Werewolf Flicks: Cursed (2005)

It's weird: I love werewolf movies and yet, when I found out that's what this was when it was released in early 2005, I remember being rather disappointed. I think it was a combination of it being Wes Craven, who I'd come to expect more originality from, and also because the TV spots that I'd been seeing were very vague and weren't screaming "werewolf." In fact, they didn't hint at much of anything, but the idea of Craven doing a movie about an unnamed curse sounded intriguing. So, when it turned out to be just another werewolf flick, it felt anticlimactic. Regardless, the movie came and went and I didn't hear much else about it until I really started digging into the internet and learned from various podcasts how absolutely nightmarish its production was. I'd heard about how it got re-shot numerous times, characters and actors were either replaced or removed altogether as a result, and that the movie which was released to theaters was a total, incomprehensible mess. I also once heard Craven himself say that he almost didn't take on Red Eye, which was released the same year as Cursed, because of how long and torturous shooting the film was (I'm glad he did do it, though, because Red Eye ended up being his last good film, in my opinion). So, when I decided to sit down and watch Cursed for Schlocktober, I was terrified that it was going to be as unbearable to sit through as the horrendous My Soul To Take, which I think is a strong contender for Craven's worst film, along with The Hills Have Eyes Part II and Chiller. When I watched it, though, I felt it was ultimately just mediocre at best. While you can see the difficulties, it's still, mostly, coherent enough to watch, most of the characters are fairly likeable, and if you see the unrated version, you get plenty of gore to make up for the crappy CGI werewolves you to suffer through. Really, the biggest problem with Cursed is that it doesn't do anything that new with the werewolf concept. You can tell that, in his screenwriting, Kevin Williamson was trying to make it hip, polished, and smart, intending for this to do for werewolf films what the Scream franchise did for slashers, but it never fulfills those ambitions. Instead, it ends up being just another overproduced, glossy horror film from the 2000's that's trying desperately to appeal to young audiences.

At a seaside carnival near Los Angeles, Jenny Tate drags her friend Becky Morton to Zela, a fortune teller, to hear what she says about Becky's continued obsessing over a man who won't return her calls. Instead, when she reads both of their palms, Zela tells them that they're in great danger from "the beast." Neither of them are pleased with this and leave, though Becky, whom Zela tells to beware the moon, very quickly loses track of Jenny. Elsewhere, after visiting her boyfriend, Jake Taylor, as he's preparing for the opening of Tinsel, his movie-themed nightclub, and being put off by his distant attitude, Ellie Myers picks up her younger brother, Jimmy, who's just had a run-in with some bullies while talking with Brooke, a classmate he has a crush on. On the way home, they run into some kind of animal, sending them careening into another car, which smashes through the guardrail and rolls down the hill beyond it. Unharmed, the siblings try to help the other car's driver, who happens to be Becky, but a monstrous creature attacks them, slashing and biting them and dragging Becky away, ripping her in half. When the police arrive and interview them, Jimmy tells them it was something akin to a wolf, but Ellie is reluctant to back him up. Also, when Jimmy then tries to pet his dog, Zipper, who was in the back of Ellie's car, the dog growls and bites him, and quickly runs into the house and up the stairs when they get home. Continuing to disagree with his sister about what happened, Jimmy looks online about wolves in California, which leads him to websites whose information make him wonder if the creature might have been a werewolf. That night, Ellie has a nightmare about ripping Jake's throat open with her teeth, while the next morning, Jimmy wakes up in the bushes outside, naked. Both of them begin to develop a taste for raw meat, an attraction to the scent of blood, and heightened senses, with Jimmy becoming strong and confident enough to stand up to the bullies, especially Bo, who constantly picks on him when he tries to speak with Brooke. While Jimmy is sure that they've been cursed with werewolfism, Ellie, who works as part of the crew for The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, remains a skeptic, until she begins to feel very strange and downright animalistic at work. Moreover, the werewolf that cursed them kills Jenny Tate after a party, and Ellie and Jimmy must uncover its true identity before more people are killed, and also before it comes for them next.

It's no secret that Wes Craven went through more than his fair share of difficult, unpleasant productions throughout his career, particularly many where he faced a lot of interference from either the studio and the producers he was working for (which happened even on A Nightmare on Elm Street, to some degree) or, in the case of Vampire in Brooklyn, a difficult major star. In fact, Craven had gone through a similar situation similar to what would happen with Cursed in the 80's with his film, Deadly Friend, where Warner Bros. forced him to significantly re-shoot and alter the film to the point where it was almost nothing like its original conception. But, even then, it seems like Cursed was one of the absolute worst experiences Craven ever had making a movie. Moreover, according to Craven himself, he wasn't originally meant to do it. Initially, he was going to direct the American version of the Japanese film, Pulse, but Bob Weinstein took him off that and saddled him with Cursed, promising to pay him double (when Pulse finally was made, Craven was given a writing credit on it but according to him, his screenplay was totally rewritten and he had no input in the production). Little did Craven know that he would be working on Cursed for two years, as he would shoot about 90% of the original script, only for the producers to decide to rewrite and shoot it virtually from scratch. As if that weren't enough, when the re-shoots were almost complete, Craven was also ordered to shoot an entirely new ending. And then, Dimension messed with it even further by removing a good chunk of the practical effects work, which came from two different effects studios, and cutting it down from an R-rating to a PG-13. Needless to say, when it was all said and done, his experience on Cursed left Craven feeling especially aggravated.

So drastic was the retooling of the movie that a good chunk of the cast members who were in the original version that Craven shot didn't make it into the final film. Among them were actors from each of the Scream films, Skeet Ulrich, Omar Epps, and Scott Foley, as well as Heather Langenkamp, in what would have been her third time working with Craven, Mandy Moore, Corey Feldman, Illeana Douglas, James Brolin, and Robert Forster. While Christina Ricci and Jessie Eisenberg remained throughout the entire production, their characters were made into a brother and sister in the re-shoots, while they were total strangers originally, and Ulrich's character, who was originally meant to be attacked by the werewolf as well, was reconfigured into the character of Jake Taylor. And, while Ricci's character of Ellie works as part of the crew for The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, by the time the movie made it to theaters, it was already outdated as Craig Ferguson had taken over as the show's host.

The first film I ever saw with Christina Ricci was the 1995 Casper movie, which I watched a good number of times during my childhood, and ever since then, she's been an actor that I enjoy seeing. In my opinion, she's been good in everything I've seen her in and her performance in Cursed is no exception, even though, in the end, she doesn't have much to do. It's weird that it comes out that way, though, as Ellie Myers is portrayed as someone who has a lot on her plate. First, she and her younger brother, Jimmy, are on their own, as their parents are dead, apparently from a car crash, and their relationship, while not horrible, could be a lot better, as Jimmy is annoyed by how Ellie has a habit of denying and avoiding anything upsetting to her. Second, in her job as the booking agent for Craig Kilborn's show, she has to deal with Joanie, a very snarky, bitchy publicist who is constantly putting Ellie down when she's not bossing her around, and who also isn't thrilled about her dating Jake Taylor, her ex. Speaking of which, Ellie really wants to make things work with Jake but he proves to be rather distant and unwilling to commit to her. As if that weren't bad enough, she learns that Jake has had a number of girls in his past, ones who keep popping up rather inconveniently, and she's very put off by this turn of events. So, her life is already quite a whirlwind, and then, on top of everything else, she and Jimmy get into this accident, which ends with a monstrous beast slashing both of them while ripping a girl in half in front of them. But, when the police talk to them about it, Ellie says that she isn't really sure what it was that attacked them, much to Jimmy's irritation, as he knows it was a wolf-like creature. Despite her suddenly improved senses, the telltale marks on her hand, and a disturbing attraction to the smell of blood and the taste of raw meat, she refuses to believe Jimmy's belief that it might have been a werewolf, apparently proving her point by touching a picture frame that she says is made of silver.

However, one day at work, Ellie begins to change her tune, starting when Zela, the woman who warned Jenny Tate and Becky Morton of their impending doom, tells her that the "beast" will come for her. Later, she's disturbed when she finds herself compelled to suck Kilborn's bleeding finger before he starts taping his show, and when Joanie attempts to argue with her, Ellie stands up to her and gets her to back off. Feeling strange, she goes into the restroom, barricades herself in a stall, starting to feel bizarrely strong, as her voice starts to change. That night, after learning of Jenny's death, which was similar to Becky's a few nights before, she feels compelled to go home and be with Jimmy, rather than attend the opening of Tinsel. But, before she can leave, she's confronted by Jake, whom she learns is a werewolf when she sees the mark on his hand. He tries to explain himself but she manages to get away from him and heads towards her house, only to get a call from Jimmy, who's searching for her at the club. She warns him about Jake and promptly heads to the club. There, she's again confronted by Jake, who tells her that, despite being a werewolf, he isn't the one who killed Jenny and Becky, and also offers to help her control the curse and learn to live with it. Sure enough, Joanie is revealed to be the werewolf who's been murdering people, as a form of payback to Jake for both cursing her and dumping her. Therefore, Ellie becomes her next target, but she and Jimmy manage to fight her off and arrange it so that she's killed by the police. Once that's done, they go back home. Their relationship is better now, although Ellie isn't in the mood to listen to Jimmy calling Jake a monster who caused everything they've been through. But, as they try to clean up the destroyed house and fix the power, both of them start to feel the curse taking total hold of them. Jake then shows up, telling Ellie that her having the curse is the one way they can be together, as he's planning on getting rid of Jimmy so she doesn't have to worry about taking care of him. But, when Ellie rebuffs him, he decides to kill them both. The two of them manage to defeat him by working together, ultimately killing him by stabbing him with a silver utensil and severing his head from his body, an act that also breaks the curse.

