my nitpicks
Just saw this movie on TV... which must've been the edited version since the deaths weren't shown in gruesome detail. I know this bothers a lot of horror fans, but personally I don't find gore necessary and think a movie can be more effective when it doesn't show you everything and leaves things to your imagination. Although it's better when a movie's designed that way from the beginning, instead of having such obvious cuts.
Anyway, I enjoyed the humour in Cursed, especially the scenes between Jimmy and Bo. But I have some nitpicks I felt like sharing... Spoilers ahead, of course :)
If being a werewolf is supposed to make you more sexually alluring (in human form, that is. :P) ...why does nobody stop and stare at Joanie when she walks by, like they do with Ellie? I mean, they devoted enough time to showing guys noticing & complimenting Ellie, like it was a big deal. There should've been more hints about Joanie's true nature.
Why isn't Jake interested in Joanie? If he wanted a wolfy companion, why not her? It can't be because she's a bitch, since he turns out to not be a good guy either. And if he's not really in love with Ellie after all...which I assume he's not, since he turned on her at the end. And why *did* he turn on her in the end, after trying to protect her from Joanie earlier... even telling Joanie he wouldn't let her hurt Ellie/she'd have to kill him first?
At first I thought Jake didn't mean all those insults, calling Ellie stupid etc, and was possibly just trying to make her mad because anger might trigger the transformation, which he wanted so that they could be together. But then he seemed to genuinely hate her, went after her brother, and tried to kill her too. If that was supposed to be because he was hurt that she rejected him...it didn't come across in Joshua Jackson's performance. At the end he was just menacing and psycho, with no other layers.
And the reveal about him doesn't make sense considering all his previous scenes... for instance, if Jake wants to be alpha wolf, why not kill Ellie's brother earlier, when he first confessed he was a werewolf? They were alone together - Jake could've killed him easily, if that's what he wanted. For that matter, if Jake wasn't the type of guy who'd take no for an answer (Ellie not wanting to be a werewolf), then why didn't he bite her himself, all that time they were dating...? It sure looked like he was trying to control his curse, and wouldn't want to inflict it on someone else, especially someone he supposedly loved. Don't get it.
And I know Kyle is supposed to be a red herring, but it doesn't make sense, if he's innocent, for him to react so calmly when he tells Ellie & Jimmy there's a wild animal on the loose. (Not to mention acting evasive about showing his hands/not asking more questions about it). Everyone else ran out of the building screaming...why'd he stay behind? Shouldn't he be more panicked, or relieved to see them alive, if he's not the Big Bad Wolf? The only reason I can figure is... surprise twists.
Surprise, Kyle's evil! No, he's not. Surprise, Jake's a werewolf! But he's good! No, he's not. Surprise, Joanie's evil...wait, we knew that. But she gave no indication of being the werewolf, so that's cheating. Why didn't Joanie attack Ellie in the underground parking lot, instead of letting her leave and going after that other girl? That only made sense if the werewolf was Jake or Kyle (y'know, somebody who's in love with Ellie). Maybe I should've guessed it was Joanie, based on her scene at the beginning indicating she's jealous of Ellie's relationship with Jake... so when other girls from Jake's past start getting killed...Joanie's an obvious suspect. But I didn't guess, because, for one thing the Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned thing is so cliched. Plus I figured the wolf's main motivation for killing was simple. Hunger. :P Or, if it was Jake, wanting to get rid of other girls who might get in the way of his relationship with Ellie. That would be a nice bonus. But mostly, hunger.
Ah well, if I don't nitpick I can still enjoy it. Too bad Kyle died though. It would've been nice if Ellie had a happy ending with a potential new love interest too. Her brother walks off into the moonlight with his new friend and new girlfriend ...and she... is left alone to clean up her ex-boyfriend's remains. Fun! Okay, so she's got the dog for company, but still.
Christina Ricci wasn't as likeable as Jesse Eisenberg and Milo Ventimiglia though, so I guess it doesn't matter much.