A Maldição de Cathy

Hokey supernatural thriller about the possession of an innocent little girl by the spirit of a mean-spirited little girl who died in a car crash, and who would've grown up to be the first girl's aunt. The possessed girl now seems to have powers that equal those of the Antichrist in the "Omen" films, although how she got them is never explained, and we also never understand what exactly she is trying to accomplish with her random killings (she even kills the dog!). The film is totally unbelievable and ineptly edited, but there is the occasional effective moment (the scene with the spiders may give you the willies). (*1/2)

Even though this film is cheesey and uber-low budget, it's not too bad. Although many of the scenes are more than shades of The Exorcist, Omen, Carrie, and The Fury, there are some unique moments that gave me the shivers (such as the snake-and-rats scene and when Cathy appears and disappears before her mother on the steps). The low-budget, grainy film quality and super cheesey "score" are at the same time distracting and effective, and although the gore quotient is modest, it's gross fun when you get it. The editing and story are a little loose and sloppy at times, but not so much that you want to give up on the film. Sometimes, these weaknesses create an (I'm guessing) unintentional ambiguity that adds to the spooky fun.

In my world, haunted kids and (even more so) freaky-looking dolls are always the makings of a good horror film. This film has both in spades. I found it on Brentwood's "Possesion" 4-movie DVD set, which is a steal at $8. Don't expect winning performances or slick effects, but check it out if you want some good B horror movie fun.

A lot of the IMDb reviews for Cathy's Curse mention the lousy VHS picture quality, but the copy I found online was actually rather good, making me wonder whether the film has since received the remastered treatment for DVD or BluRay. The film itself, however, is still a steaming pile of amateurish garbage, and why anyone felt that it deserved an upgrade is a mystery to me. Still, there are quite a few laughs to be had at the expense of the community theatre cast, the woeful special effects, and the total lack of film-making acumen from director Eddy Matalon.

The film opens with a father arriving home to find that his wife has left him, taking their young son George with her. His daughter Laura has been left behind, so daddy pops her in his car and drives away at speed into the snowy night (where he's going is not explained). When a rabbit runs in front of the car, the man loses control and crashes the vehicle, which goes up in flames killing the occupants.

Scoot forwards a few decades, and George (Alan Scarfe) moves into his old family home with his neurotic wife Vivian (Beverly Murray) and their daughter Cathy (Randi Allen). Exploring the house, Cathy finds a portrait of Laura and the dead girl's old rag doll, after which she begins to act very strangely, playing 'car crashes' with the neighbourhood kids, and attempting to poke out a girl's eye with a nail. She also develops supernatural powers, including telekinesis, teleportation and the ability to make food go rotten in seconds.

A local medium, Agatha (Mary Morter, putting in a truly awful performance), suspects that something is wrong, but Cathy sends her flying out of a first storey window, which causes Vivian to have a breakdown. George leaves Cathy in the care of creepy handyman Paul (Roy Witham), who gets plastered, after which the girl makes him hallucinate (rats, snakes and spiders). When Paul decides to burn Cathy's rag doll, she kills him (but only after he delivers the hilarious line "Go on, you filthy female cow-make us laugh!").

More weird stuff happens, none of which makes any sense. No explanation is given for Cathy's newfound powers, but one assumes that she is possessed by Laura's spirit; why Laura is so malevolent is never made clear. What is abundantly clear is that this lame Exorcist inspired Canadian horror is inept in almost every way imaginable, but for fans of z-grade trash, it'll be just about worth a watch for the unintentional LOLs.

The unholy spawn of The Exorcist, The Omen, and The Bad Seed, Cathy's Curse feels like a made for TV or family approved riff on all those movies without any of the scares. Poor little possessed Cathy won't curse like Regan in The Exorcist, but she will call people "fat cows" with a nice amount of vitriol.

As silly as it is, there is some great low budget 70's ambiance in here that keeps it from being a total misfire and it's not a very long movie, so it won't feel like a complete waste of time.

Low budget Canadian knock-off of superior major releases such as "The Exorcist" and "The Omen" is nonetheless fairly pleasing on a "so bad it's good" level. It begins in the 1930s, as a man (Peter MacNeill, "Crash", "A History of Violence") and his young daughter perish in a car accident. 40 years later, the girls' now grown-up brother George (Alan Scarfe, "Double Impact", 'Seven Days') moves into the old family home with his wife Vivian (Beverly Murray, "Street Smart", "The Carpenter") and their kid, Cathy (Randi Allen). Soon, the kid is behaving strangely, the wife is coming unglued, and various bizarre & macabre things are happening.

"Cathy's Curse" is NOT without entertainment value: it's slipshod - and hysterically scripted - enough to make it pretty amusing in spite of itself. The acting is pretty bad from just about everybody, but that doesn't mean that it isn't enjoyable. The pretty Murray is the worst offender; she seems incapable of delivering a good performance if her life depended on it. Young Allen is a hoot, especially as the story progresses and the movie gets more and more priceless.

Special effects and gore are kept to a minimum, with French-born co-writer & director Eddy Matalon ("Breakout", "Sweet Killing") struggling in vain to give his movie some semblance of gravitas and atmosphere. But ultimately, "Cathy's Curse" is entertaining because of it being so laughable. It's hard to say whether this was intended; the actors, as underwhelming as they are; do largely play the material straight. Roy Witham ("Agency"), as old caretaker Paul, is amusing, as is Mary Morter ("The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane") as the medium. Best of all is when the dialogue suddenly turns vulgar, and the kid is hurling insults at her elders.

A must if you're eager to delve into the cheesier side of Canuxploitation, but don't go in expecting anything resembling a good film.

Filmed in Quebec.

Five out of 10.