Jessie Eisenberg has always seemed like the quintessential actor for playing nerdy, sort of weak characters (or dickish ones whom you just want to deck in the face), and his role here of Jimmy is definitely that at first. Like his sister, Jimmy doesn't have the easiest of existences, as his relationship with Ellie is rather strained and, every time he tries to talk with Brooke, whom he has a crush on, he has to deal with Bo, who bullies him with homophobic slurs and threats of violence. This has made him very timid, to the point where he's terrified of waiting out on Mulholland Drive by himself for his sister to pick him up after she gets off from work. When the two of them end up in the car accident and are attacked while trying to help Becky Morton, Jimmy tells them the cops that what attacked them was something like a large dog or wolf, and is irked when Ellie doesn't back him up. After they get home that night, he looks up reports of wolves in California and is led to a website that gets him wondering if what attacked them was a werewolf. He starts to really believe it when he wakes up out in the bushes, naked, the next morning, and, how over the following couple of days, he develops a taste for raw meat, finds himself becoming less and less inclined to back down from Bo, and becomes bolder in his pursuit of Brooke (his hair also suddenly goes from curly to straight, and it's really weird seeing Eisenberg like that). While he does enjoy the possibilities to an extent, he's a bit freaked out when, in gym, he not only takes on three wrestlers and wins but almost kills Bo in the process. He goes to talk to Jake Taylor about it, learning that Ellie never told him about what happened, but leaves when he sees that the conversation isn't going to go anywhere. That night, Jimmy gets all the proof he needs that he has been cursed with werewolfism, as he finds himself unable to touch something silver and his dog Zipper, who bit him earlier, turns into a wolf as well, forcing him to flee the house.

Jimmy and Bo, who turns out to actually be gay and is attracted to the natural air of attractiveness Jimmy emits as a werewolf, go to the opening of Tinsel in order to warn Ellie about Zipper. But, when they get there, Jimmy calls Ellie on Bo's cellphone and learns that Jake is a werewolf himself. The siblings get caught up in the mayhem that ensues when another werewolf, one who Jake claims is trying to get to him by killing those he's had relationships with, goes on a rampage in the club. Said werewolf is revealed to be Joanie, whose next target is Ellie, and while Jimmy tries to help his sister fight her off, neither of them prove to be that much of a match for her. It's only when the police arrive that she's finally put down and Ellie and Jimmy manage to get back home. There, as they try to fix the damage to the house caused by Zipper, Jimmy tells Ellie, who seems to be concerned for Jake, that he's the source of their curse, despite what she thinks about him, only for Ellie to refuse to talk about it. Much to Jimmy's aggravation, it seems as though that aspect of her hasn't changed. But then, both of them begin the change into full-on werewolves, when Jake shows up to try to make Ellie be with him in this way, intending to kill Jimmy. As tough as Jake is, working together, Jimmy and Ellie ultimately manage to kill him, lifting the curse on both of them, as well as Zipper. With that taken care of, they're visited by Bo and Brooke, the latter of whom learned where Jimmy lived and his crush on her through Bo. Jimmy, now officially having Brooke as a girlfriend, walks her home, along with Bo, leaving his sister to clean the mess up by herself.

If you've seen Scream, you could see why Skeet Ulrich was meant to play a variation on the character of Jake Taylor (Joshua Jackson) in the original version of this film, as Jake has that same kind of dark, mysterious, and edgy vibe to him that the character of Billy Loomis had. For the first half of the movie, Jake is portrayed as someone who seems to be into Ellie and wants a relationship with her, but is rather distant, not allowing her to get too close. He even mentions that he's planning on not showing up to the opening of his own movie-themed nightclub, Tinsel, which he's busy putting together. But, seeing that she's rather put off by this, he meets up with Ellie at a party and tries to make it up with her, telling her that he's had habit of running away from those who got too close in the past and that he does want to be with her. Unfortunately, she then learns that he's had quite the past, which has included more women than just Joanie, and leaves him at the party by himself. He tries repeatedly to get in touch with her afterward but she refuses to return his calls. The vibe around Jake starts to grow more sinister when Jimmy comes to see him and tells him about what happened to him and Ellie the other night and that he thinks they were attacked by a werewolf. The way he stands and looks at Jimmy during his talk has a malevolent feel to it, and he also writes off his belief about werewolves as ridiculous, which causes Jimmy to leave in frustration. That night, as Ellie is leaving work, Jake comes to see her to try to explain everything, unintentionally revealing himself to be a werewolf by showing her the mark on his hand and accidentally breaking her car's window. Before he can elaborate, Ellie escapes from him, but Jake finds her again at Tinsel during the opening. In a maze of mirrors there, he tells her that the werewolf that attacked her and Jimmy and that has been doing the killings was not him but someone else who's doing it to get to him. He also tells her that he was born a werewolf but has learned to live with and control the curse, something he can teach her to do as well. The other werewolf is later revealed to be Joanie, and Jake tries to stop her from hurting Ellie, but is knocked unconscious by her before she fully transforms again in order to kill Ellie. By the time the police arrive and take Joanie out, Jake has fled.

Then comes the ending, where Jake shows up at Ellie and Jimmy's house as they're both feeling the curse beginning to take its complete hold on them. Now, he's a full-on villain, telling Ellie that she has to be a werewolf so they can be together and that he's given her a potential release from the rather miserable life she's had. She isn't willing to be with him if this is the cost, but he tells her either that's the way it is or she's going to die, along with Jimmy, whom he plans to kill out of alpha male instinct. He adds that the only way to lift the curse is to kill the werewolf who began the line, i.e. him, and he's not willing to die. This is the ending that Craven was forced to re-shoot during the second bout of production and it's obvious, as Jake's portrayal doesn't jive with the rest of the movie. He goes from somebody who's had to live with a terrible secret and has, seemingly unintentionally, unleashed a bunch of horror because of it, to a selfish monster who's all about self-preservation, no mater what. It's especially jarring in that, earlier, he tried to stop Joanie from killing Ellie but, when Ellie won't give herself to him, he's now content with killing her himself, even cruelly mocking her for how she's failed to give Jimmy a stable life and calling her too weak to handle being a werewolf. It's been said that the reason why the producers wanted to go this route was because of how, back in the original Scream, Sidney Prescott's boyfriend is ultimately revealed to be the villain, but while it worked there, it just doesn't gel here. Regardless, Jake being in full control of his werewolf abilities, while Ellie and Jimmy's come and go sporadically, gives him quite an advantage in the battle that ensues, but the two of them do manage to kill him by stabbing him with a silver utensil and severing his head from his body with a shovel, lifting the curse.

Joanie (Judy Greer), the publicist for Craig Kilborn's show, is a total bitch from the first time you see her, constantly putting down Ellie, be it for her appearance or inferring that she's weak and vulnerable. She also clearly has it out for her after finding out that she's seeing Jake Taylor, whom she once had a fling with, commenting that it was just a matter of time since he prefers "vulnerable" girls and adds that she hopes their relationship doesn't turn serious. At the party where it's arranged for Ellie to meet with Scott Baio to work out his appearance on the show, Joanie clearly takes delight in pulling her away from Jake when they're trying to work things out, glaring at him and Becky Morton as she does. Another thing she takes delight in is bossing Ellie around, yelling at her upon learning that Baio has been bumped, even though Ellie herself just learned that, and her pushing Ellie on this causes her to finally snap and tell her to back off. Come the night of Tinsel's opening, Joanie tries to impress him by introducing him to Baio (she says she had to blow someone to get him in there), but it doesn't land, much to her chagrin. It's eventually revealed that Joanie is a werewolf, specifically the one who's been killing people, and that she was cursed after a night of passion with Jake. Now, she's getting back at him by murdering the women he's been with, "Eliminating the competition," as she calls it, and sets her sights on Ellie, whom she says she didn't think was a threat at first. Both Ellie and Jimmy try to fight her but she proves to be too much for them with her enhanced strength and aggressive attitude, and she also doesn't let Jake stand in her way. She knocks him unconscious when he tries to stop her, before going full-blown werewolf again and resuming her attack on Jimmy and Ellie intentionally toying with them rather than outright killing them. She almost does them in, but is forced to hide when the police arrive. However, Ellie manages to draw her out by hurling insults about her physique at her, with Joanie growling, "Liar!," and flipping her off, giving the police the chance to pump her full of lead and finish her off with a well-placed head-shot.

A far more affable member of the show's crew is Kyle (Michael Rosenbaum), who despises Joanie about as much as Ellie does and who tries to help her in dealing with the "psycho publicist" when he can. He also seems to have a thing for Ellie himself, suggesting early on that Jake is far from the only man available to her and, like Bo with Jimmy, finds himself really attracted to her natural sexual charisma as a werewolf. When it's revealed that Jake is a werewolf and Ellie learns that Jimmy is at the opening for his nightclub, she advises him to find Kyle as soon as he can. But, Jimmy is unable to find Kyle before Jake finds him and later, when all hell has broken loose, there's a moment where Ellie and Jimmy suspect that Kyle may be the other werewolf that's rampaging through the place. (It's a very contrived moment, as Kyle is suddenly speaking in a forced manner that he wasn't before in order to make him look suspicious.) However, they learn that's not the case when Kyle is grabbed and killed by the werewolf.

