Cursed (film)

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Cursed
Promotional poster
Directed by	Wes Craven
Produced by	Bob and Harvey Weinstein
Written by	Kevin Williamson
Starring	Christina Ricci Jesse Eisenberg Joshua Jackson Judy Greer Mya Michael Rosenbaum Milo Ventimiglia
Music by	Marco Beltrami
Cinematography	Robert McLachlan
Editing by	Patrick Lussier Lisa Romaniw
Distributed by	Dimension Films
Release date(s)	February 25, 2005
Running time	97 min. (rated) 99 min. (unrated)
Country
Language	English
Budget	$38 million
Gross revenue	$29,621,722
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Cursed is a 2005 horror film by director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson, the creators of Scream. The plot focuses on three young adults that are attacked by a werewolf loose in Los Angeles. They must find and kill their attacker, or suffer a fate worse than death. The movie premiered on November 7, 2004 at the American Film Market, with it being released theatrically in 2005. It was filmed in Los Angeles, California, United States, with special effects shot in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Box office
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Plot

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One night while in a car together, Jimmy (Jesse Eisenberg) and his sister Ellie (Christina Ricci) hit an animal and another car. They attempt to rescue the other driver, who is dragged off and eaten. Jimmy and Ellie are both slashed by the creature's claws. Jimmy starts to believe that the creature was a werewolf but no one will believe him. He and his sister start to exhibit wolfish tendencies but Ellie denies it, apparently proving her point by touching a silver picture frame and not getting burned. Jimmy becomes much stronger as shown when a bully named Bo forces him to join the wrestling team. He easily defeats three wrestlers, including Bo.

Meanwhile, a woman is torn apart in a parking garage by a wolf-like creature. Eventually Ellie starts to believe the werewolf idea and Jimmy proves it when he holds a silver cake server and gets burned. He goes to warn Ellie with the help of Bo, who shows up at their house to admit to Jimmy that he's gay and apparently likes Jimmy. Bo and Jimmy race to the place where Ellie is and in the meantime she figures out that her boyfriend Jake is a werewolf. He confirms that but claims it wasn't him that attacked her and Jimmy. Another werewolf attacks seemingly proving his story. Bo and Jimmy try to help but Bo is knocked out. The new werewolf is revealed to be Joanie, a publicist who had a one night stand with Jake and became a werewolf. She wants revenge by killing all of the other girls he dates. He refuses to let her hurt Ellie and she knocks him out. Joanie soon turns into a werewolf and starts attacking. Ellie and Jimmy fight her and she finally runs and hides when the police arrive. The two draw her out by insulting her. The police open fire apparently killing her. The only way to kill a werewolf is to separate the brain from the heart. As she rises again, a cop shoots her in the head, finally killing her. Bo is okay but Jake has disappeared.

Jimmy and Ellie return to a wrecked home. Their dog bit Jimmy and became a werewolf as well and destroyed the house in an uncontrollable rage. As Jimmy goes to try to fix the power Jake arrives. He reveals that he did in fact bite Ellie and Jimmy and he wants Ellie to live forever by his side after he kills Jimmy. She refuses and the two fight it out but her werewolf side only emerges and disappears at small intervals while he has complete control over his werewolf side and dominates the fight. Jimmy joins in climbing across the ceiling and biting Jake, distracting him long enough for Ellie to stab him with the silver cake server badly injuring him. Ellie decapitates Jake with a shovel and breaking the curse on her, Jimmy and their dog. A girl Jimmy likes named Brooke shows up with their dog having learned where they lived from Bo, who also shows up. Bo and Jimmy are now friends. Jimmy kisses Brooke and walks her home along with Bo. Ellie goes to clean up the mess that is their house.

[edit] Cast

Christina Ricci as Ellie
Jesse Eisenberg as Jimmy
Joshua Jackson as Jake
Judy Greer as Joanie
Mya as Jenny Tate
Michael Rosenbaum as Kyle
Milo Ventimiglia as Bo
Portia de Rossi as Zela
Kristina Anapau as Brooke
Shannon Elizabeth as Becky Morton
Michelle Krusiec as Debbie
Kristina Mora as Brooke
Scott Baio as Himself
Craig Kilborn as Himself
Lance Bass as Himself
Solar as Zipper

[edit] Production

The movie was postponed for over a year due to production and script problems. Several cast members had to be replaced due to scheduling conflicts with other movies.

When the production was stalled, many cast members were cut, including Skeet Ulrich, Mandy Moore, Omar Epps, Illeana Douglas, Heather Langenkamp, Scott Foley, Robert Forster, and Corey Feldman. Some of these actors even filmed scenes which were scrapped by director Wes Craven.

The set used for Jimmy's high school is Torrance High School, the same used for Sunnydale High on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Filming also occurred at Verdugo Hills High School.^[1]

In the USA, the film was originally to be released as an MPAA R-rated film with graphic violent scenes however, the studio wished to have a more marketable PG-13 rating and the film was edited and released as a PG-13 film.

In Canada, the uncut version of the film was released theatrically and received a 14A in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario and a 14 in the Maritimes (after appeal) and a 13+ in Quebec. In British Columbia, the film was given an 18A and after an unsuccessful appeal^[2] the edited US version was submitted, 14A-rated and released in British Columbia.

[edit] Box office

The movie opened on Friday February 25, 2005 in theaters, grossing $19 million at the North American box office.

When released on DVD in the USA on June 21, 2005, two versions were available, the theatrical version, rated PG-13 and an unrated director's cut which contains the footage cut to obtain a PG-13. Only the director's cut version was released on DVD in Canada.