User Reviews

Sean Ellis wrote, directed, and co-produced this gothic horror, along with serving as it's cinematographer. This is 100% the vision of his single creative mind, and I have a tremendous amount of admiration for that, even if not all of it worked for me.

The Cursed is a bizarre, unconventional monster movie. It has a heavy focus on tone and atmosphere with very little regard for establishing mythology. And it's a very refreshing take on the well-worn concept of werewolves.

With this film, Ellis proves himself to be a more than capable director and cinematographer. He crafts a bleak environment in which no one is safe or truly morally just, and he keeps the horrifying creature out of the frame as often as possible so that when the gore does finally come, it's a shocking occurrence.

The visual presentation is far more impressive than the writing, however. Ellis's script certainly isn't bad. It's just overstuffed, biting off a bit more than it can chew. There is an opening sequence that isn't mentioned again until the ending, and even then it feels disconnected from the actual narrative. There is no real reason for it to be here, and it's presence actually takes away from a more ambiguous ending that would have been far creepier.

Additionally, there are quite a lot of characters, and none of them are really fleshed out beyond the positions they hold in society. There is quite a lot going on in this film in its first and final acts, and it could have been streamlined a lot by cutting the fat to make it as lean and suspenseful as the middle portion of this film is.

Still, even with its faults, this is a thoroughly ambitious film that I think really does revitalise the werewolf mythos in a lot of ways, and I really hope that people go and support this film so that we can get more unique visions like this.

I'd rather see unique but flawed movies that allow a creator to have free reign than simple competent movies that don't take risks and feel like studio-approved products.

The Good: This movie is freakin' GORGEOUS. I absolutely loved how this movie looked; I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. Everything from the depth of the images, to the saturated colours, the rolling fog, and the period appropriate costumes come together to transport you to a different world. While it's a relatively simple setting, it's imbued with a lot of character. As for the more fantastical elements, this film has some truly shocking images that I guarantee will lodge in your mind (if you're into that sort of thing).

I also appreciated the period appropriate characters and sensibilities. This is more The With or The Nightingale then your typical historical horror film, with characters acting as people in Victorian Britain would act. That includes the good and the bad, with a heavy dose of class obsession that feels right for the era. I'm not opposed to movies taking liberties with history, but only if there's a point to the subversion. The Cursed is quite authentic in that regard, and it's awesome.

But, let's be real, what we all want to know is if The Cursed delivers on the scares. I wouldn't say this is a particularly *scary* movie, but it is unique and inventive. It's take on the werewolf myth is pretty novel and rooted in trauma, injustice, and oppression (with some very clever Biblical connections as well). It's very interesting and I give Ellis credit for that.

Horror movies don't often get praised for performances, but shout out to this movie's wonderful cast. Everyone felt transformed into late 19th century Britons, to the point where I almost forgot where I've seen these people before. Boyd Holbrook, Kelly Reilly, and Allistaire Petrie really shine.

The Bad: This movie's worst aspect is its editing. The cuts are relentless (especially towards the beginning) and quite disorienting. There are scenes of truly striking imagery ultimately ruined by the constant cutting. It's an inexplicable decision for a movie that's ultimately quite slow paced.

Moreover, while I really liked the performances, none of these characters had all that much depth. I kinda hoped for a subplot or something about class and land rights of the era, but despite the film's longer-than-average runtime, it never materialized. The characters, as such, don't get to really address or even mention the cruelty that sets the plot in motion. It just feels kind of weird that this wasn't used as an opportunity to further flesh out the story.

The ending is also kind of underwhelming and abrupt. There's a connection to the first scene of the movie that doesn't really amount to anything either.

The Ugly: After a few years of straight-to-streaming schlock, The Cursed is a celebration of the good ol fashioned, ornate gothic horror.

I wished they never changed the original title, Eight for Silver. That name had a unique identity of its own.

An aesthetically pleasing horror drama, beautiful locations, peak cinematography, talented actors, a proper budget, brilliantly written and directed, realistic brutal scenes with outstanding performances.

A unique take on lycanthropy that never ever seen before. I would've rated more if Sean Ellis carried the same momentum he had until the final act.

It's been quite some time since there has been some legitimate horror in this genre. This movie delivers on all the right aspects from the cinematography to the creature effects. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Solid horror movie. The story is interesting, the beginning was a bit too much for me to watch, but it laid the foundation for the rest of the movie. There's a few little jumpscares in the beginning but other than that it just builds the scaryness off of the storyline. Overall a good movie, would recommend to watch, but for me the possibility of a rewatch is low.

Very disappointed unfortunately follows a familiar story line and each scene is predictable as we have seen many times. The creatures cgi is just appalling cgi work, how can you have the Main character looking so unrealistic and not fitting into lighting, motion of characters. Trailer has all best parts of a poor film i honestly struggled to finish and after 30 mins went to play my cello. Then had multiple tea breaks to help break the boredom. Sorry but no horror except for the film script and cgi. I wish they had worked harder on the story and introduced horror into a horror film. Another lets make a film and someone will like it please watch it Not.