Another person who's revealed to be not all that he seems is Bo (Milo Ventimiglia). For the first half of the movie, he appears to be nothing but a typical bully towards Jimmy, verbally abusing him and threatening him with violence whenever he tries to talk with Brooke, who appears to be Bo's girlfriend. He likes to hurl homophobic slurs at Jimmy every chance he gets, which Jimmy, as he grows more confident and aggressive, throws back at him, suggesting that Bo's doing it because he himself is a repressed homosexual. This enrages Bo, who tries to get back at Jimmy by having him try out for the school wrestling team, only for him to definitively beat him during a practice match. That night, Bo shows up at Jimmy's house, apologizing for how he's been acting and also confessing that he is, in fact, gay. He also thinks that Jimmy is gay, since he figured it out, but Jimmy isn't having it and turns him down flat. With that, it seems like Bo is ultimately going to end up being just a small oddity in the film that goes away, but he gets caught up in the craziness when he and Jimmy have to flee after Zipper turns into a were-dog and attacks them. Needing to find Ellie and warn her, Jimmy has Bo take him to Tinsel and they sneak in to find her. Bo helps Jimmy any way he can but he gets knocked out from an attack by the werewolf Joanie in the mirror maze. He's just a little banged up by it and shows back up at the end of the movie, bringing Brooke to Jimmy so the two of them can become a couple.

While most of the characters in the original screenplay were lost during the extensive re-shoots and retooling of the film, one who got added was the character of Zela (Portia de Rossi), the fortune teller. It's blatantly obvious she was a sudden addition, as she appears in only a couple of scenes and has no purpose other than to warn people that they're in danger of being targeted by the werewolf, that the "beast" is human, and that it feeds during the cycle of the full moon. Those moments are totally unnecessary and you could easily remove them and not know anything was missing. Another character who I find to be rather pointless is Brooke (Kristina Anapau), the girl who Jimmy has a crush on. While she doesn't approve of the way Bo bullies Jimmy, she also doesn't do anything to make him stop and merely tells Jimmy to ignore him (people always tell you to do that when it comes to dealing with bullies but, trust me, it's kind of hard when the guy's in your face and verbally abusing and threatening to beat on you). Really, she's just there to act as something that's, at first, unattainable for Jimmy and a reason for Bo to pick on him when, honestly, you could have easily had the subplot of Bo bullying him with homophobic slurs without Brooke being there at all. In fact, I think it would have made it less complicated, as I was confused about how Brooke appeared to be Bo's girlfriend and yet, not only did she do nothing to make him quit picking on Jimmy but had no trouble when he was obviously flirting with her.

Becky Morton (Shannon Elizabeth) and Jenny Tate (Mya) are little more than lambs for the slaughter. After Jenny talks her into having her palm read by Zela, only for them to both be warned that they're in danger from "the beast," Becky doesn't make it past the first act, as she gets caught up in the car wreck with Ellie and Jimmy on Mulholland Drive. Though she survives the crash, and the siblings manage to cut her loose from the seat-belt that has her trapped, she's taken by the werewolf and torn in half below the torso. Jenny meets up with Jake at the party where Ellie is to meet with Scott Baoi and immediately starts hitting on him. She goes on about how Becky can't stop talking about him, even though they went on just a couple of dates (either she didn't hear the news about what happened to Becky or she just doesn't care), and says she's bummed when Jake mentions taking himself off the market. Later, when Jake tries to stop Ellie from walking out on him, Jenny makes things worse by mentioning to Ellie that Jake is trouble. Little does she know how right she is, as when she tries to leave, she's stalked in the parking garage by the werewolf and is killed in an elevator.

A few celebrities appear in the movie as themselves, most notably Scott Baio, who's booked on Craig Kilborn's show and who first meets with Ellie at a fancy party. Though he doesn't have much screentime, Baio is portrayed as a cynical jerk, one who doesn't like the idea of his being featured third on the show, comments about how "original" the clips they're going to play of his work are, and totally hits on Ellie, putting his hand on her leg while talking to her. Granted, the latter could be due to that natural attractiveness she starts to radiate as a werewolf but later, when he's at Tinsel, he makes it clear he doesn't want to be there and wonders who he has to blow to get out of there. He does kind of redeem himself, though, when he grabs Ellie and carries her to safety during the werewolf's rampage, although Ellie ends up going back in to help Jimmy. Craig Kilborn himself also appears briefly, notably in a scene where he cuts his finger right before he's to go on the air and Ellie, drawn to the blood, sucks on it before he heads onto the stage. He also comes off as something of a jerk, as he tells her that he decided to bump Baio without telling her. He was at Tinsel when the rampage began but Kyle says he ditched him and his ultimate fate is never revealed. Also at Tinsel's opening, you can see NSYNC's Lance Bass walking the red carpet with a woman (interesting that one of the characters in the movie is secretly gay and, the year after Cursed was released, Bass himself would come out).

One thing Cursed has in its favor is that it's one of those movies where you can see the money up on the screen. It had a budget of around $38 million (which I have a feeling was just its initial price tag before all of the re-shoots they had to do) and it shows, as it has that glossy, studio shine to it, with everybody looking really attractive and glamorous, the production values being top notch, and the cinematography being very sleek and shiny. Also, since it's set in Hollywood, you see all of the glitz and glamor, with people attending fancy parties and openings where they can rub shoulders with those in the entertainment industry, as well as the inner workings of a successful late night talk show and even a Planet Hollywood-esque club that has a movie motif to it, particularly in regards to the horror genre. That, by the way, is truly the one set/location that's rather striking. Everywhere else is, for the most part, really ordinary, from the offices and studio of Craig Kilborn's show to Jimmy's high school and the suburban neighborhood and house where he and Ellie live, but Jake's club is this really cool place with fancy, decked out bars and halls, areas that lean more towards the Gothic side in terms of decor (one looks like your typical mad scientist's laboratory from old horror movies), numerous models of various movie characters and celebrities, and even a mist-filled hall of mirrors where the lights are repeatedly dimming and going back up. While the movie is never all that scary or even creepy, Mulholland Drive, which is featured a few times and is the site of the car wreck that kicks things off, is given something of an atmosphere, and Wes Craven manages to make good work of the parking garage where Jenny Tate is stalked and killed by the werewolf.

Obviously, by pairing Craven with Kevin Williamson again, Dimension was hoping they would put a satirical, self-referential, youth-oriented, contemporary spin on werewolves, just like how the Scream franchise did with the 80's slasher craze. The fact that the movie was set in Hollywood made it seem all the more primed for that kind of treatment, and because of Williamson's proclivity for writing stuff that appealed to the modern youth, you'd also expect him to really delve into the notion of the werewolf being a metaphor for pubescence and burgeoning sexuality, akin to how Ginger Snaps had a few years before. However, the movie never lives up to that potential. While it certainly acknowledges that everybody and their mother knows what a werewolf is and think they know how they would operate in reality because they've seen the old movies, it doesn't go much farther than a brief discussion between Ellie and Jimmy about how he's learned that silver would only harm a werewolf, while you need to separate its head from its heart in order to actually kill it. Otherwise, all you get is people outright dismissing the idea that werewolves could exist at all and acknowledgements of their pop culture presence, with Jimmy reading a comic book featuring them, an ever-present model of the Wolf Man at Jake's nightclub, and a replica of the wolf-headed cane from that movie that gets used in the fight with the werewolf Joanie. (By the way, Jake says that cane was donated to commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Wolf Man. Well, that movie was released in 1941, meaning this film should be set in 1991, which it clearly isn't.) And as for the sexual side of things, it's acknowledged that people begin to find Ellie and Jimmy alluring as their werewolfism takes hold, as well as the inherent physical perks of the condition, but the puberty angle is not taken much farther than it giving Jimmy the confidence to pursue Brooke and stand up to Bo. There's also a hint of a parallel between werewolfism and homosexuality, as when Jimmy tries to explain to Bo that he's "cursed," Bo, think he's also gay, agrees that it does feel like that but assures him that he doesn't have to hide it anymore, but it also doesn't go any further than that. Whether or not the original version of the movie that was shot was much richer and explored these ideas more is unknown but, as it stands, the movie just doesn't have as much meat to it as you would expect, given the talents involved.

The rules of how werewolves operate always change from movie to movie and Cursed seems to take inspiration from a number of different films of the past. As usual, it's linked with being bitten or clawed by one, but it can also happen by ingesting one's blood, as happens to Zipper, and by having unprotected sex with one, which is interesting because, normally in those situations, it's a child that's produced from the coupling that ends up becoming cursed. Speaking of which, that could explain Jake, as he says he was born a werewolf. And going back to Zipper, yes, apparently other animals can be cursed and become monstrous versions of themselves. Like in The Wolf Man, once you become one, you're marked with the sign of it, which is a pattern on the body (in this case, on the palm of your hand) that can form the shape of a five-pointed star, and other animals can sense what you are. The full moon connection is also present, although someone who has just been turned doesn't become a total werewolf the next night there's a full moon. Instead, they slowly to start to change over the next couple of days, becoming stronger, gaining powerful senses, and becoming more sexually alluring to others. Jake infers that when midnight strikes on the third night of the full moon, the complete transformation occurs. Silver, here, is treated in the same way that crosses are to vampires: if a werewolf touches something made of silver, they get burned. But, again, you have to break the connection between the head and the heart in order to kill one. Most notably, like in The Howling, you can actually get to a point where you can control the beast within, only let it out when you want to, and still retain your identity and personality within. But unlike The Howling, here it seems like the full moon has to be out in order for you to do so. As Jake shows during the climax, you can still look like a normal human, but retain the increased strength and heightened senses that come with it. (This is all observation and guesswork, mind you, as the rules aren't made all that clear, with Jimmy mentioning how the "experts" behind the books he reads don't even really know.) And, as is almost never the case in other werewolf stories, there actually is a way to lift the curse other than simply dying: you have to kill the werewolf who began the line that led to your being cursed. Once he's dead, all of his victims are immediately cured.

