Almost ten years ago, director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson delivered unto moviegoers Scream, the little satire that could, breathing some much-needed life, energy, and originality into the fading slasher genre. The movie's success led to untold numbers of imitators, but Craven and Williamson could sleep well knowing they did it first, that Scream laid its claim before the sea of wannabes tried to strike while the iron was hot. This time, though, their long-delayed and much-troubled genre opus Cursed falls on the opposite end, itself riding on the coattails of recent horror success stories like The Ring or 28 Days Later.

There's no use rehashing Cursed's reshoot-laden journey to the big screen, so I'll get right to the point. If horror movies weren't hot these days, Cursed could've been left alone with no harm done. Craven and Williamson could've just given up, forgotten about the project, and worked together on something a little less taxing and hopeless. But as long as audiences were gobbling up horror movies, not caring whether these films were slick and intelligent or lazy and moronic, Dimension Films remained steadfast on releasing Cursed despite all the script troubles and cast changes. Unfortunately, it ends up being, as I feared, not in the least bit worth the wait.

Cursed tells the story of two siblings, Ellie (Christina Ricci) and Jimmy (Jesse Eisenberg), and the fateful night that puts them in contact with the supernatural. While driving in the hills of Hollywood, the brother and sister have a car accident that ends with the woman (Shannon Elizabeth) in the other car being dragged and eaten to death by a mysterious, hulking, furry beast. In the days that follow, strange things begin happening to our hero and heroine; both gain heightened senses, a bit of an appetite for blood, and an aversion to silver. Slowly, but surely, as they eventually discover, Ellie and Jimmy are turning into werewolves themselves, and before their transformations are complete, they need to find the source of the curse and put an end to the carnage claiming the lives of those around them.

I give Cursed credit for going with the "monster movie" approach, rather than being cranked out as the umpteenth ghost story in the last few months. Werewolves in particular have been neglected in terms of exposure, showing up for the Ginger Snaps sequels and Underworld but mostly ending up stuck outside the spotlight. Perhaps, though, I should take Cursed as a reason for why there aren't so many werewolf movies these days. The last memorable one that stands out in my mind is Dog Soldiers, a great and overlooked (outside of the horror community) gem that combined elements of action and horror to form an all-around exciting package. Cursed is more along the lines of a cheesy soap opera with fur, kind of like "Dark Shadows," only with werewolves. There's the usual repetition of "Oh no, I'm changing!" exchanges, highlighting what has to be the slowest descent into lycanthropy captured on film, only this time they're surrounded by corny subplots.  

I assume the intentions of Cursed included trying to incorporate serious, thoughtful themes into a horror flick filled with the usual shocks and jolts. Instead, however, Craven and Williamson waste their time focusing upon laughable plotlines and an ineffective main story. Aside from Ricci and Eisenberg's characters, people only exist in Cursed to serve one of two functions -- either a potential werewolf suspect or someone wearing a "Hi, I'm Going to Die!" nametag.

Performances are mostly on the thin side here, with the best acting coming from Craig Kilborn...and that's in a one-scene cameo as himself. Ricci rings strangely flat for being the vibrant actress she's been in the past, and Eisenberg made me nervous. Everyone else, from Joshua Jackson as Ellie's boyfriend to Judy Greer as a screechy publicist, keep in touch with the film's WB-style dramatic "edge."

As for the down and dirty scares of Cursed, there's nothing I haven't seen done before with more style (though the parking lot scene was a little tense), and the transformation sequences, in addition to the werewolf itself, did nothing to trip my trigger (neither did the hilariously awful moment where the werewolf actually flips off the main characters).

Cursed is little more than another of those half-hearted horror flicks we're seeing a lot of lately. Although it will probably do well at the box office, it's nowhere near the quality of such  genre classics as Halloween or The Exorcist. 

MY RATING: * 1/2 (out of ****)

(Released by Dimension Films and rated "PG-13" for horror violence/terror, some sexual references, nudity, language and a brief drug reference.)

Review also posted on www.ajhakari.com.