Devil’s Curse, The (DVD)
Steve Barton
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Reviewed by KW Low, General Manager
Starring Colin Salmon, Stephen Gately, Clayton Watson, MyAnna Buring, Rhea Bailey
Directed by Toni Harman
Distributed by Lionsgate Home Entertainment
You know what’s missing in horror films today pertaining to the devil and/or demons? Supernatural elements, that’s what. You would think that their inclusion would be a bit of a no-brainer; however, it seems lately as if filmmakers have forsaken the paranormal in favor of the just plain crazy.
We meet our troupe of five college kids from London as they’re evicted from their flat for throwing too many loud parties. There’s no question — when you’re on the street with nowhere to go, you’re likely to do just about anything in order to survive. Even break into and set up shop in an old Catholic School residence hall. That’s just what our protagonists do. Of course this place is also home to an urban legend. Many years ago kids conjured up demons, they were all killed except for one who disappeared, yadda, yadda. We’ve been there and we’ve so done that. As I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, it’s not long before bodies start piling up and — be still my heart — who’s to blame? THE MISSING STUDENT FROM YEARS AGO!!! Can you not just feel the shock, horror, and awe?
Truth be told, The Devil’s Curse starts out strong and even keeps its momentum until the final act of the film in which we’re subjected to — you guessed it again — a completely needless twist ending that takes all the good stuff we were hoping for and flushes it down the toilet in favor of the old faithful “it’s all in your head” plot device. It was at this moment that I had to resist the urge to take out the disc and snap it in half. Why?!? Why can’t the usage of other worldly occurrences be good enough? It’s getting so that delivering what’s promised could be considered a twist in and of itself. Feh. Another missed opportunity.
Here’s the kicker — the special features? We get a featurette that’s called … wait for it … wait … for … it … The Five Essentials of a Horror Movie. Go ahead. Punch your monitor. It’s OK. I understand. You’ll want to. You should. Oh how clever these filmmakers are. They know everything! Too bad they didn’t follow their own advice. Wow, am I annoyed.
In the end we’re left with an average little movie that didn’t rise above mediocrity because it decided to pussy out just as the home stretch was in view. If this truly is a devil’s curse, methinks that Big Red just wants to bore us to death. Skip it. You’ll thank me later.
Special Features
2 1/2 out of 5
Special Features:
2 out of 5
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