That notion of Jake having been born a werewolf, with possibly one or, for that matter, both of his parents being cursed, is part of something else that the movie hints at, which is the idea that this is far from an isolated incident. Not only does Jimmy read up on the age-old mythology surrounding werewolves but he also finds a website that features, among other things, a link to reports of unexplained animal attacks that are blamed on other predators, even though they tend to involve reports of huge, wolf-like creatures. This suggests the scary notion that werewolves were real creatures, have survived throughout the centuries, and are among us even in the modern, technologically advanced age that we now live in. Granted, you could say that for any werewolf movies that's set in contemporary times, but usually, they focus on the werewolves existing in isolated pockets, like the village of East Proctor in An American Werewolf in London, the colony in The Howling, the town of Tarker's Mills in Silver Bullet, or even the small hamlet of Llanwelly in the original Wolf Man. Cursed opens it up with both the idea of werewolves stalking people in Hollywood and also with that article that suggests they're lurking all about the United States, with people only occasionally living to tell of frightening encounters with them, while most end up ripped to pieces. Moreover, the claw marks on the victims whose remains Jimmy sees images of resemble those he and Ellie received, giving it more validation. It's never touched on any more than that but it does help to create a bigger picture that is a bit unsettling.

Rick Baker is credited with doing the werewolf effects but none of what you see in the final film is anything he did. When the Weinsteins decided that they wanted the movie almost completely re-shot, they brought in KNB to create new werewolves, as well as do their usual superb gore effects. But, not all of their stuff made it to theaters, as well. You do get to see quite a bit of the practical werewolves they created, most notably in the scene in the parking garage, though what you get of it there are mostly big close-ups of its face and paws and quick, moving shots of its torso, while most of that sequence is done through POV shots, with a CG werewolf for big wide shots. Regardless, it comes off quite good, and they still make use of the practical werewolf (which is played by Derek Mears) during the first half of the scene at the nightclub but, when you see the werewolf in all its "glory" during the latter part of that scene when it's after Ellie and Jimmy, it's often CGI, as that's what the Weinsteins ultimately decided they wanted, and it looks awful. I don't think I've ever seen a CG werewolf that looks good. They don't look good in Van Helsing, the Underworld movies, and especially not in the Twilight movies, and the same goes for the digital werewolf here. Not only is it not organic in the slightest but it looks more like a big, bulky bear that's walking around on its hind legs than it does a werewolf. Seriously, look at the head and face. Does that not look very bear-like? The same goes for the "were-dog" that Zipper changes into in one scene. You see bits of a puppet that was created but, otherwise, he's totally CGI. Granted, since it's a four-legged monster that's supposed to run around and attack and destroy things, it makes more sense that they would have to go almost totally digital, but, man, it still looks bad. The one complete transformation, which is when you see Joanie change, looks like crap, too because, as bad as CG werewolves can be, CG transformations are all the more horrendous. Some of the visuals in the transformation, like Joanie's hair falling out and her looking like a nude cross between a human and a wolf before the fur starts to grow and her snout elongates, are interesting in concept, but the CG makes it look like something out of a video game or a cartoon and destroys it completely. While not as egregious, the bits of change that you see happening in Ellie and Jimmy during the climax, with their veins enlarging and growing, their claws growing and retracting, the shot of Jimmy's torso bulging and contracting, and the wolf-like features they temporarily develop during the fight with Jake, don't look any better. They could have easily utilized the type of amazing practical makeup effects that Baker himself had pioneered for such changes, and I'm sure both he and KNB did, but the Weinsteins apparently didn't think it was good enough and so, we got this. I'd say that I can't conceive of how they could have thought this was better than whatever the practical effects artists created but, hey, it's the Weinsteins. We all know how profoundly fucked up they are.

But the Weinsteins weren't content with screwing over the effects artists in that aspect; they also overlaid CG on some of the gore effects that KNB created, before finally deciding to cut the movie down to a PG-13 and remove most of it altogether. Even though there's an unrated version available, it still doesn't have all of the gore effects that were removed. However, those that are present look quite nice for the most part, although some are a mixed bag due to a poor combination of practical and digital work. The death of Becky Morton at the beginning, where you see her severed, still conscious torso attempting to crawl away, is actually pretty gruesome, as you can tell they used Shannon Elizabeth with practical wounds on her and then digitally removed her legs. However, this nightmare that Ellie has about attacking Jake and biting a big chunk out of his neck is a prime example of the bad combination of makeup and CG you get here. While the reverse shot of the wound looks good, the digital change in her face when she goes in for the bite and this big geyser of blood that spews out of his neck afterward (which you see from the front) really look bad. You were supposed to see a gruesome aftermath for when Jenny Tate is killed in the parking garage but that was cut completely, and there's not much carnage to be seen during the werewolf's rampage at the nightclub. But, you do get a shot of Kyle's eviscerated body after the werewolf kills him, Joanie digging her hands into a corpse ripped torso and smearing the blood over her face, and, when the werewolf is shot up by the police, while most of it is CG, you get a nice look at blood and brain matter leaking out of the back of its head after the one cop finishes it off with a head-shot. Later, when they remove the tarp covering her body, they find that she's turned back to her human form and get a look at Judy Greer with a bullet-hole in her forehead. Finally, during the climax, Jake takes quite a bit of abuse before being stabbed in the chest with a silver cake server and having his head decapitated with a shovel, courtesy of Ellie, causing his body to erupt in flames as the curse is lifted.

The film begins at the seaside carnival and boardwalk, where the band Bowling for Soup performs a song about Little Red Riding Hood (the first thing you hear when the movie starts is one of the singers howling). While that's going on, Jenny Tate talks her friend Becky Morton into having her palm read by Zela, the fortune-teller. Jenny explains to Zela that Becky is interested in a guy who hasn't called her since their dates and wants to know if she should give up on him or actually stick it out. But, instead of reading Becky's palm, Zela takes Jenny's instead and tells her that she sees a lot of blood on it. As Jenny tries to process it, Zela then takes Becky's hand and says that she sees the same thing, adding that they're both in danger. Jenny tries to steer the conversation back to the subject of the guy Becky is interested in but Zela tells them, "It's not the guy. It's the beast you should fear." Having had enough, the two girls get up to leave but, as she's about to join her friend, Becky is pulled back by Zela, who tells her to beware the moon, as it's when the beast feeds. Becky angrily yanks her hand away and, after telling Zela, "Lay off the crack-pipe," rushes to catch up with Jenny. However, she finds that Jenny has disappeared completely. Becky walks through the parking lot and looks out at the beach but finds no sign of her at all and doesn't get a response when she yells for her (this sudden disappearance is meant to suggest that Jenny was killed offscreen but it turns out to not be the case and why she disappears like this is never explained at all).

Later that night, after both of them have been established, Ellie and Jimmy Myers, along with Jimmy's dog, Zipper, are driving home along Mulholland Drive, when something jumps out in front of their car and bounds across the hood and windshield. The surprise of it causes Ellie to lose control and she swerves and slams into another car, sending it through the guardrail and tumbling down the hill behind it, coming to rest on its hood at the bottom. Once they've composed themselves, Ellie gets out to check on the driver of the other car, telling Jimmy to use her cellphone to call for help. Rushing down to the bottom of the hill, Ellie sees the car and hears the driver yelling for someone to help her. Looking through the smashed passenger window, she sees the driver, Jenny, is stuck upside down in her seat. She says that she thinks the impact against the dashboard broke her legs. Ellie asks if she has a jack and when Jenny says she thinks there's one in the trunk, she goes to retrieve it. While Ellie struggles to open the trunk with the weight of the car on top of it, Jimmy has trouble getting a cell signal in order to talk to the 911 dispatcher. He also attempts to flag down a passing car but is completely ignored. Fortunately, he manages to get through, while down below, Ellie finds that she can't open the trunk. She hears some rustling in the surrounding woods and looks around, only to be startled when Jimmy runs down there. He tells her that help is on the way, and the two of them reassure Jenny of this. Jenny starts to panic, saying she hears dripping and fears that the car's going to explode. She becomes frantic and Jimmy crawls in to help, attempting to push back the dashboard that has Jenny's legs pinned. Ellie hears the same rustling again and tells Jimmy he might want to hurry. Despite some trouble, Jimmy manages to free Jenny's legs and unbuckles her seat, allowing her to drop free. Ellie hears the sound of approaching sirens, as Jimmy tries to explain to Jenny what happened. Suddenly, something smashes through the window behind Jenny, bites down on her neck, and starts pulling her body out. Jimmy grabs onto Jenny's legs and tells Ellie to do the same with his. However, the creature manages to pull them both straight through the shattered window, across the ground and through the thick foliage beyond. In the chaos, Ellie loses her grip on Jimmy, as the creature attacks and bites at Jenny. Ellie tries to reach for her but is bitten on the hand, while Jimmy is slashed on the chest, before the creature takes Jenny off into the woods with it.

