The Curse (1987)

Waste of time

To me, this movie is perfection.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

An overly obsessed religious man (Claude Atkins) is trying to provide for his family by holding onto his farm, and make sure his family obeys his orders. An unknown object flies out of nowhere in their yard during a hectic storm, and things start changing for the worse. This is pretty trashy stuff on virtually no budget what so ever. Actor David Keith takes a break from the acting world to direct this one. How did he do? Not so good… I've seen a lot worse, believe me, but that doesn't mean this is a good horror film. It's incredibly cheap looking with many unlikable characters. The so called "Father" is a sanctimonious idiot who refuses to succumb to any type of reasoning. The brother is a fat pig, and the Mother is unsympathetically weak and naive. It's the real life sister and brother combo (who ironically play brother and sister in the movie as well) of Will & Amy Wheaton that manage to be likable. The gore is mostly consisted of lame gooey effects, and is more laughable than anything else. We do get a rather gruesome scene of a chicken pecking away at a girl. That's really about it. Will Wheaton shows off the talent that he brought to the table in Stand By Me, and manages to overcome such a crappy script. He wasn't great, but considering he had nothing to work with? I commend him. Claude Atkins's character is written as a religious nut who is pretentious, but I thought he was completely moronic. What type of idiot is adamant on drinking water, even if it's been heavily tampered?? He was just written so idiotically that I couldn't wait to see his character perish. Final Thoughts: It never bored me, but it's an incredibly stupid movie. The poorly written characters and the fact that it took everything seriously really does this one in. This could have been a great cheese fest, but it went the serious route. I can't recommend this one to you guys, unfortunately 3.5/10

I am 71 as I write this review, and have to admit to having an affinity for low budget sci-fi horror films since my early teens. Starting with "House of Wax" (1954), and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956), I have always been partial to stories where something strange is going on, often called the paranoid plot, and only the main character or hero believes it is not coincidence, but something dangerous or evil.This film, while just so-so in its execution and production values, fulfills the above criteria. Only Wil Wheaton and his sister Amy realize there is something wrong with the water after stuff from a meteor leaks into the ground. When people and animals begin to develop strange symptoms and behaviors, the others are either in denial or attribute it to false causes, such as punishment for sexual sins. There is a creepiness that I found riveting, despite the films many shortcomings. And the special effects, particularly during the first half, while slight, were gross and scary looking. I have always preferred "monsters" that look only a little off from normal people. The overdone collapse of the house near the end was ridiculous, and hurt the movie. Still, I enjoyed the slow buildup and, unlike many other reviewers, found the movie and the idea original and suspenseful. If you are expecting a work of art, stay away.Other Good "B" Low Budget films in this category are: "The Baby" (1973), "Population 436" (2008), Night of the Creeps (1986), "Pulse" (1988), and "Grandmother's House" (1988). I won't even try to list the bad movies in this category, since there are so many, and I can't remember the names of most of those I have seen. The 8 rating is only comparing the film to others in this category, not mainstream movies in general.

A decent, but unspectacular late 80s cheesy low-budget b-grade horror feature starring Wil Wheaton (not too long after the hit movie "Stand by Me"). The peculiar plot is a very loose adaptation of a H.P. Lovecraft short story, and from that the film's pacing can plod about (quite talkie and then there was the family dramas) and throw around some ridiculous and elaborate occurrences. It's the performances that drives this one home and some icky, if tatty make-up FX work latter on (not including some very low-end special effects), but other than that there's not all that much to it. The idea isn't bad, but the execution (outside some well-shot scenes) is sloppy (like the use of slow motion towards the end). A respectable Wheaton makes for an agreeably sympathetic performance and a lively Claude Akins is the opposite as his aggressively headstrong, bible totting step-father. There's good support in the shape of Kathleen Jordon Gregory, Cooper Huckabee, Steve Carlisle and John Schneider. The setting of a remote farm does create a claustrophobic hold, where there's never a sense of feeling secure and surprisingly the night time sequences did draw upon some atmospheric spells. A fruity, small scale Horror/Sci-fi production, which can be a little dull.

A struggling farmer believes God has blessed him when his crops begin to grow substantially after a large meteor lands in his field, dissolving into his soil and water supply after the local doc, Forbes(Cooper Huckabee), pokes a hole in it. The infected water(it's molecular structure altered by the introduced alien substance from the glowing meteor) causes people and livestock to act irrationally, soon turning violent. Hysteria, dementia, violent mood swings, and skin mutations all result from the infected water.The fruit is worthless internally despite looking ripe and healthy externally. The local realtor and city councilman, Charlie Davidson(Steve Carlisle) woos a TVA water employee, Willis(John Schneider)hoping to get a contract for building a dam in their community.Poor Zack(Wil Wheaton) has to rough it on his own once his mother, Francis(Kathleen Jordon Gregory) becomes "under the weather" and his sister(Amy, Wil's sis) is assaulted by manic chickens, as Nathan(Akins) and his antagonistic jerk son, Cyrus(Malcolm Danare), both even worse after being infected, torment him through insults and harsh treatment..you see he's not their blood(..his mother married Nathan, it seems, because they needed support he could give) which means they feel little pity or affection towards him. Nathan is a hard, strict, bible-quoting fanatic who doesn't want anyone "butting in" to matters he considers private, even if disease and death spread because of the infected water, or what's evident before him, the fact that his family are afflicted with a plague.Tolerating Claude Akins for the duration of this film proves to be difficult because he's such a loud and repugnant creature you just want to see suffer in the worst possible way for the problems he causes. And, Wheaton is certainly easy to sympathize with because he's caught between a rock and hard place, little wiggle room to remove himself as madness evolves all around him. Of course, those involved in attempting to cover up something which could prove harmful regarding future prosperity will get their just desserts. Some really spine-tingling make-up effects showing what the mutations and disease cause to humans(and particularly the fruit and cattle)such as opening wounds bursting forth maggots, slimy puss, and beetles! The climax, as the house literally begins imploding while sinking into the earth, is a bit too much. The hideous nature for which causes mother Francis to deform into a ghastly monstrosity is really potent stuff. I'm sure Akins and Danare's fate will be met with applause. I do consider The Curse a success in regards to how it can effectively make your skin crawl, but other than that, I find this rather foul in all respects. It seems to suffer post-production problems, in script particularly, as characters vanish, while others make such preposterous choices which could cause irreversible results(..not to mention a ridiculous ending which leads us to believe that nothing was done in regards to the crisis of the film, written off as no threat or danger to the communities surrounding the farm whose soil and water could cause a national outbreak).This is part of a series of films unrelated to each other.