Horror Movie News and Reviews - Horror Express.com

IT NEVER STOPS! - DIMENSION STILL MEDDLING WITH 'CURSED'

Honestly, I don't know why I'm even surprised anymore. Now that Wes Craven's CURSED is at long last only a month away from being unleashed on the big screen, there is mixed news to report. On the bright side, preview audiences who have seen the film say it's pretty good. However, that might not mean much since Dimension has taken that print and chopped it up to ensure a more family-friendly "PG-13" rating.

Fangoria reports that the MPAA has slapped CURSED with a "PG-13" after Dimension took their fascist machetes to the film and chopped out some of the juicy bits. The thing is, although Dimension has done this several times before (most recently with DARKNESS, which they delayed for three years before censoring), it's a surprise to see such a high-profile project come under the axe.

Word on the street is that CURSED was "R"-rated stuff and a hard "R" at that. Graphic violence and some serious sexual overtones, although the only flash of nudity is of a male backside. Fango spoke about their preview screening.

"The Fango staff caught a screening this week of what was clearly the 'R' version," the site explains, "and frankly, we're curious about how coherently a few key scenes will play with their hard-gore content—including severed heads and bodies—watered down or deleted."

This was after Dimension scrapped the entire first film of CURSED, redid the entire script and hired a completely new cast, and then went forward joyfully with the "R" rated version. Now, they've changed their minds and once again, it's the artist who suffers. If I were Wes Craven, I would never want to have anything to do with this studio again.

Don't worry, because if it's one thing the folks at Dimension are discovering, it's the profitability of multiple releases. Expect an "Unrated" version of the DVD which will actually be the "R"-rated print. Maybe they'll even release them separately. Hell, at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Dimension charged an extra $100 for the real CURSED and otherwise only offered it in fullscreen sepia-tone.

No word on exactly how much was cut, but it would have to be more than a few seconds, if what we're hearing from multiple sources is accurate.

The once again edited CURSED will allegedly be released on February 25th in the United States and Canada.

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