Horrified at this, Ellie and Jimmy quickly crawl back through the car and onto the other side, trying to compose themselves. That's when each of them sees the big, bleeding wounds that the creature inflicted on the other. They then hear the sound of the recently-arrived authorities up on the road and see a flashlight beam through the tree branches. Just when they think they're safe, something is hurled through the air from the woods, knocking Ellie to the ground. Jimmy quickly turns around and looks back at the woods, seeing nothing. He then turns around, with both him and Ellie seeing what hit her: Jenny's severed torso. Even worse, Jenny is still conscious and turns her head to look at Ellie, who screams in horror and stands back up. Jenny raises her arms up, turns over, and attempts to crawl away, before shock sets in and she dies. Later, as the police, paramedics, and fire crew secure the area, a cop is interviewing Ellie and Jimmy about what happened. Jimmy tells him that it was a monstrous wolf-like creature, but the officer, naturally, is incredulous about this, suggesting that it might have actually been a mountain lion or a bear. Jimmy doesn't buy this for a second but Ellie, not wanting to get caught up in anything, sends him to go see if Zipper is alright. He walks to their car and opens the back door on the driver's side. He attempts to comfort Zipper, only to be surprised when the dog growls at him. Perplexed, he offers him his hand, trying to show him who it is, but Zipper snaps and bites him on the finger, hard enough to draw blood. The police give them a ride home, but when they walk through the front door, Jimmy finds that Zipper is reluctant to come in and join them. Instead, he sits out on the porch and moans and whines, as Jimmy tries to entice him in. Zipper finally shoots through the door and up the stairs behind Jimmy. After a small argument about Ellie not backing Jimmy up when he explained what he saw, he storms up to his room and uses the computer to look up reports of wolves in Los Angeles. The search leads him to a website about werewolves and follows a link about unsolved animal attacks, which he reads often coincide with sightings of wolf-like creatures. The link comes with photos of the grisly remains of victims, who sport the same slash and bite marks as him and Ellie.

Late that night, Ellie emerges from her room and walks downstairs. Feeling uneasy, she looks out the door's window and makes sure that it's locked, before going into the living room. She finds that one of the windows, which was open when they got home, is open again, even though she closed and locked it. She redoes the task, when she hears something in the kitchen. Walking in there, she sees nothing, but is creeped out by the blowing wind and the scratching tree branches outside the back door. Suddenly, the cuckoo clock goes off, which is revealed to depict Little Red Riding Hood being pounced upon by a wolf. Ellen then hears the sound of a door creaking open and walks back to the stairs to find that the front door is now wide open. Cautiously, she approaches it, only to turn back around and run into Jake, nearly jumping out of her skin when she does. Apologizing for scaring her, and saying that he found their extra key under the mat, he goes on to explain why he acted so cold to her earlier that evening, saying that he's never meant someone like her and the prospect scares him. Ellie says that she's scared too, as all the good things in her life always go away, but he promises he isn't going anywhere. The two of them share a passionate kiss and embrace, with Jake nuzzling Ellie's neck. Suddenly, the serenity is shattered when Ellie bites into Jake's neck with enormous fangs and rips and tears an enormous chunk out of it. She watches as he screams in pain, a huge geyser of blood spurting out of the hole in his neck, when it cuts to her in her bed, as she awakens from the nightmare. Jimmy had a wild night himself, as he awakens to find himself outside, in the bushes. He gets to his feet and looks to see their neighbor, who's watering his front lawn, staring at him, as his dog barks. That's when Jimmy looks down and sees that he's naked. Covering his junk, he quickly climbs up to his bedroom window and slips inside. (Since he's far from a fully realized werewolf, why he was outside naked to begin with is never explained.)

In the kitchen, Ellie is drinking some coffee, when she hears a news report about the accident and the unidentified animal on TV. She tries to concentrate on it, but she's constantly annoyed by this fly that buzzes around her. She turns the TV off and, watching the fly as it continues to buzz around in front of her, reaches out and manages to grab it in her hand. Shocked by her ability to do this, she slowly opens her hand and, after the fly buzzes off, heads to the sink and washes her hands. Jimmy comes in and tells her that he woke up in the bushes. Concerned by this, Ellie feels his head to see if he has a fever and goes to call the doctor, but Jimmy, as he chows down on some raw bacon he found in the fridge, insists that he's okay, adding that he actually feels pretty good. The two of them talk about what happened, with Jimmy saying that what attacked them was akin to a werewolf and telling her about the website he found, which talked about how werewolves feed during the lunar cycle around the full moon, which happened to have started the night before. Ellie, however, isn't buying it and, after taking a piece of the raw bacon for herself, heads off to get ready for work. At work, after having to deal with the ever-obnoxious Joanie, Ellie is in her office, when she smells something she finds to be quite enticing. She follows the smell outside and down a hall to an employee lounge, where she finds a coworker who's dealing with a bleeding nose. The woman tells Ellie that she just gets nosebleeds from time to time but Ellie is put off by the thought that she enjoyed the smell of human blood. Meanwhile, at school, Jimmy has to again deal with Bo and his jerk friends while trying to talk to Brooke, as happened the night before. However, this time, when Bo hurls homophobic taunts at him, figuring he'd be up to joining the wrestling team because of the "male-to-male contact," Jimmy has the gumption to throw it back at him, asking him if that's why he's been team captain for as long as he has. Not at all happy with this, Bo makes a threat towards Jimmy before he and his posse walk away.

That night, while at a party where she's to meet Scott Baio for Craig Kilborn's show, Ellie learns of Jake's player past when he tries to sort things out with her. After Joanie drags her away from him for the meeting with Baio, the two of them sit across from each other, as Ellie tells him of the lineup he'll be a part of and what clips of his work they'll be showing. As she talks, Ellie looks up to see the full moon in the sky and appears to feel uncomfortable, tossing her hair back. She asks Baio a question but he ignores it, instead commenting that she's very beautiful, with an aura that he can't explain... as he puts his hand on her knee. Put off, Ellie gets up and prepares to leave, when she sees Jake reminiscing with other women from his past. Irritated and jealous, she heads to the elevator as quick as she can. Jake follows and tries to speak with her about it but Ellie isn't in the listening mood and leaves him at the elevator. She heads down to the parking garage and gets in her car, but as she does, it becomes clear that something is following her, as its POV is shown as it rushes towards the back of her car and ducks down before she can see it. Ellie has a sense that something might be out there but doesn't see anything in the rear-view mirror, so she simply drives away.

The stalker's attention is then diverted when it hears the elevator ding nearby. Jenny Tate, in a leopard-style outfit and who had caused some trouble for Jake when he was trying to sort things out with Ellie, walks out of the elevator and into the dark parking garage. As she digs into her purse for her keys, she hears the sound of metal creaking and very distant growling. Somewhat spooked, she walks to her car, hitting the button to unlock it, but when she gets there, she finds a set of oily footprints near it. Looking at them, she sees that they transition from the shape of bare, human feet to that of dog-like paws. She's about to get into her car, when a noise stops her, and she's grabbed from behind by a huge werewolf, which tosses her through the garage. She lands on the roof of a van and tumbles off its side, onto the concrete floor below. Looking under the van, she sees the werewolf's legs approaching, when it hops up onto the roof itself. But, when it peers over the side, Jenny is no longer there, but has left her purse and leopard ears on the floor. It turns out, she's underneath a yellow jeep across from the van. She gasps when she sees the werewolf jump down, but when it looks underneath the vehicles, having heard her, again, Jenny is gone. Now, she's standing on the narrow edge of the jeep, having removed her shoes and holding onto the door handle for support. Standing in the middle of the garage, the werewolf uses its keen senses of hearing and smell to pinpoint her location, and then scrapes its claws along the side of a car to try to freak her out enough to make her show herself. Unable to bear it, she hits the button for her car's alarm and, when it goes off, the werewolf is immediately on it, ripping the hood open and tearing out the alarm component. Jenny takes her chance and runs back for the elevator, but the werewolf spots her and jumps across the cars after her, as she screams. She manages to get back to the elevator and force it to close before the werewolf can reach it. But, as it's going up, the werewolf bangs on the door from the outside, causing it to stop in-between floors and for the doors to open. Desperate, she grabs the emergency phone and tries to call for security, when the werewolf reaches through the small opening of the lower door and claws at her, forcing to back into the corner to avoid it. As it tries to get at her any way it can, Jenny tries to climb up to the ceiling and pound open the hatch on it, but she slips and falls to the floor. Getting her wits about her, she quickly backs away from the opening, only to be surprised when the werewolf doesn't attack. Looking through it, she sees a door slowly close out in the hall, indicating that it might have given up and left. Thinking she's safe, Jenny tries to force open the door to the upper floor the elevator got caught on, when the werewolf suddenly lunges through and attacks.

