bigger, and who could blame them, and in part Michael falls into this category. I would counter this though by saying in the very action of attempting to go bigger, they lose sight of the integral components, and the raw energy captured before. It feels a little flat in its execution and disconnects from the viewer.

6. Be a good enough stand-alone film by itself.

And for its final hurdle in our 6 rules for a great sequel, Halloween Kills stumbles.
It fails to be viewed as a stand alone movie as it relies too greatly on its predecessors. It is these movies that allow the feature to stand tall, but take away these crutches, there isn’t a lot left on show.

The Diagnosis:

So, where does that leave things with Halloween Kills?
Well, it manages to execute 3 out of 6 rules successfully, which falls in line with my gut reaction.
I marked it as a little over average and falls short of the previous movie.

Yes, it’s a filler and it might feel more satisfying once Halloween Ends completes that cycle.
Until then, we’re left with a vaguely entertaining movie that tries to satisfy the core fans, some of whom will be content, but others will note the lack of impact that came in 2018.

  • Saul Muerte

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • June 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016

Categories

  • A Night of Horror Film Festival
  • Alien franchise
  • Alliance Francaise French Film Festival
  • Australian Horror
  • Best Movies and Shows
  • Competition
  • episode review
  • Flashback Fridays
  • Friday the 13th Franchise
  • Full Moon Sessions
  • Halloween franchise
  • Interview
  • japanese film festival
  • John Carpenter
  • killer pigs
  • midwest weirdfest
  • MidWest WierdFest
  • MonsterFest
  • movie of the week
  • Movie review
  • News article
  • podcast episode
  • press release
  • retrospective
  • Rialto Distribution
  • Ring Franchise
  • series review
  • Spanish horror
  • sydney film festival
  • Sydney Underground Film Festival
  • The Blair Witch Franchise
  • The Exorcist
  • The Howling franchise
  • Top 10 list
  • Trash Night Tuesdays on Tubi
  • umbrella entertainment
  • Uncategorized
  • Universal Horror
  • Wes Craven
  • wes craven's the scream years

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Surgeons of Horror
    • Join 2,400 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Surgeons of Horror
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar