the curse

Edgar Allen Poe peaked cinematically in the 1960s with Roger Corman's series of Vincent Price collaborations. Meanwhile, H.P. Lovecraft is still waiting for his definitive onscreen adaptation (a big budget Guillermo Del Toro project was recently nixed for budgetary reasons). The authors are often lumped into one catchall horror fiction category, although their approaches to fear are quite different. Lovecraft's existential, slimy, interdimensional monsters got their best shot at movie stardom during the '80s, particularly Stuart Gordon's From Beyond (1986), which embraced the practical latex-effects aesthetic with a vengeance.

Unfortunately, we're not here to talk about that film.

We're here to talk about The Curse (1987), which uses Lovecraft's The Colour Out of Space as the basis for its Farm Aid-era tale of a meteor crash that leaks cosmic goo into the soil, contaminating the water supply and turning anyone or anything that drinks it into leprous maniacs. Wil Wheaton, hot off Stand By Me, plays the clever kid character who figures out something's not right in Tellico Plains, Tennessee. After watching his mother go psycho, he dodges attacks from his abusive stepfather (Claude Akins) and attempts to recruit the local country doctor for help. But a shady land deal to secure water rights complicates the situation, leaving a county surveyor (John Schneider) as the families only hope.

Adapted once before as Die Monster Die (1965), a creaky but classy Boris Karloff vehicle, The Curse sticks much closer to Lovecraft's original story but fails to generate any scares, thrills or disgust...which is surprising considering Italian goremeister Lucio Fulci was an associate producer. It does, however, leave an unpleasant residue - a sort accidental aftertaste of Lovecraftian-inspired apocalypse - that fans will undoubtedly appreciate. In his directing debut, actor David Keith (Firestarter) captures some authentic looking scenery, but the majority of the movie is staged like a theatrical dry run. Fulci's contributions are undoubtedly the bursting pustules and maggot filled apples, which the movie needed much more of to earn anything for than footnote status in Lovecraft lore.

A sequel in name only (much like the House horror series), Curse II: The Bite is actually a much better film, despite being built around one of the most outrageously ridiculous concepts in movie history! Taking their romance on a road trip, Clark and Lisa (J. Eddie Peck and Popcorn's Jill Schoelen) try a short cut through New Mexico that just so happens to be full of radioactive snakes. After getting bit on the hand, Clark is given the wrong anti-venom by a traveling salesman (Jamie Farr). But instead of dying, Clark finds his hand has transformed into a mutant snake with a thirst for human blood!

Overlooking that fact that the central menace of the film is a guy with a snake puppet on his hand, The Bite (as the original title calls it) works overtime to make the audience buy into its preposterous premise. It's helped in that respect by a likable cast (Jamie Farr is an out-of-left field choice that somehow works), slick direction and special effects by the always-creative Screaming Mad George (Society). It's miles away from Lovecraft, but it's still a hell of a lot of fun!

Scream Factory's Blu-ray double feature is bereft of any special features, but will still end up in plenty of '80s horror fan's collections. The transfer on The Curse is solid for a B-title with no restoration work. The Bite begins with a disclaimer blaming the poor quality on MGM's only surviving print. The end result is pretty far from typical high-def resolution - with dark scenes suffering the most - but still a welcome widescreen presentation. And two movies for the price of one make the flaws much easier to swallow.