At his home, Jimmy is looking through a book about werewolves, when he comes to a page featuring two diagrams: one with five marks on the palm of a hand and the other depicting the five-pointed star they form that serves as the sign of the beast. Jimmy happens to glance at his right hand and notices similar marks on his palm. He then takes a marker and, connecting the marks, find that they do form the figure of a five-pointed star. Ellie comes in and, when she sees him sitting on the couch, asks what he's doing and he answers he was reading up on how to kill a werewolf. She figures it's the traditional method of silver but he says that it's actually separating the head from the heart. He also mentions the perks of being a werewolf and admits that even the "experts" aren't sure when one would actually transform completely. Ellie, predictably, advises Jimmy to come back to reality but he, in turn, shows her the diagrams and the five-pointed star he drew on his own palm. That's when he notices that she has the same marks on her right hand, seeming to prove that it's real, but Ellie tries to say that they're simply upset because the accident brought up bad memories of what happened to their parents. Seeing that her brother is fixated on this, Ellie decides to prove it's not real by touching the frame of a picture in the hallway that she says is made of silver. She picks it up without incident and believes that proves they're not cursed. With that, Ellie advises Jimmy to go to bed but, while he does go upstairs to his bedroom, he stays up and reads Wolf Squad, a comic book featuring werewolves. However, he finds himself distracted by the sounds of barking dogs outside his open window. When he looks out, he sees three dogs in the street and another in a fenced yard, barking at him. Aggravated, he yells at them to shut up but it does no good. He then decides to howl, and emits a sound that's loud and powerful enough to immediately silence them and send them running. Jimmy then finds that he's actually impressed with himself.

The next morning, when she heads into work, Ellie finds that Craig Kilborn has brought in a bunch of apparent gypsies to audition for a seance portion of his show, while Kyle finds himself inexplicably drawn to her, asking about her "new" look, although she doesn't know what he's talking about. She walks to her office, only to be approached by Zela, who's among those auditioning. She warns Ellie that she's in danger, that "it" will come for her, and then sees the marks on her palm. Telling Ellie that she's cursed, Zela adds that she has to sever the line of the beast in order to free herself. Kyle, seeing that Zela is bugging Ellie, intervenes, but not before she tells Ellie that the beast is human and closer than she thinks. Kyle then drags Zela out of the office, as Ellie stands in the doorway, not knowing what to think. Meanwhile, at his high school, Jimmy makes his way to the gym, where the wrestling tryouts are being held, and sets his sights on Brooke, who's watching with a group of friends. He deliberately makes his presence known by jumping over a barrier at the back of the bleachers and landing on them with a loud bang, before making his way down to Brooke. Expectantly, Jimmy doesn't get to talk with her long before Bo shows up, with his homophobic comments. However, he finds Jimmy even more defiant towards him than the previous day, actually trying to shoo him away. When Bo threatens him, Jimmy retorts by saying that he's really giving himself away as gay with all of this homophobia. Angered at this, Bo shoves Jimmy down and tells him to watch it. Noticing this, the coach asks what's going on and Bo, wanting some payback, tells him that Jimmy is there to try out for the wrestling team. He even says that he'll wrestle Jimmy himself but the coach, not being so sure about that, asks another kid, Louie, to do it.

Having changed into the appropriate attire, Jimmy faces off against Louie, who, like Bo, throws a homophobic remark at him, telling him to stay away from his groin. The two of them run at each other, grapple, and come apart, when Jimmy rushes and manages to knock Louie off his feet, though he's ultimately pinned. Jimmy is asked if he's had enough but he says no and they go back at it. This time, when Jimmy charges, Louie flips him over his shoulder, onto his back. However, Jimmy gets back up, jumps at Louie, who grabs him and attempts to slam him, only for Jimmy to turn the tables and flip him on his back. Bo, who was enjoying seeing Jimmy get thrashed, takes note of this and decides he wants a piece of him. The coach allows it and the two of them square off. He comments, "Come on, fairy. Shake your dust," and they grapple, when Bo slams Jimmy down and grabs him from behind. Bo thinks he has him, but Jimmy slips out of his grasp and puts him in a headlock, which he's unable to break free from. One of Bo's friends charges in but Jimmy reacts quickly by sending Bo twirling through the air, knocking him to the floor along with Bo. As the spectators begin to cheer for Jimmy, Bo gets back up and squares off with him again. He manages to flip Jimmy over his back but Jimmy lands on his feet and the two of them grapple. That's when Jimmy really shows off his amazing strength by pulling Bo up into a perfect perpendicular position and holding him there. He tells him, "You know the best thing about being a fairy? You get to fly," and slamming him hard on his back. The match is over and everyone chants Jimmy's name as he gets up, while Bo just lies on the mat in shame.

Back at the studio, Ellie is preparing Kilborn for a taping of his show, when he tells her that he decided to bump Scott Baio from the lineup. Right before he's to go on, he cuts his finger while opening a can of soda, and with no other recourse, Ellie immediately pops it in her mouth and sucks the blood. Kilborn is so stunned by this that he nearly misses he cue, while Ellie, disgusted and disturbed by what she just did, rushes outside and glances at the hand with the marks. Unfortunately, she's followed by Joanie, who lambasts her for Baio getting bumped. Not being in the mood, Ellie tries to placate her and walk away, but when Joanie tries to press the issue, Ellie yells at her to back off before stomping away. She goes to the restroom and splashes some water on her face before looking at herself in the mirror. Another woman walks in and Ellie runs into a stall, much to her coworker's confusion. She notices how hard Ellie is breathing and asks her if she's okay. Ellie insists she is but the woman isn't convinced and walks towards the stall, an action that's shown in an overhead shot that's very Hitchcockian. She tries to open the door to look at her, but Ellie reaches her hand and braces it on the outside. The woman pushes on it, trying to force Ellie's hand off, but Ellie holds it in place, and does so to the point where her fingertips start pushing into the metal and bleed as a result. Ellie pries her hand loose, leaving bloody finger marks in the door, and the woman slowly pushes the door open to see Ellie leaning against the stall's wall with both hands, hiding her face. She asks Ellie what's wrong and she, in a distorted voice, says that she's just having a bad day, before asking her to leave. Not taking the hint, the woman puts her hand on Ellie's shoulder, asking if she can help, but Ellie swings around and pushes her back, yelling at her to get out. Seeing how inhuman Ellie's eyes are when she looks at her, the frightened woman rushes out of the restroom, finally leaving Ellie alone.

Following a scene where Jimmy goes to talk with Jake about what's been happening at his nightclub but gets nowhere, he's back home, preparing to eat a steak raw. However, Zipper, who's cowering in the corner by the dining room table, whines, wanting some of the meat himself, and Jimmy grabs a plate for him. Looking for a knife to cut the steak with, he spots a cake server made of silver and decides to pick it up. When he does, it burns his hand to the point where it's steaming. He instantly drops it and cools his steaming hand with water from the sink. There's a knock at the door and, much to Jimmy's surprise, it turns out to be Bo. He says that he wants to discuss what Jimmy said to him at the gym, and when Jimmy steps out on the front porch with him, he elaborates that he's talking about the comment Jimmy made regarding him, asking how he "knew." Jimmy doesn't get what Bo is talking about and Bo attempts to show him by going in for a kiss, admitting that he's gay when Jimmy stops him. Quickly, Jimmy clumsily tells him that he himself isn't gay, but rather that he's a werewolf and has unnatural sexual allure. Weirded out, Jimmy tells Bo that he's happy he's admitted to himself that he is gay before getting back in the house and closing the door on him. Jimmy then notices the picture frame that Ellie said she was able to touch, even though it's supposed to be made of silver, and finds he can touch it as well. Looking on the back, he sees why: there's a sticker that reads STAINLESS STEEL. He's distracted by the sound of a plate smashing and looks in the dining room to see that Zipper has taken the steak from his plate. Walking in, he looks under the table and finds Zipper there, munching on the meat. He tells the dog to drop the meat but Zipper doesn't pay any attention to him. He then grabs his tail and yanks on it, telling him to get out. That's when Zipper turns around and snarls at him, revealing that he's become a monstrous were-dog from having bitten Jimmy before. Zipper explodes out from under the table and pins Jimmy to the floor, snapping at him as he holds him back. Jimmy flings Zipper across the room, smashing him into the table, but he gets back up with a huge leap and charges at him. Jimmy runs out of the room and closes the door, only for Zipper to start smashing into it on the other side. Jimmy runs to the door and opens it, finding that Bo is still there. Before he can resume their conversation, Jimmy tells him they need to leave and he sees the door being smashed through inside. The two of them run for Bo's car, as Zipper smashes through the door and tries to get through the front door's window. They get in the car, while Zipper goes through the door's window and charges at him, clawing and snapping ferociously at the door on Bo's side. They peel off down the road and Zipper chases them for a little bit before stopping and letting out a howl. As they drive away, Jimmy explains what just happened, proving to Bo he was serious about being a werewolf, and asks to borrow his cellphone so he can call Ellie. Because of the canyon, he's unable to get a signal, but when Jimmy tells him about the club she's going to, they head towards it.

At the studio, Ellie is leaving for the night, planning to go to the opening of Jake's club, when she hears a news report about the murder of Jenny Tate from the night before and that it's similar to the death of Becky Morton. Concerned, Ellie tells Kyle to cover for her at the opening, as she feels like she needs to get home to Jimmy. She walks out to the parking lot and gets in her car, only to be startled when Jake shows up and knocks on her window. After getting over the shock, she rolls down the window and he tells her that he needs to talk with her, but she tells him about how two girls that he knew are now both dead. He says he can explain everything but she isn't in the mood and rolls up the window. He plants his palm on it and reveals that he has the mark of the beast on it. Terrified at this, Ellie fumbles to start the car, as Jake pounds on the window, only to cause it to shatter and shower Ellie with pieces of broken glass. He then reaches in and removes her keys, telling her to get out of the car. Reluctantly, she does so, as he says he has a lot of things to explain. She asks for her keys back and he allows her to take them from his hand without incident. He tries to tell her what it was that attacked her and Jimmy the other night but Ellie stabs him with the keys and shoves him back, quickly get into her car and driving off while he yells at her.

