The Devil's Curse (2008)

When you think of the time, effort, and money that goes into making a film, it is surprising that people would get behind making such an obviously bad script into a film. A group of uni students wandering around at night in an abandoned building that is rumoured to have been the site of a mass murder years before due to a demon summoning gone wrong. I think they had more original plot lines in the Scooby Doo cartoon TV series. You can imagine how long they spent developing the premise. The time it took to drink a pint in the pub. Maybe two. So saddled with a disappointing premise, someone outlines a slow and uninspired story line. This is then fleshed out with awkward and dull dialogue. At this point even a-list Hollywood actors could not save this train wreck. The poorly filmed badly directed efforts of the untrained/novice actors just ensure that there is not a moment to enjoy in this film.

"The Devil's Curse" was a rather uninvolving and quite boring horror film.**SPOILERS**Kicked out of their apartment, friends Alice, (MyAnna Buring) Jock, (Clayton Watson) Scott, (Mark Joseph) Timmy, (Nathalie Pownall) and Jazz, (Rhea Bailey) manage to find a new home for the weekend in a mansion vacated for a while, and decide to move in until they can find other housing. As they continue to room together within the building, they start to believe that something is wrong and something is inside with them as there's a story about the building being used by a group of Catholic students to conjure a demon within but bailed and left it trapped inside. When they become aware of something inside and it begins to hunt them down one-by-one planting each of the deaths as suicides, they try whatever they can to get out of the building before they meet a grisly end.The Good News: There wasn't a whole lot here that really worked. One of the biggest pluses is that the film does a great job at invoking a superb atmosphere upon which it generates its few scare-attempts. With the multi-tiered flooring, dark, narrow corridors and cramped rooms, it makes for an effective backdrop in here to hang the scares off of. This is mostly evident in the early scenes, where they go around investigating the rooms and the later scenes of the set-up, which are done really well with the whispering voices, the power-outage and the scuttling noises coming from upstairs despite knowing they're alone in the house. Later scenes, most specifically the frantic running through the house trying to get out after being locked in and the darkness they're in while doing so, makes for a creepy time, and the constant use of demonic growls and hissing static over their radios is an extra bit to spice it up. The most impactful suspense scene is easily their crawl through the tunnel within the basement, as the main darkness, fluorescent illumination and tight, cramped space makes for a spectacular scare that is nicely bolstered by its implications from previous actions and extended, drawn-out scale that really allows for a frightening experience, to make for a great time. The finale, where the survivors are wandering through the house and exploring the remains slowly through the darkened house, the radio calls that go unheard, as well as all the creepy goings-on that are showcased by the video-cameras that are able to capture everything possible and turning it into a fantastic scare, are just plain chilling and perfectly encompass that feeling of dread and suspense that the film attempts to maintain throughout. The video-camera scenes are the best bit, with the deceptions played by their doubles, the violent actions undertaken by both, and the rather grand twist it employs due to this, is rather great and really much more enjoyable than possible. It even has a little bit of action present in the main flashback scene with the demon-aftermath attacks and the great freak-out bit in the bathroom that is quite good. The last plus in here is the rather sleazy shower scene, with the lesbian implications, nudity and much more. These here are all that work.The Bad News: There was a lot of things with this one that lower it drastically. The biggest flaw to this one is the fact that it fits into all the usual British ghost films that were made around the time, where the on-screen action is so devoid of energy that it's increasingly frustrating to get into the film as it goes on. Whether it's by not actually showing anything designed to generate chills or just employing a laid-back style that keeps things from really going forward with anything on-screen, the film just feels so drawn-out and longer than it really is that there's just no other feeling to be found during the majority of its running-time than boredom. This is a common occurrence in such films, and this one falls into that trap as well, making for a really troubling spot to get over incredibly early on. This is certainly confounded even more by the film's focus on such trivial and inane plot-points that no scares really have the chance to get developed, mainly the aspect among the men to be able to score with the women and turning it into a game, which is so irritating and aggravating that the continued use of it is just that much more troubling than it really is, not worthy of being a central plot-point but more of a background element yet here is brought forward so that it's really boring during the course of the film as it's placed instead of generating scares. The fact that it does try to generate scares, but the fact that all we get is just voices without anything else gets old after the twentieth-time or so of such a tactic, and this really needed more time, taken up unfortunately by the other factors, to really try that. The film also suffers from a severe lack of explanations for many different parts, mainly the need for the demon to make its kills as suicide-victims. It rather easily could've done something unique here to generate more suspense, but instead such an important part of the film is glossed over and leaves a huge missed opportunity. The last flaw here is the finale, which just doesn't make any sense. Hardly anything that happens is explained, and all the different elements coming together are just utterly confusing. These here are the film's problems.The Final Verdict: A great example of the common British ghost movies, this one doesn't have enough good stuff to overcome the usual trappings that are present in such films. Really only recommended to those who find these types of cerebral films appealing, while those looking for a little more energy should look elsewhere.Rated R: Graphic Language, Nudity and Graphic Violence

I really loved this movie.I was genuinely scared throughout and I was completely caught out by the twist ending - although don't ask me to explain it! Good to see a horror film that doesn't rely on gore and decapitations but instead creates a creepy atmosphere and slowly builds suspense. The film cleverly ratchets up the tension then throws in the odd great jump moment. Couple all that with a smart script that turns everything inside out and you've got a surprisingly good horror flick.In all, a sweet butterfly of a movie! Looking forward to seeing what the film-makers do next.

So, we have an abandoned house, where some people have killed themselves before. And of course, we have a group of people, who want to spend not just one, but two nights in that house. Are there any horror films made these days that does not have the concept of a haunted house with a few murders committed in it? Continuing with the clichés: the protagonist, a female, is a hard-working student, who has not got much time to spend with her friends. Then there is the man in love with her, but who does not dare to tell her that. He is of course a little bit awkward and shy. And finally, there is the party-all-night-long college boy, whose main aim in life is to... well, to party and get laid.However, these characters really come to life and make you sympathize with them: the actors are very-well chosen and can actually act, contrary to many modern-day horror films. Their fear is real and their actions as well, although there are many lines delivered that just make you wonder.To all gore fans: there isn't much for you, only a little blood is seen. This movie is more about the deep subconscious of people and how that makes them act.