Cursed Films (Blu-ray Review)
Cursed Films is a five-part documentary series which explores the myths and legends behind some of Hollywood’s notoriously “cursed” horror film productions. From plane accidents and bombings during the making of The Omen, to the rumored use of real human skeletons on the set of Poltergeist, these stories are legendary amongst film fans and filmmakers alike. Were these films really cursed, as many believe, or just the victims of bad luck and bizarre circumstances?
The Series 
Cursed Films is the five-part documentary series from Shudder that was released in early 2020. It has finally made its way to the shiny confines of Blu-ray. The documentary series focuses on five films spanning more than 45-years. The films showcased in this series are: The Exorcist, The Omen, Poltergeist, Twilight Zone: The Movie, and The Crow. Personally speaking, I thought it was great that The Crow was included in this series even though it’s not a horror film per se.
The series focuses on occurrences through all these films’ troubled productions. Not one of these films escaped from some sort of tragedy. From the death of the leading star(s) to the death and/or injury of people that worked or were associated with these films. What they all had in common was that they were hits and some became iconic hits of the genre influencing many films from other dramas. The Crow, for instance influenced The Matrix in some parts.
In watching Cursed Films, the honesty of those being interviewed really come through without the bull crap. There’s faking it for the camera and there’s no faking it when you were actually on-set moments before tragedy would strike. It’s like you can almost see the PTSD come into some of the people’s faces when they speak of these films.
Shudder has been doing some great work and Cursed Films, at episodes, is ripe for more assuming it can be stretched out to incorporate a second season. With that being said, the only reason Cursed Films does not get a perfect score is due to some of the slight deviation in a couple of the episodes. There’s one where they talk to some goofy male witches which sort of derails the conversation. In a later episode they talk to Troma Films’ Lloyd Kaufman in drag. That one I can get by because he emphasizes on having safe sets and prides himself on having the safest working conditions in the business.
Overall, Cursed Films offers a lot of insight on the filmmaking process and how things can escalate into real horror if safety is not considered the #1 priority on a set.
Video 
Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Clarity/Detail: Contrast and sharpness levels are fine. I did not detect instances of boosting or tweaking during the interviews.
Depth: I did enjoy some of the interviews and where they were shot — the compositions were great, and the Blu-ray did justice to do those conversations.
Black Levels: N/A (the interviews all took place in well-lit interiors/exteriors and the file footage used cannot be judged properly for accuracy.)
Color Reproduction: The color palette looks great, especially in some of the locations used for the interviewed.
Flesh Tones: Those being interviewed look great.
Noise/Artifacts: Noise and artifacts are limited to some of the stock footage used. The main feature is noise and artifact free.
Audio
Audio Format(s): English DTS HD-MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Dynamics: Cursed Films is several episodes long and is intermixed with clips of the films that they talk about. The clips sound as good as they can – I am not sure where they sourced from, but they’re fine. The majority of the sources being interviewed, however, sound great.
Low-Frequency Extension: The LFE subwoofer channels kicks it up a notch during the feature film footage but turns off during the documentary sections.
Surround Sound Presentation: Ambience is kept intact but you can still hear the surround channels get cranked up during scenes featuring archive footage.
Dialogue Reproduction: The majority of the documentary is dialogue driven, with only the film clips containing dialogue. The folks being interviewed all sounded clean and clear.
Extras
All five episodes contain individual audio commentary tracks, which is certainly welcome on a release like this. For a documentary release, it is definitely plenty.
- Director’s Audio Commentary for All 5 Episodes
Summary
Cursed Films was an awesome little documentary split off into 5-standalone episodes focusing on some classic films. I do wish that certain had not deviated a bit, but it was fine. The commentary tracks were informative, without being dull. The video and audio specs were also top-notch. Cursed Films on Blu-ray is recommended!
The images used above within the review are not actual Blu-ray screenshots. They are for illustrative purposes only.
Cursed Films is released
on Blu-ray August 18, 2020!
