Curse III: Blood Sacrifice (1991)

Who loves spending Wednesdays in the 90s? If you raised your hand, quietly put it down. In shame. Yes, there were some great films released in the early 90s, the big studios had decided they were going to churn them out faster than sticks of butter, but these past two films were not on that list. After watching Pale Blood, I was ready for another horror film that would attempt to scratch the surface of being spooky. I stumbled, literally, upon this - again - VHS only film entitled Curse III: Blood Sacrifice. Reading that it didn't quite follow the rest of the Curse series, I eagerly jumped into it. Hey, Christopher Lee headlines this film - could it really be THAT bad? Let me answer that with an unexciting, "meh". Curse III took the lackluster elements of Pale Blood and actually worked with a bit of a budget and a stronger story. Albeit, not the greatest, it still had more substance and consistency than the latter viewed motion picture. Standing back up, let me say this again, it wasn't the greatest horror movie I have seen, the scares were precursory, the characters were exquisitely one-dimensional, and the monster - well, the monster was probably the best thing about Curse III, proving that if you cannot must a decent cast, the story seems to be dwelling in the sub-standard region, have a good monster and it at least ranks along the "better" of horror movies.

I was reading a review about this film just now and the guy who commented on this film in the late 2000s mentioned that it was one of the best purchases he made, guaranteeing that if you like it, you won't hate it. Bold words. Yet, I somehow seem myself agreeing with him. This is not my best purchase of the year, but if someone dedicates a full two hours to this film, they will not be too disappointed. The great scenes of Africa actually add a nice flavor to this B-monster movie, but actually being on location works nicely. The pre-story, about the medicine man's family could have been fleshed out a bit more, and the family dynamic of our heroine should have been a bit more structured (who was who, and why were they always making out), but as for the idea of Voodoo within the culture, it played well. Christopher Lee was, well, himself. If you have seen one Lee performance, you have seen his rendition of "Doctor Pearson". Another great element that makes this an interesting monster movie is, unlike others of this nature, the monster from the sea doesn't really have any defense mechanisms. He doesn't have long claws or sharp teeth to kill his victims, he (sorry ladies, I can only assume it is a he) uses a machete. Pretty impressive as well as neat to show his mental intellect. Am I thinking too much into this film? Probably, but when was the last time that you saw a fish wield a machete? NEVER!

A family in Africa disrupts the day-to-day life of a witch doctor (see goat vs. witch doctor) and he sends trouble their way in the form of a machete wielding sea creature (sorry, I cannot stop saying that enough). Feeling like it came from the mind of Roger Corman (see Humanoids from the Deep), but with a budget a bit more appreciative of more modern horror films, Curse III made me feel better today. Again, I liked the destination and the visuals, the rest flopped like dead fish, but this film could stand on its own two fish. Interestingly enough, if you chose to watch this film, 1) listen to the score. It is odd, I can't describe it, but it sticks in your mind for a couple of hours after. It is impressive, nay, should I say catchy. 2) There is no humor in this film. This is a pre-goofiness horror movie and while you may find yourself laughing at the 1991 factor, overall it is a straight-forward horror tale, which is great to see especially today where horror seems to stand right next to comedy.

Found in my "Essential Monster Movie Guide", this is the last "P" (originally titled Panga - don't shoot me), and I must say that I was a bit impressed. There were parts of this movie that kept my attention, and there were other parts that failed. But again, at least it tried. I am not eager to run out and purchase the other Curse films, but wouldn't mind giving them a try. I hear the first one with Will Whaeton is a doozy. I just read someone liken this series to the "Beyond the Door" series. I can't wait. I think I am going to give this one a pink mark in my book. Not great, not bad - can I suggest it to friends. Maybe. I think I could watch this with a few drinks one night and would not turn away if I happen to stumble upon it during a late night TNT or TBS binge. Pink it is. It is going in the collection.