The horror film “The Cursed” by Luiso Bordeio received rather low ratings on online platforms, which surprised me. Yes, there are no expensive special effects in it, but the plot and acting, in my opinion, are very much worthy of praise. The main role was played by Kevin Costner, which already says a lot. And now for the film itself.
In the story, the father (actually, Costner) after a divorce goes with his children, Louise and Sam, to a new house on the outskirts of the city. The family lives in the wilderness, literally in front of the forest, and soon Louise finds a mysterious hill near the house. After a while, the father notices that the daughter began to behave strangely: she does not obey, disappears from the house, and when she comes, there are no shoes on her legs, and her hands are dirty in the ground. Also, strange things begin to happen in the district, and soon the father learns that the house they moved to is infamous.
Despite its low-budget, the film “Cursed” captivates the plot and keeps in suspense throughout the viewing. Louise behaves rather creepy, involuntarily sympathize with her father, who is experiencing the hardships of divorce, and now her daughter practically renounces him. A kind of social subtext, like, which is stronger - family ties and fatherly love or "the other side of the hill"? It will be fine for the evening, if you do not find anything more interesting.
7 out of 10
I can’t call myself a Kevin Costner fan, I only liked him in a couple of movies, but such an unusual combination as horror and Costner aroused curiosity. In addition, the director is the screenwriter of the acclaimed “Report” by Luiso Berdejo. From him, it seemed, you can get a tense dynamic picture.
But the picture is completely mundane. First, the standard scenario. Divorce, moving, teenage problems caused by either hormonal activity or obsession with some stuff. An unhappy father, genuinely trying something. A tie that has managed to fill everyone with edge, but justified if all this turns into something intriguing. Having managed to stir up my faded interest in the middle of the film with information about mounds, the writers, as if mocking, did not develop the topic at all, limiting themselves to vague hints. There is no complete picture of what is happening.
Secondly, the director took on the impossible task of making a horror film without the help of visual effects. When shooting a movie in the style of mocumentary, this is possible, because the first-person view will always help create tension and make you twitch at least from the effect of surprise. With normal shooting, the absence of atmosphere and scenes that give even the slightest adrenaline ejection, the interest of the viewer automatically falls, and in this case, with incompetent acting and the monotony of what is happening, the film can simply put to sleep.
Kevin Costner. In principle, he belongs to the category of actors who play themselves, but in a certain genre it looks great. In all his films, Kevin Costner remains Kevin Costner, and in the horror genre it looks strange. The actor himself, clearly realizing that he cannot influence the situation, looks uncertain. Except for those moments when the usual gun appears, and there is an opportunity to shmalk. I don’t remember any of the others.
John and his children move into a country house after a difficult divorce from his second wife. Junior. Sam loves his father immensely and appreciates all his efforts to be a good dad, and the eldest daughter from her second marriage, Louise, is experiencing short-term stress from breaking up with her mother. "New Life" began with a clean slate and continues at a quiet measured pace until Louise finds a mound near the house.
Once again, Russian distributors severely missed the title of the film on the territory of the Russian Federation. The title “Cursed” in no way reflects the meaning and main action of the film and only misleads people who prefer to watch a film about a demonic girl. Much closer to the content of the film “New daughter” opens new facets and even creates a mystery when watching. The original title of the film contains a motif that allows you to better understand the tragic story that occurred with the James couple.
The film itself seems original at first, and the fantastic soundtrack of Javier Navaretta gives it a mysterious charm. But after 40 minutes of viewing, you start to feel deceived by high expectations. The main intrigue is not lost, but looks immeasurably stretched and somewhat tedious. Actors who play the couple sometimes rely more on makeup and camera work, rather than their skill. And the big name of Kevin Costner, it would seem, got into the characterization of the film only for the sake of appearance, and at all creates the impression of attracting with all the efforts of the creators as many viewers as possible to watch the film. If Costner is involved in the film, the presence of an intelligent and calculating person is already implied, but the actions of his character can be judged otherwise.
In the film there is absolutely no balance that allows you to fully imbue the film. It seems that one of the actors, the professor, explained the origin and main purpose of the mounds, but the implementation of the mystery leaves much to be desired. And so the expected feeling of fear or even anxiety never came.
No man was born who could resist the power of the swarm!
