The Curse (1987) Review

The Curse is a small town 80s horror movie where most of the Lovecraft inspired horror take a backseat to a Southern family trying to preserve their farm. It's actually more exciting than it sounds. The Lovecraft elements emerge in the form of bacteria that mostly rots everybody's apples. Seriously, it's more exciting than it sounds. There's lots of disgusting moments that surround the family succumbing to the infections. There's also too many subplots, including a sleazy real estate dick and the local doctor's wife who may or may not be the town whore.

The real strength of the movie is Claude Atkins, star of Sheriff Lobo, as an abusive religious stepfather who believes the infections are divine punishment for his wife's infidelity. The craziest piece of trivia is that Lucio Fuluci served as one of the financial backers and it's evident when some of the locals start to turn into goo. For whatever reason the exterior was shot on director David Keith's farm but the interiors were filmed in Rome. I don't know. Recommended for Stand by Me fans (Wil Wheaton is pretty delightful), anyone who enjoys people melting really slowly and anyone who loves belligerent horror movie parents. I'm a big fan of the latter.