At the club, which is full of people, including celebrities, Jimmy and Bo manages to slip inside. Again Jimmy uses Bo's cell to call Ellie, while Bo goes to see if he can find her. This time, Jimmy manages to get through to Ellie, who's on her way to their house, and tells her where he is and what's happened to Zipper. She, in turn, tells him that Jake is a werewolf too, namely the one that cursed them. She advises him to find Kyle and keep a low profile, while she turns around and heads back to Hollywood. Jimmy then runs into Jake and backs away from him, as he asks if he's seen Ellie. Fortunately for Jimmy, they run into Joanie, who distracts Jake by attempting to introduce him to Scott Baio, giving Jimmy the opportunity to slip away. In a crowd, he meets back up with Bo, whom he hides behind when he sees Jake nearby, talking to a security guard and telling him and the others to keep an eye out for him. The two of them cut through the crowd and into the club's hall of mirrors. Meanwhile, Ellie arrives and finds Kyle, asking if he's seen Jimmy. It's clear he hasn't and she goes on to find him, while Kyle complains Kilborn ditched him. Ellie finds her way into the mirror maze as well, while Jimmy and Bo become disoriented, trying to find their way out. She hears their voices, only to be startled when she hears Jake's as well. He tells her that there's another werewolf whose human identity he doesn't know and who is trying to get to him by killing the girls he's been involved with. Scared and confused by the maze, Ellie isn't sure what to believe now, as Jake tells her that he was born a werewolf, that he knows how to control the curse and he can teach her how to as well. He finally finds her and confesses that he loves her, while Jimmy and Bo try to find the source of their voices. He offers Ellie her hand and she almost takes it, when a werewolf smashes through the mirror to their right. It shoves him into a mirror behind him and sets its sights on Ellie, chasing her to a space outside between the mirrors and the wall of the club. Unable to squeeze through to get at her, the werewolf starts smashing its arm through the glass trying to corner Ellie, but at one point, ends up grabbing the innards of a fuse-box that Ellie opened and is electrocuted. Jimmy and Bo stumble across the werewolf in the maze and it chases after them. The two of them separate but Bo is quickly cornered and charged at, disappearing in the dark and leaving Jimmy alone.

Ellie rushes out of the maze, warning people not to go in, and runs to a nearby security guard named Randy, telling him he has to get everyone out and radio for help. When he asks why, the werewolf bursts through the wall with a roar, sending everyone running in a panic. It sends Randy flying across the room, into the midst of the screaming crowd, and throws another man over a nearby bar. Ellie is knocked down in the chaos but Scott Baio helps her up and starts carrying her out. Jimmy ends up in the crowd and Ellie tries to go for him but Baio is too panicked to listen to her and carries her out with the crowd. The werewolf sends another man flying right into Jimmy, while the guests rush down the stairs to the exit, falling over each other and slamming into mannequins and other displays. When she reaches the main door, Ellie asks the man manning it if he's seen Jimmy and he says he must have made it outside. She tries to tell him he didn't but the man insists the werewolf is the only thing still inside the club and hits the button that activates the security gate. Despite hearing the werewolf roaring, Ellie slips underneath the gate before it closes and heads back into the depths of the club. Walking through the hallway, seeing the bodies of the werewolf's victims lying in the rooms she passes by, Ellie is startled when she runs into Jimmy. Just as they're trying to figure out how to escape, Kyle suddenly shows up, asking what's happening. Not sure they can trust him, the two of them back up, Ellie asking him to show them his hand. He shows her the palm of his left but, when she asks to see the other, he says they don't have time for this. The two of them are now even leerier of him, when they hear something up in the rafters. They turn their backs to Kyle in order to try to locate the source, missing his being grabbed and pulled up into the rafters. As soon as they turn around, they see that he's gone. Looking around, wondering what happened to him, they then see blood dripping on the floor from the rafters, and when they look up, Kyle's mutilated body falls down in front of them. This sends them running back into the club, looking for another way out.

They end up in the "Diva Room," a small, round room with small stages and mannequins that depict models on runways and singers, and desperately search for doors behind the curtains. They don't find anything and Jimmy runs up onto one stage they haven't checked yet, when it hits him that there were three mannequins there when they first came in but one of them is missing. Suddenly, Joanie, wearing the missing mannequin's dress, emerges from behind the curtain and shoves Jimmy to the floor. Hopping off the stage, Joanie reveals that she's the other werewolf, showing them the mark on her hand and revealing that it was the result of a one-night stand with Jake. She also reveals that she's been killing the women Jake has also been with as a means of eliminating the competition, meaning Ellie is next. Jimmy gets up, only for Joanie to punch him back down. She and Ellie struggle with each other, grappling about the room, until Joanie throws Ellie into a chair across from them. As she approaches her, Jimmy tries to jump her from behind, only to get knocked back down. She hurls an insult at Ellie, only to get decked in the face for it, and the two of them grapple again. Joanie manages to throw Ellie throw the thin walls around the stages, when Jimmy grabs a sword from one of the mannequins and comes at Joanie with it. Joanie gets out of the way and the sword ends up lodged in the wall. Jimmy tries to pull it out but is unable to make it budge. Joanie slashes him across the face and Jimmy decides to challenge her to a one-on-one fight. Unfortunately, he seems to think he's still trying out for the wrestling team, as he spends too much time rocking back forth while squaring off to protect himself from a kick to the face that sends him into the adjoining hall. Joanie turns back around to finish off Ellie, but gets hit in the face with a piece of the wall and falls to the floor. Ellie rushes to Jimmy and gets him to his feet, as Joanie pulls the sword out of the wall and comes at them with it. The two of them stumble down the hall, with Joanie right behind them, and fall right next to the body of a dead security guard. Ellie quickly grabs the cop's can of mace and gets Joanie in the face with it, forcing her back into the room and giving her and Jimmy time to run. Joanie tosses the sword away, grabs a nearby flower pot, and dumps the water in her face. Walking back into the hall and wiping her eyes, Joanie runs into Jake, who's shocked to learn that she's the other werewolf. Explaining to him how it happened, she tries to resume her attack on Ellie and Jimmy, but he tries to stop her, telling her that she can control it. But, Joanie tells him that she's having run wiping out all these other women and, again, tries to walk past him. He, again, grabs her arm and tells her he's not going to let her kill Ellie. She tells him, "Jake... honey... muffin, I am not gonna kill her. I promise. I'm just gonna rip her to shreds, and let her choke on her own blood... and then, maybe I'll eat her." Yet again, Jake stops her from leaving, telling her, "You'll have to kill me first." Yanking her hand away, Joanie figures he'd like that and walks up to him, caressing his shoulders and arms, drawing him into a false sense of security, before punching him in the gut and kicking him into the security gate, knocking him out.

While Ellie and Jimmy hide elsewhere, Joanie digs her hands into the bloody, gaping wound of a dead body at her feet and smears the blood over her mouth, savoring the taste of it. She then kicks the body down the hall and turns back, kicking open the doors she finds to try to flush the siblings out. Agitated, she changes into a full-blown werewolf in the middle of the hall, smashing a mirror once she's finished changing. She then makes her way into the room that's designed to resemble a classic, Gothic-style, mad scientist's laboratory. But, as she tries to sniff out her would-be victims, she hears sirens outside, as the police have arrived and are preparing to storm the place. Ellie and Jimmy happen to be hiding behind some fake bushes next to a Wolf Man display in the room and Jimmy, unable to see Joanie, figures she left. He's proven wrong, as Joanie jumps down from a chandelier and lands in the middle of the room. Again, she sniffs the air, trying to pinpoint their hiding place, and as Ellie and Jimmy wonder if she sees them, she lunges through the bushes at them. They run for it, with Ellie falling to the floor and Jimmy getting thrown into a small, wooden table. Joanie lunges after Ellie, who tries to escape by climbing up a display, but Joanie grabs it and pulls it back, causing Ellie to fall into her. When Joanie has her, Ellie spits in her face, enraging her and prompting her to throw through a glass display case nearby. Jimmy tries to help but Joanie snarls at him, advising him against interfering, before pushing the display aside and leaning down at the unconscious Ellie on the floor. Jimmy grabs a torch off the wall and lights it, as Joanie tries to rouse Ellie so she can be conscious when she kills her. Jimmy goes at Joanie, swiping at her with the torch and backing her away, yelling for Ellie to wake up. Ellie awakens when Joanie grabs the torch and tosses Jimmy aside, grabbing a replica of the cane from The Wolf Man that was in the case. She swings it at Joanie, only for her to catch it in her mouth and bite it in half. She backhands Ellie to the ground and lurches towards her. Ellie calls Joanie on playing with them, which she doesn't deny, and when Jimmy distracts her, Ellie grabs the silver head of the cane and shoves it into Joanie's mouth. Joanie backs away, gagging and struggling to get the painful chunk of silver out of her mouth, ultimately spitting it out and tossing it aside. Before she can attack again, she hears the sounds of the police officers heading for the room and quickly climbs up the wall and takes cover behind one of the window curtains near the ceiling.

