The Horror Returns - THR: Bonus Episode - The Cursed (2022)

Episode Date: March 23, 2022

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victims. For those of you delight and dread who fantasize about fear, who glorify go. Welcome.

You have found the place where the horror returns. Listeners beware. This podcast contains major plot spoilers in the foulest of language, join us in celebrating the old and the new, the best, and the worst in horror.

Guys, this is Brian and Lance here for you. What's up, Brian? What's up? We're doing a special one-off. We're trying to hit more of the new horror movies. It's been a scheduling nightmare. Brian, you're our program director. Do you want to kind of go into a day in the life with you lately with these movies being moved around and shit like that?

Yeah, it's a lot of release dates being thrown around. And then next thing you know, it says to TBD all of a sudden. And for the main show, we were going to do Unwelcome. And then you sent me a thing saying the release date was changed. I checked, and it sure was. But funny thing about that, as I checked today, it did get a limited release in theaters this weekend. Oh, man, so we probably could have caught it on iTunes or something.

It's getting a limited theatrical, which I checked in. It was going to be nowhere near me, and I checked in your area, and I don't think you would have been able to see it either. All right, man. Well, I kind of had to go to the, so we got, I got that AMC pass, Brian. I've had it for a while. And I sometimes, some months I get my money's worth, but lately I've only been doing like one movie a month. So for 20 bucks, that's kind of not doing very well for me.

So the wife was telling me, you need to get to the theater more. So I made it to the theater twice this week and plan to make it twice next week. So we'll see how that goes. But I did catch this one in a local theater that shows a lot more of the indie stuff. Mm, okay. Now, X, I was actually able to catch in a main release theater close to me. What about you? Yeah, X I caught and cursed.

It was in my theater, but it also was VOD, so I just watched that at home. All right, good deal, man. So, all right, well, we're going to go into the cursed here. This is a movie that's been out for, I guess, a couple of weeks, maybe a month. And it's still showing in my theater, so that's a good sign. Or maybe it's a bad sign. There's not enough shit coming out, but it's starting to pick up. All right.

So in rural 19th century France, a mysterious, possibly supernatural menace, threatens a small village. John McBride Epitha. And you recognize John McBride right off the bat, Brian? No, I don't. You remember Predator? Oh, old

Boyd Holbrook. Yes, that's right. The Wolverine movie, right? Yeah. Okay. I thought he was new. I forgot that guy's name. I thought he was like one of them new guys.

they were going to try to push in every movie. The new Taylor Kitch? Yeah, there you go. Okay. Well, he seemed a little out of place, but we'll get into that a bit. John McBride, a pathologist, comes to town to investigate the danger and exercise some of his own demons in the process. The director and writer was Sean Ellis, also known for anthropoid and cashback. I've never heard of you.

The werewolves? What's that? Never heard of either one of those. I've heard of both of them. Cashback, I think he started as a short, and enough people liked it. He made it into a full-length movie. I think it's about a guy that's working in a retail store,

and it's like his fantasies. So, like, he's in a boring night shift in a retail store, and he fantasizes that, like, there's a naked woman that comes in and all kinds of weird shit. So, Anthropoint, I think, is a World War II movie. It's about a plot to kill not Hitler, but like one of his generals or something. I actually heard it's a pretty good movie, so I might check that out.

So let's see. We've got the werewolf. Couldn't find much trivia here, man. The werewolf is a mythological animal and the subject of many stories throughout the world and more than a few nightmares. Werewolves are, according to legend, people who morph into vicious, powerful wolves. others are a mutant combination of human and wolf but all are bloodthirsty beasts who cannot control their lust for killing people and animals so the jury's out whether this was an actual werewolf or what else was going on but we're going

to do that in spoilers but uh Brian what'd you think about the movie man well this is definitely a slow burn uh took a little while for it to get it going definitely well acted for the most part I do agree with you Boyd Holbrook was a little out of place

I believe he was he might have been the only non-English actor in this movie so I think so well directed, well written I thought some of the practical effects were good there was some CGI moments that

to me were not so great with the monster in question. I thought there was times it looked a little bad. But I thought for the most part, it was a good story. And yeah, it's a little hard for me to get into the slow burn sometimes. But I enjoyed it for the most part. Yeah, just kind of depends on how much they give you during the slow burn, like how much development and whatnot.

And I know it was for the mood and the atmosphere, but I felt at times it was a little too dark to see anything. It was like the whole entire movie was dark. Funny, you should say that because I felt that way about one of the movies we're going to talk about an Irish show later tonight. But I didn't have that problem with this one. I did see it in the theater. Brian, I'm glad that I did.