The Cursed might be a slow burn, but it delivers pure horror and suspense throughout. The cast is excellent and the cinematography is just gorgeous. I wish more people were talking about this low budget horror flick. It has so many bloody and disgusting surprises that bring audiences sick stomachs and pure enjoyment. Far better than the disaster, Scream 5. Best horror film of the year thus far and I didn't even expect it.

The cursed revolves around a werewolf and a set of silver teeth buried in a field. Might sound lame, but it actually works. The root of the killings is deeper than just werewolf violence - and the plot keeps interest where run of the mill werewolves fall short.

I don't know what it is specifically, but I could not get into this movie. It feels boring even though stuff is happening. I could not get invested in the story or characters. I had to force myself to finish it. The effects are pretty bad with ridiculous editing to try to hide it so you can't see anything. And there are some really dumb things late in the movie. (1 viewing, 5/10/2022)

"As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the LORD have poured out my wrath on you." - Ezekiel 22:22

Nowadays when I see a horror movie that doesn't have a lot of marketing into it, I usually have low expectation. This was my mindset coming into this movie, and I was wrong.

This 18th-century horror gave major A24 vibe. The atmosphere was similar to The Witch, with dreadful and bleak color. Sometimes I could barely see what's on the screen. The budget must have been low because there was never one single clear shot of the creature. However, the movie made up with interesting editing and smooth transition of the house that elevated the creepiness.

The story was decent, with nothing much out of the ordinary. However, they tried to spice up the story with some non-linear storytelling. Unfortunately, although I understood the purpose, I didn't find it that impactful.

Overall, an effective horror. 7.5-8/10.

At the fin de siecle an evil bunch of land grabbing, murderous thugs slaughter an entire camp of gypsies in a particularly gruesome fashion. The matriarch calls down a curse upon the land stealers. This interesting flick is a werewolf tale set in the Somme forest. The werewolf is not your run of the mill, turn by night lycanthrope; this monster is frightening. I mean frightening. The dream sequences are unsettling to the core.

This movie got me in by the atmosphere of the shots in the trailer. They looked great, dark, serious, mysterious.

Its too bad nothing else in the movie recipricated that.

There was no proper introduction to characters to give you any sort of good connection to them, so that by the time things start to happen, you really dont even care about who its happening to.

Main character (john) by far gave the worst performance, i always felt like he was just trying so hard to look cool and sexy. Though the rest of the cast was pretty good.

Cgi sucked. Very gray, lighting didnt match the scenes, and way too many sustained shots on the monsters that constantly reminded me that it was cgi.

Overall storytelling was terrible! Many useless scenes that have no purpose, quick cuts to the middle of an unrelated plot point, and way way way way too many conveniences. I know thats vague, but seriously it was cliche, convenient, and full of holes.

Honestly not worth it....

Perhaps I hyped myself up too much for the movie, it's one of those that really has an amazing trailer - despite never showing the creature at all - but the film as a whole feels a little underwhelming. Which isn't to say that the movie doesn't have its merits, because it has many. The eerie, liminal, bleak atmosphere is heavy throughout, and the dark, haunting tone never lifts. Acting is solid all around and I'm definitely a fan of Boyd Holbrook. The writing was tight and took me by surprise at the end. As a huge fan of lycanthropy in media and lore, I deeply appreciated the tie-in to Gévaudan. Horror wise, while not necessarily scary, it offered some chills-inducing moments and a constant sense of dread. My only gripes were the creature design and one particular plot "hole," where they conveniently ignore something so obvious for the sake of advancing the story a certain way. The creature looked awesome and very unique, but it only had one form, so there was never any shock of its furtherance. The climax could've benefited from this, and that final action scene was full of jerky camera movements and not showing it very much. The dream sequences of the "scarecrow" were also too quick and terse to have a lasting effect. Ultimately a very unique approach to the werewolf genre, with some clever storytelling, a lot of gore, palpable atmosphere, but still underwhelming.

A fine production, the dark visual quality and a well working cast make The Cursed aka Eight for Silver worth your time. The only thing I gotta complain is the running time - 155 minutes, which almost inevitably leads to some lengthy or redundant parts and rather weakens the experience than improving. Why so many directors these days think that they have to make such long running movies (Apocalypse Now directors cut just runs half an hour longer but got massively more story to tell), I don't know, but too many times it is really an unwise choice to do so. Anyway, if you like such different horror pleasures like Sleepy Hollow, The Village, The Thing, The Cursed will give you some entertaining time.

Gothic, gloomy, and a dark movie. This movie has a terrific setting, cinematography, and set design. It is very similar to The Others and Robert Eggers films (The VVitch and The Lighthouse)

Also, Kelly Reilly (Isabelle Laurent) and Amelia Crouch (Charlotte) have amazing performances in this movie. Their acting made me emotional and feel for their characters at some points of the film.

The werewolf looks pretty bad and dumb. I think this movie would've worked better as a vampire film.