Police rush into the room, their guns drawn, and Ellie and Jimmy point up to the ceiling, telling them that the creature is up there. Hearing them asking what it's supposed to be, Jimmy blurts out that it's a werewolf, which immediately draws disbelief and irritation from the cops. Ellie tries to tell them that the werewolf may have turned back into a human and gives them a description of Joanie's physicality. Thinking of a way to draw her out, Ellie loudly proclaims, "She's got a bony ass, and fat thighs, and bad skin." Hearing this, Joanie smashes through one of the windows, roaring, "Liar!", and flips Ellie the bird (as colossally stupid as that is, I have to admit that I did find it kind of funny). The police immediately open fire on the werewolf, tearing her apart with bullets until their superior tells them to stop, after which she falls down and hits the floor with a loud bang. Kicking the body a couple of times, they figure that she's did and one of the cops gives the all clear over his personal radio. Just as Jimmy is about to tell them to separate the head from the heart, Joanie rears back up and snarls, but the one cop puts her down for good with a well-placed shot to the head. Again, he gives the all clear and another calls for animal control. Ellie then remembers Jake and she and Jimmy rush to check on him, the latter asking for a paramedic. They rush into the mirror maze and find Bo against the wall, banged up but alive. While Ellie goes for Jake, the paramedic comes by and examines Bo. Ellie returns immediately and tells Jimmy that she couldn't find Jake. Meanwhile, a cop bring a man from animal control onto the scene, bragging about how big the thing they killed is. But, they then see a rather small figure covered by a tarp and when they pull it back, they find Joanie's dead human form looking up at them.

Ellie and Jimmy drive back home, fairly confident that the whole ordeal is over, and walk into the house to find the kitchen and dining room torn up from when Zipper transformed. Seeing that Ellie looks a bit despondent, Jimmy figures she's worried about Jake and tries to tell her that what happened is ultimately his fault. But, Ellie doesn't want to discuss it, aggravating Jimmy. She sends him down to the basement to hit the circuit breaker in order to get the room's lights back on. Walking down there, he finds an overhead light blinking continuously and when he taps it, it blows out. He fumbles around in the dark, knocking over a stool, when he sees the veins and arteries in his hand becoming visible through his skin as they appear to expand. Upstairs, as she's cleaning up, Ellie starts to experience the same sensation on the back of her neck, moving across to the front, and also feels her spine pushing up through her back. It recedes when she reaches around to feel it, while down in the basement, Jimmy fiddles with the circuit breaker and, despite it throwing off sparks at one point, he manages to get the lights back on in the dining room. Sweeping up, Ellie spots the silver cake server on the floor and, when she picks it up, she feels the burning sensation from before. She drops it and holds her burning hand, when the light goes out again. She then notices the front door blow open from a gust of wind and approaches it, hearing what sounds like Zipper barking and howling outside. She calls for him, only to be startled by some clanging downstairs. It was just Jimmy, bumbling around in the dark, but she's then startled when Jake shows up. She hugs him and tells him that something's wrong, when she suddenly bends over and winces in pain. He tells her that she's starting to feel the full-on werewolf transformation coming on but assures her that he came back for her and that it'll be fine. He adds that she needs this in order for them to be together, as she backs into a table and knocks things over. As she backs into the dining room, he tells her that the two of them can live as werewolves, while downstairs, Jimmy is hit with the same pains as he tries to head back up. Backing against the wall, he lifts his shirt up and looks at his contracting and expanding abdomen, while upstairs, Jake tells Ellie that the curse has given her a release from her crappy life. Ellie, however, wants no part of it, and decides she doesn't want Jake if this is going to be the cost. She demands he tell her how to lift the curse and he says that the only way is to kill the werewolf who started it, namely him, adding that he's not ready to die. Ellie says she has to think about Jimmy, as she can't let him live like this, but Jake, mockingly, tells her that she's not doing a good job at giving him a stable life. She angrily pushes him away, only to fall to the floor when the pain hits her again. Jake, saying there's only room for one alpha-male, makes it clear that he intends to kill Jimmy.

Using his enhanced sense of smell, Jake figures that Jimmy is in the basement. In pain from his own transformation, Jimmy tries to climb up the stairs, but stops when Jake comes through the door up top. He promises to make his death as quick and painless, when Ellie comes at him from behind with the cake server. He manages to grab her wrist and force it down, as she groans and winces from the silver burning her. He backs her into the living room, and when she calls him a monster, he says, "Join the club," before making her drop the server and flinging her across the room. She slams into a wall and falls through a table below it. As she lies there, gasping, she sees her fingernails momentarily grow into claws, and backs up against the wall, while Jake mocks her for not being able to handle it, calling her stupid and timid. She surprises him by gutting him with her claws and shoving him back onto the floor, but he recovers and slides across the floor, kicking her into the wall, before effortlessly swinging up to his feet. He then walks up and kicks her again, telling her that the change comes and goes initially, and says that now, he's going to kill her along with Jimmy. Jimmy pops up behind him and whacks him to the floor with a shovel, but before he can hit him again, he drops the shovel when he feels his fingernails growing into claws, followed by his toenails growing long enough to burst through the front of his shoes. Having gotten back up, Jake snarls at him and Jimmy promptly jumps up, hooks into the ceiling with his claws, and crawls along it. Jake follows, growling, "You better run, you little shit," and Jimmy crawls through the living room, towards the front door. Jake tries to go through the kitchen to cut him off but it looks as though he went through the door. Ellie jumps him from behind but Jake manages to elbow her loose, grab her, and slam her to the floor. He sits on her and tries to strangle her, while she struggles to throw him off of her. She tries to grab the cake server, which is lying on the floor near her, but Jake shoves it away and continues choking her until she begins to lose consciousness. But then, Jimmy crawls back into the house and scampers along the ceiling to the dining room, jumping onto Jake's back, and causing him to let go of Ellie. With a vicious snarl, he bites into the side of Jake's neck, while Ellie takes the opportunity to grab the cake server and stab him in the chest with it. Jake tries to pull it out, and falls over onto his back, struggling with the server, when Ellie grabs the shovel. She comments, "Like you said, what doesn't kill you...", and when he lunges at her, she stabs him in the neck with the shovel's edge, following that up by digging it deeper when he falls back. Jimmy uses his foot to force the shovel all the way through until Jake's head separates from his body. They watch as his headless body stops twitching, his head dies, and his body bursts into flames that are so huge, they have to back out of the dining room. Within seconds, Jake's remains are reduced to ashes that blow away in a gust of air, leaving nothing but the cake server lying in a pool of his blood.

Now, they're sure that it's over and that the curse has been lifted. The two of them embrace, when Zipper shows up, back to a normal dog, and no longer fearful or hostile towards them. He's followed by Brooke, who reveals that she found him wandering the streets. When Jimmy asks her how she knew where he lived, Bo shows up, saying that he told her. The two of them hug it out, and Jimmy offers to walk Brooke home. The two of them then share a long, passionate kiss, as Ellie and Bo just watch. Jimmy invites Bo to walk with them and the three of them head on down the street, leaving Ellie behind to clean up the mess. The film ends with Ellie looking up in the sky to see that the full moon is still shining brightly, before calling Zipper in.

As with every movie that Wes Craven made from Scream on, the music score was done by Marco Beltrami. I've said before that I feel that Beltrami sometimes comes up with really good scores but, other times, they come across as generic and forgettable. His music for Cursed falls somewhere in the middle, as there some pieces of the score that are quite memorable. Among them are an odd, kind of quirky, reverberating piece that he plays for instances involving Jimmy; an eerie, kind of ghostly theme for some of the eerier moments; a nice-sounding, triumphant piece when Jake is beheaded and his body explodes, signifying the curse has been lifted; and a haunting piece that involves female voices vocalizing over a steady beat which closes out the film quite nicely, kind of reminding me how the original three Scream movies ended. But, otherwise, the music score is fairly so-so, being appropriate to the various scenes and doing its job well but not something you're likely to listen to by itself.

As with any modern movie meant for teenagers, Cursed has a number of songs on its soundtrack, though I only remember a few from the actual film. It opens with Li'l Red Riding Hood by Bowling for Soup, a rocking take on that classic story, which may be a bit on the nose but it's not a bad song. A song called Stadium Parking Lot by Apollo 440 plays when Jimmy begins to dominate the wrestling tryouts and, while I don't think it was entirely necessary, it works well enough for that scene. The best song in the movie to me is Better Now by Collective Soul, which plays over the first part of the ending credits. It doesn't have much relevance to the movie but I just like how much of a feel-good song it is. It's something to bob my head to. The other song that closes out the movie is Let Me Out by MBD, which is much more somber and hard-edged, which is much more appropriate to a movie about people cursed with werewolfism.

Rather than a really bad movie, Cursed is mainly just an underwhelming one that had a lot of potential which was squandered due to all of the creative interference it suffered. It has capable direction by Wes Craven, some good acting by those involved, high production values and the glossy sheen of a big-budget studio flick, some entertaining scenes and sequences, good practical effects when they're there, especially if you watch the unrated version, and a music score and soundtrack that, while not the greatest, definitely aren't horrible. But the movie is never scary, creepy, and is only mildly suspenseful, the CGI looks absolutely awful, exactly how these werewolves operate can be a bit confusing to figure out, the ending is really sudden and Jake suddenly being villainous doesn't gel with his depiction in the rest of the film, and for a movie directed by Craven and written by Kevin Williamson, it's not as deep, satirical, or self-referential as you would expect. All of these flaws can likely be blamed on the interference of the producers in one way or another and, in retrospect, it's a big shame that neither of Craven's dealings with two classic monsters, the vampire and the werewolf, turned out all that well, instead proving to be among his least successful films. Given the choice, I'd probably watch this over Vampire in Brooklyn, as I enjoyed it a little more and I also because I like werewolves more than vampires, but there are also so many other werewolf, as well as Craven, movies I would pop in before this one.