I think a lot of the shots were pretty epic in scope. You know me, you know how much I love my historical dramas. So, you know, obviously that part of it I dug big time. But what caught me was the way that they were able to capture the look. I'm not sure where it was filmed. Not sure if it was actually, I think it was filmed in France, if I'm not mistaken. I think I had heard that. But it definitely looked like that, it had that English Moors look to it where it was always kind of, you know, kind of overcast.

and a lot of fog and stuff like that. Yeah, a lot of gray and just always seemed like it was about to rain. Yeah, right? And it was, well, not raining as much as the Batman, at least, right? But yeah, it was, I love the cinematography. I thought that was one of the strong points. Now, any of our listeners that check out the TV show Yellowstone, You'll be happy to know that if you've got a bit of a crush on Beth Dutton, she does get topless in this, like in the first 10 minutes.

Now, warning, it is side boob. Oh, but what a side boob it is. Am I right, Brian? Yes. So there's been some speculation. Are they real? The question is now answered for you Yellowstone fans. Really nice.

It was interesting hearing her with a British accent. though, because she's actually an English actress. And I'm with you. I thought that the talent was really good. There was a pretty spectacular acting in here. The CGI didn't bother me a bit. I thought that for what we had to work with, I wasn't expecting the beautiful large shots that we got,

and I wasn't expecting quite what we can't get into it yet, but quite what we got with some transformation scenes and some monster scenes. Well, I guess we didn't actually get a transformation, but we kind of got a, how do I dance around this? We kind of did get a transformation. Yeah, pretty much. I agree with you. I like the transformation scenes.

I just was a little bothered with the end result of that transformation. I thought up till that part, it looked really cool. Understandable. Yeah, understandable. supposed to be a different if this is supposed to be a werewolf movie. I'm still kind of on the fence with that too. Yeah. Well, I thought it was at least original, right?

I mean, I don't know if I ever ever seen a horror movie do it exactly like this. And there was, you know, good gore in it, which which is awesome. There was one scene in particular that happened so quickly that somebody looked down and saw that they'd been injured. That was like, holy shit. That got me. I thought that looked very realistic, man. Yeah, probably with the younger cast, I don't want to spoil it. But, yeah, I wasn't expecting it.

And I do applaud movies that go for it. You know, some kind of shy away from hurting children. Not that I like seeing children hurt, but, I mean, if you're trying to make a movie realistic, you know, as much as you can, then that stuff could happen. Right. And that scene you're talking about, yeah, it was unexpected, quick, and I just liked when he looked down, and I was just like, wow, that looks really good. Vicious, brutal. Yeah, so what did you think about the buildup?

What would the Boyd-Holbrook's character coming in and the way that the town reacted when he got there? Were you, did you think that was realistic, or did you think that, They were kind of setting him to look like some kind of a hero or something that he really wasn't. I thought their reaction was fair, given the times and stuff. You know, he's coming. He's a pathologist. He studies blood and stuff. So at that time, you know, there's a lot of plague and disease.

And I think their reaction to him coming was valid. But I never felt that he was. was heroic. There was times I thought I honestly thought he was going to just up and leave at points. So, um,

yeah, um, I'm, I'm still not sold on Boyd-Hobrick. I just, yeah, it's a tough sale, isn't it?

Yeah. I mean, I think he's fine as a supporting cast. Uh-huh. But as the main guy, I just, with this, predator,

I didn't even really like his character in Logan. either. He was just kind of there. Yeah, that was my least favorite. Yeah, least favorite part of that movie. With his stupid robot arm that he did nothing with. Yeah, exactly. But I think for the most part, he was fine.

It's just, I think he probably could have been interchangeable with any actor. You could have threw anybody in this role. Maybe somebody that was actually an English actor. I think it's kind of weird when they do that. It made me think back to, um, was a Crimson Peak Guillermo del Toro's movie when I thought

Loki in it yeah and I thought it was such weird casting they had Jackson and Charlie Hunnam but they speak English in it I was like he's a British actor in a British film with other British actors and he's speaking English so

to have an American actor with all these English actors and to have him try to do a British accent I thought I thought it was strange. Yeah, no doubt, man. Yeah, he was the weakest part of the movie for me. I would say the cinematography was like my favorite part of the movie.

Agreed. The story was good. You know, I didn't have a problem with the story. They could have wrapped it up. I'm with you. I think they could have wrapped it up a little bit better at the end. Other than that, I think that everybody did their job. You want to get into scores so we can spoil it?

