Review by John Delia
Frightening, heart-rending and revealing Cursed Films becomes very compelling as it entertains in a morbid kind of way. Decades ago several films were labeled as being hexed due to mysterious deaths and accidents surrounding their release or within months of it. The tragedies had many affects and some of the films actually became iconic attracting others beyond the horror fan audience to see the films. Watching it brought back many memories of the now classic films, many of which are in my library.
The films covered in the documentary are commented on by some of the stars, critics and film historians and include Phil Nobile Jr., Linda Blair, Kane Hodder, Michael Berryman, Mitch Horowitz, Ryan Turek, Richard Donner and Gary Sherman. A couple of names stick out right away especially actress Linda Blair who provided a gutsy character possessed by the devil in The Exorcist in which she took a lot of punishment. Stuntman and actor Kane Hodder, who has over 140 credits from appearances in film, chimes in with comments related to his work in films like sequels of Friday the 13th, Texas Chain Saw Massacre and others.
But the documentary does become very creepy as well, with some of the participants giving opinions connected with witchcraft, devil worship and other nightmarish machinations. Their comments may upset some viewers, but consider they are derived from a fictional film. Each chapter tries to outdo the next starting with Poltergeist involving death and skeletons, followed by The Omen that had a very terrifying accident, The Exorcist with deaths during production, The Crow that includes the accidental shooting of the main star, and Twilight Zone: The Movie that had a helicopter incident. Within each of the labeled episodes are several other films that may have had similar or even more diabolical happenings on the set and even beyond the wrap of the film.
BONUS FEATURES:
“Separate Director’s Audio Commentary for All 5 Episodes†Poltergeist, The Omen, The Exorcist, The Crow, and Twilight Zone: The Movie
Cursed Films has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains nudity, violence, grisly scenes, sexual violence, and language all happening in the film clips, caught on film during production and photos.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A very good documentary for film fans and the curious. (4 out of 5 Stars)
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Phil Nobile Jr., Linda Blair, Kane Hodder, Michael Berryman, Mitch Horowitz, Ryan Turek, Richard Donner and Gary Sherman
Directed and Written by: Jay Cheel
Genre: Documentary, Horror
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 5 segments 30 min each
Video Release Date: August 18, 2020
Original TV Release Date: Season 1, April 2020
Language: English
Reviewed Format: Blu-ray
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Video: Aspect Ratio 2.39:1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Distributed by: RLJE Entertainment
Released on: Digital HD, DVD & Blu-ray