the audience applauded

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Don't even try to compare this movie to the Lovecraft story which it appears to be inspired by.The Curse is obviously low-budget: special effects are pretty crappy (although some are better than others), music sucks, and most of the scenes appear to not have had more than one "take". But still a brave effort! Acting is not bad. And scattered throughout are little sly and subtle bits of ad-lib-type humour which caught me by surprise, making me laugh out loud more than once. Rated 6 out of 10 for an entertaining watch without high expectations.

H.P. Lovecraft's "The Colour Out of Space" was the direct influence for this 1980's science fiction/horror creepy classic. Wil Wheaton (Stand By Me) is a young boy who lives on a farm with his mother and bible-thumping, patriarchal stepfather, Claude Akins and his family, when a sinister meteor falls from the sky which seems to infect the water supply, causing vegetables, cattle and victims to rot from the inside out. Meanwhile, greedy developer, John Schneider wants to buy up the property in order to construct a new dam.This is 1987, the classic year for 80's horror, and this little film is no exception. It harbors a real deviant and nihilistic quality that makes it disturbing to watch. Icky, gooey slime oozes from vegetables, animals and human beings suggesting the worst effects of a diseased and tragic aftermath of cosmic proportions in the typical Lovecraftian sense. Wil Wheaton portrays the sympathetic protagonist as he must not only confront the terror at hand, but deal with being alienated by his step-family's cruelty and oppression. With everyone against him and time running out, poor Wil, being the only one intelligent enough not to drink the water or eat the food must convince authorities that something extremely weird is going on. A gloomy ambiance looms over the mood of this lost 80's gem thanks to Director/Actor, David Keith. Nothing about this film is comforting or reassuring. Spielberg look out!

Actor David Keith made an unusual but creditable directing debut with this positively nasty adaptation of the H.P. Lovecraft story "The Colour Out of Space" (which had been previously filmed as "Die, Monster, Die!"). It takes the dying of the family farm quite literally. Young Wil Wheaton, who'd recently made an impression in the excellent drama "Stand By Me", is promoted as the star of this story about a small group of country folk and their yucky fate after a very strange meteorite lands on their property and oozes a substance that contaminates their water supply. It slowly but surely mutates some of the family - as well as the livestock - and drives them into a frenzy. Wheaton is appealing in the lead role, and is one of the few characters in the story with any brains. He knows the water is bad, but his Bible thumping, overbearing stepfather Nathan (Claude Akins) refuses to acknowledge that anything is wrong - at least, until he sees what's growing inside of his produce. Keith and his crew do a fine job of creating some *very* effective down-home atmosphere; this is both filmed in and set in the town of Tellico Plains, Tennessee. They also make this a decidedly grim affair, which only gets more creepy as it goes along. However, that's not to say that they miss the potential for humour, as witness the "connect the dots" sequence. Visual and makeup effects are generally well done, with the blisters that grow on peoples' faces growing bigger all the time. The music by Franco Micalizzi is quite good throughout. The cast features an interesting bunch of actors. In addition to Wheaton and the entertainingly hammy Akins, the actors include Malcolm Danare ("Christine") as obnoxious, bullying slob stepbrother Cyrus, Wheatons' adorable younger sister Amy as his sister in the film, the solid Cooper Huckabee ("The Funhouse") as the doctor who tries to do the right thing, and in an amusing case of "What is HE doing here?", John Schneider of 'The Dukes of Hazzard' fame plays the straight laced water company representative. Steve Carlisle is hilarious as unsubtle slimeball Davidson (then again, very little in this film is subtle) and Kathleen Jordon Gregory is memorable as the increasingly demented mother Frances. The film isn't without its problems: viewers can find the characters infuriating, and the script (by David Chaskin) isn't too coherent (just where does Schneiders' character come from during the finale?) overall. Still, horror fans should find this a pretty agreeable gross-out experience (that bit with the apples is fun) that is slickly made and full of cool moments. Associate producer "Louis Fulci" is actually film director Lucio Fulci. Seven out of 10.

I am 71 as I write this review, and have to admit to having an affinity for low budget sci-fi horror films since my early teens. Starting with "House of Wax" (1954), and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956), I have always been partial to stories where something strange is going on, often called the paranoid plot, and only the main character or hero believes it is not coincidence, but something dangerous or evil.This film, while just so-so in its execution and production values, fulfills the above criteria. Only Wil Wheaton and his sister Amy realize there is something wrong with the water after stuff from a meteor leaks into the ground. When people and animals begin to develop strange symptoms and behaviors, the others are either in denial or attribute it to false causes, such as punishment for sexual sins. There is a creepiness that I found riveting, despite the films many shortcomings. And the special effects, particularly during the first half, while slight, were gross and scary looking. I have always preferred "monsters" that look only a little off from normal people. The overdone collapse of the house near the end was ridiculous, and hurt the movie. Still, I enjoyed the slow buildup and, unlike many other reviewers, found the movie and the idea original and suspenseful. If you are expecting a work of art, stay away.Other Good "B" Low Budget films in this category are: "The Baby" (1973), "Population 436" (2008), Night of the Creeps (1986), "Pulse" (1988), and "Grandmother's House" (1988). I won't even try to list the bad movies in this category, since there are so many, and I can't remember the names of most of those I have seen. The 8 rating is only comparing the film to others in this category, not mainstream movies in general.