Yeah, let's do that. that. What do you think, Brian? I think even though I'm not always into slow burns, I agree with you on the cinematography, the direction, the acting, some of the practical effects. They did set the atmosphere, even though at times I thought it was a little dark. Maybe it was just me watching it at home, and it just, you know, wasn't really showing that good. Oh, yeah, the movie theater made a difference.

I can assure you. Okay. This is for right now, I would like to rewatch it, but for right now, this is a solid seven. That's nice. It's good score, man. Given the historical nature of it and the Beth Dutton side boob, I'll go a half point higher, man. I'll go seven and a half. Nice.

Really enjoyed the movie. I like the story. There were some things that made me kind of stretch my believability. I've got some questions when we get into spoilers. Maybe you'll be able to answer them for me. Some things that didn't quite make sense. I did like the wraparound. I like the way they started and ended the movie.

And you kind of saw why that particular item was there. But seven and a half. So we'd both recommend giving it a watch then. Yeah, definitely. All right. Spoilers. Yep. This is a motherfucking spoiler alert. You've been fucking war.

This is a motherfucking spoiler alert. You've been fucking warned. This is a motherfucking spoiler alert. You've been fucking warned. I'll just jump in here. When the gypsies say something, you got to listen to them. Just got to listen to them.

And I thought that was so fucked up that they had claimed to that land. And they just wasn't really trying to negotiate. I mean, they made an offer to the gypsies. Chipsies didn't accept it and they just came in and wiped them completely out and kind of led to the curse

that went on through the movie because there was a I don't know if that was your question but that was going to be my question was the teeth cursed they had a set of silver you hit my question head on

why did it have to be teeth yeah I was a little confused. Yeah. There was a scene where I'm assuming she was like a kind of like a witch or into something, I don't know, one of the main

gypsy women. Right. A guy asked her, she tells another guy, it's time. She gives him some gold or silver coins. He melts them down. He fashions them onto a skull as like fangs. Mm-hmm. And I was a little

confused. I was like, is I was too. Is this where the wolf curse starts from? I was in, you know. Well, yeah, but Boyd Holbrook, I mean, then you get to know his past and what happened to his family. And he said he went through the same thing at another place. So are you trying to tell me that every single time something like this happens and somebody has to be cursed? They got to take silver and rearrange it and melt it into teeth.

Wouldn't they have those ready? Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. It's just every gypsy camp have a set of these teeth ready to go. Was it different gypsies with different teeth? Yeah, so I would have liked a little bit more explanation, maybe a little bit of why, instead of just saying, oh, it's time. Yes, yes, I'm with you.

We got cheated on that. Yeah, so I like that. Or I would have liked more on that. And I thought everybody's far. Another thing that really got my attention was I thought all the child actors did really good. They did, didn't they? Usually child actors could be hit or miss, most of the time of miss, but I thought everybody was good. Especially the scene we were talking about earlier where something happens real quick when the wolf attacks the boy.

Yes, yes. It just runs by him real quick. and then he looks down and notices like his arm is barely hanging there. Yeah. I thought that was great. It wasn't expected. One of my favorite shots in the movie. I think that's pretty much as far as spoilers that I can think of at this second.

All right. Well, let me ask you this. So the curse, you know, it didn't seem to be, I mean, I did appreciate the fact that they went there, right? And they didn't make it an exact just where will. story like we've heard a hundred times before, you know, rehashing American Werewolf in London, basically. But let me ask you this.

So the one girl that transformed that went into the lake and had all the vines going around her and shit like that, what did you make of that? Like, what was that supposed to represent? I guess you would consider that a transformation scene, right? Because she later was the one that he

trapped when he built the pit and lured her out of the house? Or am I confused on who that? that was. I don't know. See, that's where the confusing parts. I mean,

listeners, if anybody knows, of course, you know, message us, email us, your opinions, but I just also

remember the, the guy that they turned into a scarecrow. Because that was a vicious scene where they chopped his, oh,

wow, yeah, that was amazing. And those were some creepy fucking scarecrows. Yeah, because he

eventually came to life as some sort of monster. So I don't know how outreaching this curse is because you've got the wolf. You got the lady coming from the lake with all the vines and stuff growing off of her. Right. Which I'm just reminded of another scene. Thank you for bringing up the vines.

When they had to kill the girl and they brought her back to the autopsy room and they were cutting it open and she was basically like being rebuttal. born through it. Oh, yeah. That looked really cool right there. Yeah. So, yeah, the curse, I think that's probably what kept us from getting a higher score because I was just, where does this curse go? Is it the wolf? Is it the way it's a scarecrow?

Is it just? A little unfocused, right? Yeah. It seemed to be. So what did you think about, we were talking about the transformations? So what do you think about when they were cutting the monster open and then like the human would come out of the monster? But I guess I guess they said it was changed. It wasn't the same.

