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THE CURSE
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| Rated R
| | Copyright 1987 Trans World Entertainment.
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Reviewed by Andrew Borntreger on 6 November 2007
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Wil Wheaton stars as a boy living on a farm in Tennessee in this adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Colour Out of Space." A fluid-filled meteorite lands in the pasture, creating a suspiciously square furrow from the impact (like a bulldozer had dug it). The meteorite is obviously crazy outer space stuff, but the local doctor discounts it as harmless, even after the darn thing dwindles away by leaking its contents into the groundwater. The extraterrestrial contamination blights the crops and turns Wheaton's mother into a slime-dripping hag. Other members of the family are similarly afflicted, just at a slower pace. When the little girl starts getting sick, Wheaton saves her by sneaking into town to buy canned food and obtaining drinking water from the doctor's outdoor hose. The film ends after the two kids flee their transformed family and the old farmhouse collapses into the surrounding miasma.
Special effects range from passing to downright terrible. The meteor's arrival sequence is a good example. The bracket assembly holding the model meteor is clearly visible. At first, I thought it must be a tree branch, it was so prominent. Also, for reasons unknown, the bracket system looks like it is constructed of square pieces, vice the round dowels or tubing that would normally be used. I wonder why the special effects technician did not use wire. Maybe the meteor model is larger than it looks?
The real reason to see this film is to watch a young Wil Wheaton repeatedly slapped by his Bible-thumping stepfather. If that is not enough Wheaton abuse to pique your interest, he also gets royally smeared with manure. All of the people who said they could only be happy if Wesley Crusher was covered in excrement and beaten take note: your wish came true.
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| Things I Learned From This Movie: | |
|  | Farmhands should not have more fur than the livestock.
| | | Never hammer a chisel into something that looks like a huge testicle, especially if it experienced "shrinkage" overnight.
| | | Those "Grow Your Own Kimchee" infomercials are a load of bull.
| | | Tomatoes are 70 psi.
| | | If you visit Tennessee, don't drink the water.
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| | | 7 mins - Next time, my biscuits had better be smothered in gravy. You hear me, woman?
| | | 15 mins - She must be downstairs, knitting a sweater for the old woman who sits in the front pew at church. Yeah, right!
| | | 20 mins - Hi, Mr. Cameraman!
| | | 45 mins - Maybe you can market them as "protein fortified" apples.
| | | 57 mins - PETA was not exaggerating, dairy cows really do suffer.
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Re: The Curse (Capsule Review)
Reply #1. Posted on November 09, 2007, 09:38:09 PM by Gerry
Man, this one is a dog. Even seeing Will get slapped around does not redeem it. For a much better version of this Lovecraft story, try DIE, MONSTER, DIE! (great Misfits song too).
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| Re: The Curse (Capsule Review)
Reply #2. Posted on November 10, 2007, 08:55:56 AM by jz1017
I've seen Die Monster, Die! and the Curse. I've also read the short story The Colour Out of Space. I find that it is unfortunate that The Curse is the closest version to Lovecraft's original story. Do yourself a favor and read the story, don't bother with either film.
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| Re: The Curse (Capsule Review)
I've noticed that with a lot of Lovecraft's stories, but especially those made in the 80's and 90's. Anyone ever seen The Lurking Fear? It's nothing like the short story! We go from a man investigating the mysterious slaughter of a village by subterranean beasts to some action/horror wanna-be about a bunch of people holed up in a dilapidated church with what appear to be undead monsters living underground. I'm still trying to wonder exactly how they did a film for Cool Air, especially when that story was maybe what? 10 pages? In all honesty, if you want the feel of Lovecraft, just read the damn stories!
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Re: The Curse (Capsule Review)
Reply #4. Posted on November 11, 2007, 12:16:45 PM by Neville
Saw this one as a kid, found quite boring. The image of the apples stuffed with worms stuck with me for a while, though. If you ever have kids that eat too much fruit and not enough candy bars, that's the way to solve it, show them this movie.
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Re: The Curse (Capsule Review)
Reply #5. Posted on November 12, 2007, 12:19:50 PM by Gerry
I believe "Cool Air" has been adapted several times. It's the second segment in the horror antho movie NECRONOMICON: BOOK OF THE DEAD, but I haven't seen any of the others.
I do agree that "The Colour Out of Space" is far superior in the original short story than in any adaptation, but I would far rather watch Karloff than Wil Wheaton any day of the week (and twice on Sunday).
BLEEDERS is also an awful adaptation of "The Lurking Fear"...in fact the only really GOOD adaptation of Lovecraft to date is the silent CALL OF CTHULHU. Hopefully that will change with the Lovecraft Society's new adaptation of "The Whisperer in the Darkness".
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Neanderthal warriors participated in the siege of Troy.