Curse II: The Bite (1989)

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Curse II: The Bite (1989) * 1/2 (out of 4) Clark (J. Eddie Peck) and his girlfriend Lisa (Jill Schoelen) are driving through the desert when he's bitten by what he thinks is just a normal snake. Unfortuantly for him, this was actually a radioactive snake and soon Clark's hand begins to form into a mutant snake.THE CURSE ended up being a surprise hit, or at least a decent money-maker so this sequel was produced. In reality, I'm going to guess that the original title of this was simply THE BITE but the "CURSE" part of the title was added on by producer Ovidio G. Assonitis to try and milk money off the first ones success. For the most part this is a pretty bland movie that is just way too boring to hold your attention, although there were a couple decent ideas scattered throughout.If you thought that the characters in THE CURSE were stupid then you haven't seen anything yet. The couple in this movie are beyond dumb in so many ways yet I've been told that without dumb characters you wouldn't be able to have a horror movie. It's okay when people do dumb things but these two here are something else. I mean, you're bitten by a snake and your condition continues to get worse yet you don't do anything about it? Did it ever dawn on either one to seek some additional help after the first medical treatment didn't work? Perhaps if the movie hadn't been boring me so much I wouldn't have bothered this but it came across quite annoying.The performances aren't the greatest by anyone Jamie Farr was entertaining as a sly con man who is chasing the couple around over fears that he's going to get sued. Fans of ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST will also enjoy seeing Sydney Lassick turn up in a couple scenes. The special effects show their lack of money and especially since you rarely get to see the snake forming out of the hand. There are a couple memorable death scenes but for the most part CURSE II: THE BITE is a complete misfire.

~Spoiler~It's a movie about a guy with a snake hand...how do you f**k that up? The Curse II: The Bite is a sequel that has nothing whatsoever to do with the Wil Wheaton original. And if you disliked the first film, you ain't seen nothing yet. The Curse II is about a couple (played by 80's scream queen Jill Schoelen and soap star J. Eddie Peck) traveling through the desert who pick up a hitchhiking radioactive snake. When the boyfriend gets bitten by the traveling snake, he thinks it's okay to get treatment from a traveling salesman (Klinger from M.A.S.H.) who happens to be carrying anti-venom from various snakes. As his hand later transforms into a giant snake head and he gets all kinds of sick, his girlfriend can't understand what's wrong with him and even yells at the poor guy. Then local redneck sheriff Bo Svenson comes along and makes matters worse. I wish I were making this up. With this story and collection of random actors, you probably think I'm making this up! The Curse II might sound like some bizarre cult film, but it's not. It's really very boring until the end. That's where Screaming Mad George's unique effects come into play. The hero of the story starts vomiting baby snakes, his eyes fall out, and eventually a huge snake tears its way out of his head. It's as disgustingly offensive as it sounds. Speaking of disgustingly offensive, there is a slow-motion scene of the couple driving over hundreds of snakes on a deserted stretch of highway that will absolutely puzzle the hell of you. I would strongly suggest staying away from this film. But somebody out there must have liked it because there are 2 other movies that exist which bear the "cursed" Curse title.

A sterling example of how a threadbare and unpromising premise can be made genuinely creepy and effective thanks to a proficient execution. Granted, the story ain't much: Young fellow Clark (affable J. Eddie Peck) and his sweet girlfriend Lisa (a winning performance by late 80's flash-in-the-pan scream queen cutie Jill Schoelen of "The Stepfather" fame) are driving their jeep across the parched, desolate Arizona desert. The pair take an ill-advised detour off the main road and discover an old abandoned nuclear test site. Things turn sour when one of the jeep tires goes flat. Things get worse when Clark gets bitten by a radioactive snake. And, naturally, things become all the more hairy and freaky when Clark's bitten arm starts to mutate into a foul, icky, highly deadly and disgusting snake monster! As I said before, the hackneyed plot leaves plenty to be desired. However, with this supremely yucky and revolting horror movie gross-out splatterfest it's not the story that counts; it's Screaming Mad George's astonishingly vile and revolting make-up f/x and Federico Prosperi's commendably able direction which really make the difference here. Among the picture's sickening highlights are a woman's jaw being torn off, a man's heart being yanked out of his throat, and Peck vomiting forth dozens of steaming slithery snakes. The acting is uniformly tops as well: Peck and Schoelen are credible and likable leads, with solid support from Bo Svenson as a mean, intimidating jerk sheriff, Jamie Farr as a friendly, helpful salesman, "Midnight Ride" 's Savina Gersak as a kind, pious Baptist lady, Sydney Lassick as a meek, squeamish motel clerk, and "Parasite" 's Al Fann as a belligerent gas station attendant. Roberto D'Ettorre Piazoli's crisp, fluid cinematography, the eerily forbidding atmosphere, Carlo Maria Cordio's spare, shivery score, the superbly spooky use of arid, swelteringly hot and sticky New Mexico locations, and the spectacularly grotesque and hence immensely upsetting bummer ending further enhance the overall flesh-crawling uneasiness of this harrowingly unpleasant and unnerving fright film surprise.

I can't believe this film has mustered up even 3.7 stars as this movie is not very good. It's only real highlights are an appearence by Sydney Lassick (known for his memorable role as "Charlie Cheswick" in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo'sNest") and Jamie Farr ("Klinger" from "M*A*S*H"). Note to Hollywood directors: If Sydney Lassick is your movie's ONLY highlight, you have a very serious problem.The special effects are terrible and overcompensated for by being way moregooey and graphic than they needed to be. I've seen episodes of "PerfectStrangers" that were more suspensful. Seeing some guys gauze wrapped handturn slowly into a moistened rubber snake puppet is nowhere near as thrilling as when Cousin Larry almost missed his big job interview because lovable Balkilost his car keys.The film is topped off with 7 or 8 major product placement scenes and close to 14 1/2 hours of Jeep driving in the desert footage.One final and interesting note: "Deputy Barney" is played by someone who later went on to play Jesus. I'll let you make up your own sarcastic comments.