Curses! Foiled Again!

By Chris Kavan - 08/12/10 at 11:57 AM CT

There are a lot of curses in movies - and I'm not talking about the kind that Kevin Smith and The Dude provide. I'm talking about old-time gypsy / voodoo / burial ground type curses. Some people are doomed because of a slight they've performed, some people just seem to ask for it. Not all-inclusive by any means, but here are some of my all-time favorite curses:

1) Thinner - Imagine you're a hotshot lawyer, maybe a little on the chunky side and you're involved with a hit-and-run. Instead of owning up to your mistake, you rig the system and get off scott-free. Too bad that person you ran over way a gypsy - now you're cursed to grow thinner each day, which at first seems a ok, but when the pounds won't stop dropping, you think retaliation, then mercy, then outright begging - but never acceptance. The end of this film is also a kicker.

2) Ringu / The Ring - No matter if you prefer the original or the more flashy American remake. This J-horror classic is about a cursed tape that after viewed kills you exactly a week later. This may not have started the whole freaky long-haired monster girl trend, but it certainly propelled it forward. The whole J-horror trend was promptly ran into the ground following this success, but give it to the original, it was a good concept.

3) Beauty and the Beast (many incarnations) - A hideout beast houses the soul of a man who only needs find true love to restore his form - a simple, yet tragic tale has been told in many forms, many times (the upcoming Beastly is yet another take). A true classic that sees constant updates.

4) Poltergeist - Note to self - do not build housing project on top of burial grounds... ever. This movie is all types of creepy - the TV, the psychics, the maggots in the meat... that damn clown - and it's all because "You only moved the headstones!" This films gets extra points for having it's own "curse" surrounding the films itself - thought the links are tenuous at best.

5) Groundhog Day - That's some deja vu you got there buddy - what could be better or worse than having to live the same day over and over again? You can learn new skills (piano, speak every foreign language fluently, etc.) but you have to stay where you are - no leaving. Bill Murray is great as the title character stuck on repeat.

There are plenty more examples out there - I didn't even bring up werewolves or Drag Me to Hell - but these are some of my favorites.