There's also a pretty fine twist at the end, I didn't expect it, but it didn't shock me if you know.

The theme behind the plot of this movie, the way it was conceived and just the production design and the atmosphere created by it is fantastic. Yet the screenplay seemed to be lost somewhere in a confusion on where to focus and how to present the inherent themes.

The Gypsies and curses involved didn't even let me think it's actually a version of werewolves. There were a lot of things in this film, a better director would've avoided. There were many scenes from the beginning itself that didn't feel right. But there were also so many good things surrounding all those. The acting was all-around solid. The theme itself about greed and survival doesn't have the same effect when the movie is presented as a straightforward horror where you're supposed to root for and hate both sides. Or at least there should've been more character development for it to be achieved. But the film clearly wants to take sides but can't commit to any and diverts to the gothic atmosphere when it doesn't know what to do.

It's a werewolf movie based on 18-17th century werewolf lore which is something we haven't seen on the big screen. This new take on werewolf lore is really interesting and the movie explores this concept really well. There are 2 criticisms I have with it, firstly and most detrimental is none of the characters are particularly interesting, the story is really good just not the characters. Secondly they reference the beast of gevudaun (sorry for the misspelling) which happened in the 1760's whilst the movie takes place in the 1880's this wouldn't be a problem if one of the characters family didn't from these attacks.

The Cursed or Eight For Silver (Why two different titles? What's the point of that) is yet another story about a werewolf. Well it's slightly different this time so that's a good thing as this genre has been milked out. It could be a werewolf but any other demonic creature could fit the profile. It's an entertaining horror movie though, with some gore, mostly due to the dismembering scenes that were pretty graphic but done well. The monster itself was pure CGI but done well again. The whole cast did a good job playing their characters, from lead actors to extras. If you like the werewolf genre give this one a go, it's slightly different but certainly not bad.

The whole movie looks drab so it's kind of hard to see everything that's going on. This movie was gory not scary but you could get a little shaken up watching. Slllloooowww movie. Not worth having seen it in the theater.

Just came out from watching "eight for silver" or "the cursed" The movie is well shot and displays a mix of good acting along side some mediocre.

Overall it's a well made film that's really trying to be different and branch out with new ideas for the werewolf genre.

Which i do appreciate but a faster pace and a few more clever tricks in the story telling would of made this a great horror.

In the late 19th century, land baron Seamus Laurent (Alistair Petrie) under the advice of the village elders enlists the help of mercenaries to expel the encampment of Romani people on his land who may have legitimate claim. The mercenaries turn violent upon the Romani's refusal to leave but they leave a set of silver jaws that will haunt their dreams until it is found and awakens a curse. When a group of village children find the jaws, one of them places them in their mouth and bites Edward, the son of Seamus Laurent. Edward soon takes ill and eventually goes off into the woods where a beast has now appeared. The village enlists the help of pathologist John McBride (Boyd Holbrook) who has a history with the beast terrorizing the village.

The Cursed is the latest film from writer director Sean Ellis whose name is on such well regarded films like Cashback and Anthropoid. Ellis sought to take a different approach to the werewolf lore, in particular looking at its origins in a way similar to a virus. The end result is a slow-burn film rich in atmosphere and character with a strong sense of craft.

The Cursed looks absolutely beautiful. From its fog draped countryside setting to the layers of fifth covering the villagers, The Cursed transports you the 19th century setting its created and makes the feelings of isolation and unease tangible and palpable. Even before the werewolf shows up, the gypsy encampment massacre is a chilling sequence as its shot in one take from a distance as we watch all the way from the ultimatum to the violence that unfurls. There's a richness to the characters in the film with Boyd Holbrook's John McBride a solid protagonist with a haunted past that ties to the Beast of Gevaudan killings that had previously been mined for usage in the Christophe Gans film, Brotherhood of the Wolf. Much like Brotherhood of the Wolf there's a rich level of intrigue at play beyond the beast stalking this village, but it's more streamline with less intricacy and more interpersonal weight instead. The effects are also quite solid, while the decision to make the werewolf a hairless pale skinned humanoid will probably irk some purists of the genre, the practical effects to bring both it and the creatures attacks to life are primarily done in camera. The Cursed features some of the best gore work I can recall seeing in a werewolf movie of recent memory, and it looks fantastic.

My criticisms are fairly minor, but they should still be addressed. Personally I didn't feel the sequences in World War I that bookend the story really added all that much since there's no real information imparted in them that adds to the main story that takes place 35 years before it. There's also a character who withholds information, and it's going to be a case of either you buy why they hid it or you don't.

The Cursed is a solid addition to the werewolf subgenre of horror with a rich sense of atmosphere and strong performances from its cast. Some parts of the movie like the wraparound or the motivations behind certain characters actions aren't without hiccups, and the design of the werewolf will probably put off some purists. But despite some minor criticisms, The Cursed is a fun exercise in atmosphere and intensity that doesn't let up until the end.