Matty gives the nod to an oddball Canadian chiller worth seeking out.

After a stone gargoyle falls from a church during a storm — killing an old priest in the process — an artist (Catherine Colvey) is tasked with restoring it by a creepy, mysterious sexton (Tom Rack). Meanwhile, the artist’s botanist boyfriend (Ron Lea) is suckered in by a strange symbol he uncovers on the gargoyle; and as he digs deeper into its meaning, his experiments and those surrounding him start succumbing to a weird, possibly demonic influence… 

The second pair-up between writer/producer Jean-Marc Félio and producer/director Mychel Arsenault, CURSED is less bombastic than its ‘The Omen (1976) meets Cronenberg’ come-on might suggest. It is, however, substantially pulpier and sillier than their previous collaboration, the more strait-laced action/horror hybrid, Power Games (1989). 

Shot in Montreal across November/December 1988, a month or so after Power Games wrapped, with much of the same crew, Cursed swirls around the same ‘evil as a virus’ scenario as John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness (1987) and Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza’s [rec] (2009). Though lacking the visceral potency of either — and, indeed, pulling one too many of its punches jolt-wise full stop — this intriguing theological creeper oozes atmosphere. It bubbles with a pervading sense of quiet doom that, like Arsenault’s stylistic juxtaposition of the supernatural and reality in Power Games, contrasts with the ghoulish, comic book footing of the story. While undoubtedly governed by the film’s ultra-low budget, Arsenault’s decision to keep his direction as cool and as sterile as the white painted walls of Lea’s lab — where swathes of Cursed unfolds — elicits several shivers. Nevertheless, the scenes that take place in the film’s best location — the incredible-looking Erskine and American United Church — are kicked up a gear, and feel somewhat reminiscent of the imports of the Italian Exorcist (1973)/Omen cycle. 

The wheel-spinning passages of Cursed’s functional script are elevated by its interesting ideas about faith, science and technology. The fairly kitsch-y drama is given a foil in the form of Donald L’Ecuyer’s haunting score, and is nicely played by the cast. Among the ensemble is Joy Boushel as Lea’s concerned assistant. Her final role before jacking the movies in, Boushel’s Canadian genre chops extend to Terror Train (1980), Humongous (1982), Thrillkill (1984), The Fly (1986), and an episode of Friday the 13th: The Series built around a similar, statue-based plot to Cursed.

Touted in the trades as ‘Eerie Affinities’ and also known as ‘Gargoyle’ and ‘The Ungodly Power’, Cursed debuted at the Montreal World Film Festival on Saturday 1st September 1990. Faring marginally better than Power Games, Félio and Arsenault managed to get Cursed into a couple of Montreal cinemas for a few days. It opened at The Palace on Friday 6th December 1991, and a French language version, ‘Pouvoir Obscur’ (‘Dark Power’), opened at Le Parisien. As with Power Games, Cursed was acquired by Filmtrust Motion Picture Licensing who, once again, decided against domestic, U.S. and U.K. distribution, instead issuing it on cassette in Italy, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Russia.

Canada ● 1990 ● Horror ● 87mins

Ron Lea, Catherine Colvey, Tom Rack ● Dir. Mychel Arsenault ● Wri. Pierre Dalpé and Jean-Marc Félio, from an original idea by Mychel Arsenault and Richard Millette