Almost every house is able to tell interesting and sometimes heartwarming stories about the families that lived in it. And buying a new house, the family that is going to live in it plays a kind of lottery - and suddenly there was a completely mass murder in that house, and the maniac that did it is still at large or the situation is even worse, since the house is inhabited by a poltergeist who does not favor uninvited guests. In today’s film, we will talk about a family that has settled in a house about which there is bad rumor. So this is "The New Daughter."
The once happy family broke up. Mom found herself a lover and divorced her husband, scolded the latter both of her children. Unfortunately, the loving mother in the film will not be shown, but it is a pity. Otherwise, it would have been smooth, but I was distracted. The father and his two children, a boy and a girl, move into a new home. A new family is struggling with their parents’ divorce, but they don’t yet know it’s not their biggest problem. After all, in the forest near the house stands a mound, in which evil dwells.
The first thing that bribes in this film is the name of the lead actor - Kevin Costner. However, I hasten to disappoint the fans of this actor, as in this picture he plays very weakly and looks at what is happening in the film with reinforced concrete calm, which well does not fit with his hero. After all, writers are very emotional people, and when the lives of your children are at stake, they show a whole range of emotions. But old Costner in this film is not imbued with the role and just working out his fee, which is likely equal to half the budget of the film. Fortunately for us, this is where the bad news ends and the good news begins.
The plot in this film develops quite smoothly, and slowly. The viewer is introduced to all the characters of the picture, slightly revealing the character of each of the characters, and best of all it was managed by the creators with the heroine of Ivana Baquero playing the role of Louise James. Her character plays a difficult and unsociable teenager who tries to come to terms with the idea that her own mother left her in the care of a man whom she saw well, if a couple of times a year. Given the dedication with which the young lady plays, you involuntarily begin to sympathize with her, but everything changes when the girl becomes obsessed with evil. She behaves quite intimidatingly and at any opportunity is ready to step up to the people around her, so that the victim received as much damage as possible, well, if everything ends in the death of the latter, it is a holiday. In general, we see a female variation of Damien Thorne from the Omen trilogy. What do you say? Bravo Miss Baquero.
As for the horror stories as such, the film is really frightening, only it does without the notorious "boo-effects" so beloved by the creators of the same "Sinister". It is responsible for quite a good musical accompaniment and the atmosphere of uncertainty prevailing in this film. True, in truly frightening moments, whether it is a scene with a gun or a black and white dream of Jack, the music fades, but from this circumstance these scenes do not seem less frightening, but rather the opposite, because in the end we find ourselves in an extreme situation, Wagner or Tchaikovsky is unlikely to play there.
So what's the end result? And as a result, we see quite an interesting and sometimes somewhat frightening mystical thriller, in which blood is minimized, and the actors play very well. Decent musical accompaniment and sane camera work also contribute to this film. And if you want to spend your evening watching a well-made horror story, then the “New daughter” will have the best way.
7 out of 10
I used to love Kevin Costner’s acting. There was a time when each of his new films was literally drawn to the screen. And then something happened. Costner disappeared from the big screens overnight. Many tend to blame the once noisy failed “Water World”, but it was so long ago, and many actors knew the failures and cooler. In addition, in my opinion, “Water World” was not so bad to “bury” the career of such a great actor as Kevin Costner.
What's the foreplay, though? All this time, I kept waiting and believing. Believing that Costner will come back and show everyone. But he never came back, although ... he did not show exactly what fans of his work expected from him (see the film For the Love of the Game). Against the background of all these “dragonflies”, “grayslands” and “appearances of anger”, the former Costner was reminded of only that he had directed “Open Space” and was severely unpressed on all counts “Rescuer”. When “Mr. Brooks” was released, I held my breath and, after reading rave reviews, again I hoped for the long-awaited comeback of the actor, but... There was still a feeling that “something was wrong.”
And in 2009, a new film starring Kevin Costner called The New Daughter was released. What kind of “pig” was planted in the picture by domestic distributors is clear by their version of the name, and many here already on this occasion in their reviews “passed”, so I will not repeat. The film for Costner is certainly atypical. As in "Mr. Brooks", the actor tries himself in a new genre territory. And, I confess, the first half of the picture, he very convincingly manages to play the confused father of the family, who is clearly not ready for the responsibility he has taken on his shoulders. The director and the cameraman and the composer all this time try very hard not to spoil anything. But the closer the denouement, the more obvious the general confusion becomes. There is a feeling that in the final part of the film picked up M. Night Shyamalan continuing to shoot his “Signs”. For some reason, inconclusive computer effects are added, the atmosphere of mystery disappears somewhere and the “frightening part” with all its templates and plot inconsistencies comes to the fore. The last shots just bury all the best that was in the film. All that remains is to exclaim, looking at the final credits, "How?" That's it? And that explains it all?” And watching the bewilderment on Kevin Costner’s face in the last minutes of the films, you clearly understand that he himself is asked similar questions.
