The Accursed Review

3 star slow burning supernatural horror.

The Accursed is a female-driven 2021 horror film written and directed by Kathryn Michelle and Elizabeta Vidovic, a directorial feature debut for both women.

Deeply steeped in Eastern European folklore, this is an interesting look at the supposed talents of “gifted” women, or as everyone else might put it, witches.

As the film opens, we are told of the gifted women who lived in the mountainous regions of the Balkans, who lived and worked in Sisterhoods of three. As some of their kind turned to forbidden magics they became feared and fled to the United States to avoid persecution.

Three such women are Hana (Dana Melanie – By Dawn), Naida (Brianna Joy Chomer – Sorority Slaughterhouse) and Aishe (Jena Carpenter – The Hatred), who are living together seemingly happily.

Unfortunately, Hana doesn’t know when she’s onto a good thing and at her own wedding she is found by Aishe in the garden shed canoodling with her husband Tamas (Nick Cassidy – Secrets in the Basement). In a magnificent show of over-reaction Aishe begins to invoke an ancient spell, the Abolishment Curse, designed to wipe out an entire bloodline.

“Hana, I curse your family to die, Hana, I curse your family to die, by the hand of your…”

Hana manages to kill her before she can speak the final sentence, but as Naida points out, as soon as her soul is freed she will complete the curse and doom them all to death. To prevent this, they cut off Hana’s hand (because the hand that takes a life holds a life) and place it over Aishe’s mouth to prevent her soul from escaping.

They make a pact that no-one should enter the property for risk of the body being disturbed and the curse completed. To this end, they surround the grave with Firethorn, an aggressive plant designed to keep out any one not in the know.

All is well until 22 years later, when Hana (Yancy Butler – Emerald Run, Hard Target) decides to invite the entire family to the wedding of her son Petar (George Harrison Xanthis – Deep Water) to his blushing American bride Sunny (Izabela Vidovic – Find Me, Homefront). Unsurprisingly, this turns out to be a bad idea, as betrayal seems to be the norm in this family.

“I am family, let me pass…”

The Accursed is not a bad idea for a film, although it has nothing new to bring to the table. It’s a little bit too vague on the folklore mumbo jumbo and for the length of the film there are far too many characters for you to ever really identify with any of them.

It’s very slow to get going and would have benefitted from some good old fashioned gory revenge or at least something to make it the horror film it claims to be. An interesting idea with a decent twist, this is worth a watch if you are into poorly disguised tales of witchcraft.

Dazzler Media presents The Accursed on DVD & Digital Download from 14th February