I’m just going to come out and say it. Accursed is not a good film. Written by Sean Crayne, Humberto Rosa, and Brian Frank Visciglia it’s the story of a group of college students on a birthday weekend getaway who are stalked and eventually attacked by a mysterious shadowy figure. The most frustrating thing about the film is that it never really lands on a tone, much less a dominant story or theme. It’s a horror casserole where none of the elements bind to make something new.
The film begins as good girl Emma (Vivien Soraya) is leaving for a weekend getaway. She is about to turn 21 and her boyfriend Mason (Gabriel Sousa) along with friends Billie (Kira Cahill) and Troy (Paris Dylan) throw her in a van and head out to a rental in the desert for good times. There are plenty of the usual tropes. It’s made crystal clear that Emma has to take meds to avoid some nondescript ailment. Can we trust her as the narrator? Then on the road, the group makes enemies with an ominous car that seems to be following them. There’s even a weird gas station clerk who barely talks and looks at every customer with an evil, silent stare.
If this was how my weekend trip began, I would flip a u-turn, check for Mercury retrograde, cancel the AirBnB and get some takeout on the way home. But that’s not what people in horror movies do, and we are here for those dumb decisions. But somehow, we see these four young adults fumbling through the motions and we don’t care because it’s so poorly written. These ideas are presented as original. I’m not looking for a post-Scream meta self awareness. But the characters have to at least have some level of awareness. I digress.
The foursome arrive at the remote home in the desert and immediately start the party. They swim in the pool, they throw back some beer, and they settle in around the campfire after nightfall with some weed. We learn that Emma and Mason are virgins who may consummate their relationship. We also learn that Troy hopes to propose to Billie. Again, I have to ask: How does this serve the story? For good measure we are reminded that Emma is in a fragile mental state but still went ahead and drank booze and smoked weed.
Eventually things start happening and a shadowy figure begins appearing outside the house. Arrows pierce skulls, brains are stabbed, people run screaming into the night. But the film has offered little for us to decipher along the way. Instead, we are made to wait for a reveal that never allowed us the chance to guess.
This is a fiercely indie film, very proudly made in Hollywood as indicated by a charming button at the end before credits roll. At a time when so many productions are going elsewhere and projects are harder and harder to execute this is noteworthy. The effort is there and that is commendable. But this script should have been polished before cameras started rolling. I can forgive a minimally dressed set. I can overlook a location that was obviously donated, I can even embrace a performance that needed a little more work. But the script requires only the creativity of the writers to work within their means and to entertain.
Accursed ends up being a half baked hodgepodge of horror devices that take up space and have no lasting impact.
Oh and Danny Trejo is in the film. It’s not his best role but Trejo elevates anything that he is in because he is a national treasure.