It is a pity that the full return of this wonderful actor has not yet happened. I'm really sorry.
There must be a mystery in a good thriller. Maybe it shouldn't, but it's here. Before us is a typical representative of intriguing and slightly frightening films, where after twenty minutes of watching you realize that a twist is inevitable, because everything secret is bound to become obvious. Add to this a multifaceted set of stamps inherent in such paintings. Here you have spiders, a straw doll, moving to a new house with a dark past, and the main character, taking care of his children, creates a fiction book that defies writing. By the way, the latter is a favorite of Stephen King, remember at least the “Secret Window”. It is clear from where the "innovation" is inspired.
At first, almost disappointed with the abundance of all familiar, I did not intend to praise the film. I soon found myself thinking that ... [b] is still interesting! And the further, the more interesting. Kevin Costner plays, as I understand it, a father with strong nerves, because anyone else, in view of the unfolding events, would at least change his facial expression to a more lamentable one. His character's daughter, previously as ordinary as everyone else, becomes odd. Doing things that are illogical and not healthy at all. A caring dad tries to get to the truth, and the truth, as you know, is not absent. He should take for a fact that previously could not be believed, and even come up with something similar.
The rest of the session is almost entirely embellished with what we are waiting for. The idea is very good in terms of a scenario explosion of fantasy, unexpected turns are fascinating with their inevitability, horror takes on an unchildish appearance. And... the end is blown like a balloon. That is, everything is unfolding, in principle, normally, but no longer grandiose. It was as if the director wanted to finish the material as soon as possible, to get rid of the crew and to engage in negotiations with the producer to promote the created creation. They say, enough, it's time to rest, we will make a colored puff for the last time, the viewer will eat without choking. Well, whatever you want, although I was a little choked up with such a denouement... It could have been more productive.
So, if you like stories with a “seed inside” and you are not as picky about everything as I am, then this is for you, a pleasant viewing. Wonder what really happened to the girl.
It's a very bad movie. It is not scary, it is shallow in content, it is not interesting in the plot. In one tape somehow amazingly merged all the "minuses" at once.
Attempt once again to use the plot, which featured the “cursed house”, which was completely failed. First of all, because this house is not inhabited by fears and horrors that could decorate the film visually and amuse the eyes of horror fans. At the same time, for those who like to think, there is nothing here either: the idea of some strange hill of the dead who want to get a “queen” seems far-fetched, sucked out of a finger. Especially "impressive" association with ant way of existence.
There are few characters in the film that are an integral part of this genre. "Monsters," which enter the arena near the end, can only evoke laughter. If at the beginning of the work there is a gun hanging on the wall, then at the end it must necessarily shoot, Chekhov believed. However, hopes for an interesting plot development were buried when watching this film with the first shot that the hero of Kevin Costner fired from his gun. By the way, the question that haunted me throughout the viewing was: What is Kevin Costner doing here?? For an older actor of this level, perhaps, it is better to star in an advertising of an expensive perfume than in a similar movie.
The main advantage of the “cursed house” movies is an interesting climax to which all previous events lead (or the original backstory, as in “American Horror Story”). Here the climax looks like a kind of epiphany: the viewer finally has no doubt that he wasted two hours of his time.
4 out of 10
Quite an interesting, in my opinion, film. But the genre of horror, with the exception of murder and blood, it almost does not apply. And that was disappointing. Such a film would be a little reworked and attributed to mysticism - the very same!
The film wasn’t boring, but it was a bit predictable. The monsters did not scare any more, even their toothy appearance did not cause feelings of fear. The plot was actually “smeared”, since the legend of the mounds (the main accent of horror) was constantly intertwined with the thread of the relationship between father and daughter. And that’s not to mention that the family theme was present throughout the film and overshadowed what happened to the teenage girl. Her behavior really wanted to be attributed to age problems, so suspicions about “something is wrong with her” even with the viewer faded into the background and the film looked like a drama in its pure form, without admixture of other genres.
There are stories in the film that I would like to know a little more about. But the fact that there is nothing frightening is probably a fact.
6 out of 10