You wouldn't kind of like a pet cemetery type thing. Is that like where you wouldn't because they'd been dead or cursed on the other side? And so even though they look like themselves, you don't want them back? Pet Cemetery, the original one? Either one, man. Yeah, that's how I took it. I took it that they were changed and what was being reborn was not. It looked like the person, but was not the person.

So, of course, you know, he had to put him down. And the guy that ended up having to do it, you know, I felt for him because he said he's known that girl since she was a child. Yes, yes. But the way she was coming out of that body, it was like, you had to do it. She was coming after somebody. Yeah. Well, how do you explain the last scene in the church with the one, the guy that ended up, you know, being the World War I veteran that died with the silver bullet that the doctor found in him? How is it that he was able to come back?

Did they bless him somehow or throw holy water? I might have kind of missed that part. I miss that part too. Yeah. Like I said, there was. I called press. They had to kill, but he came back. Yeah, he came back.

back so I don't know. Maybe they didn't have enough silver bullets for everybody or... Oh, maybe it's because the silver bullet was still inside of him. And as long as the silver bullet was in him, he was protected, right? Maybe. Or blessed. But it's the same fucking silver that started the whole goddamn thing in the first place. They got melted into teeth, remelted into bullets.

So I want to know the rules about the silver. They didn't explain that enough for me. Yeah. I think coming out of this, there's a little bit more questions than there are answers. Seems that way, right? But we've been wrong before. I'm sure there's been movies where we maybe just have not seen what was going on. Definitely, I think because of the more questions and answers, this definitely deserves a rewatch.

Yeah, I think so, man. It's just good to, I think it's just good to have horror movies coming out again. Because it's been a while. So tell me, like, let's go year to date. What, like, how many have you seen that have been like theatrical release versus direct to like Shutter, Hulu, something like that? I'm on letterbox. Let me pull that out. All right.

Yeah, I need to. That would be the quickest way. I need to get on that, man. Matt's always always on. made again a letterbox so let's see there was of course we we seen X studio 666 those were all theatrical for me scream theatrical that's it for me okay so what about like there been there have been oh uh I saw the seed recently you saw that one right the share original

That wasn't in the theater, right? That was only straight to shutter. Straight to shutter. Okay. Well, I guess we need to follow up. Matt sent me a list of everything that he's seen for the year so far. And I couldn't find half that shit anywhere, man. Not even through foul means.

So I don't know, man. I'm just glad that the output seems like it's starting to pick up, you know? Yeah, I am a little worried because off-horror. A lot of the DC movies, they were like advertising. There were going to be four release this year, including the Batman. Yep, yep. Two or three of them already got pushed to next year. What?

So, yeah. No kidding. So even the animated DC League, the Super Pets. Oh, I heard about that one. I want to see that one. It's Kevin Hart. And Keanu Reeves is a voice of Superman, which I think is great. Oh, come on.

They should have picked Nick Cage. Yeah, I think that one got, I think that release day got pushed too. So you just never know what's going on. All right, I got you. All right, well, we're going to try to bring some more of these small. I know you're doing your many reviews, Brian. What else do you have coming up over there? Let's see.

For the Horror Returns, I put out too many reviews. They're going to be more lesser-known movies. And I've been really thinking about it. I think I'm going to try. My heart is not to really spoil it. Just kind of give you the gist of what the movie's about and my initial takes on it. And then, of course, over at our brother Nez's network,

Skater Nez Podcast Network. I have my new show over there, ESP Shorts. Okay. Where I'm going to tackle short films. Oh, shit. Not too many people are doing that. Yeah, they don't have to be horror or action, thriller. There can be whatever I catch that I think people should check out and, you know,

try to get the word out on there because people don't realize a lot of these filmmakers that do these short films. They end up going on to do feature-length blockbuster movies. And so just trying to, you know, do our part to help fellow, you know, content creators like us, you know, get their stuff out there. So, sure. Got that going on.

Yeah, well, the director we're talking about tonight. Like I said, he started out with a short. They got noticed. The dude that directed Mama started out. Mama was a short originally. So,

yeah, that's cool, man. That's a great idea for a show. I don't know anybody else that's doing that right now. Yep. So definitely look out for those. All right.

And we'll do another one of these for X, but we're trying to get, understand some Aussies on board. Is that correct? Yeah, well, we've got to get Marcy on. You know, the X does have a porn angle to it. Right, so it is after dark. Yeah.

All right, well, this is Lance and Brian signing out for now. We'll catch you guys on the flip side.