It's not the guy. It's the beast you should fear.
Having seen how much of an improvement the director's cut of The Wolfman was, I have decided to give a second chance to another werewolf film of recent vintage that failed to impress me when I saw it in theaters. That would, of course, be Wes Craven's 2005 film Cursed, which was his third major collaboration with Scream-writer Kevin Williamson (I don't count Scream 3 because it's the only one that he didn't write), so my expectations at the time were probably somewhat unrealistic. To be sure, the version I have to watch isn't labeled the director's cut but is rather the "Unrated Version" -- which means it's essentially the cut that Dimension would have released in theaters had they not punked out and gone for PG-13 in the first place -- but I'll take what I can get.
And what we've got is a brazen, yet still somewhat successful, attempt by Craven and Williamson to apply the Scream template to a werewolf story, right on down to the multiple red herrings/suspects. There's even a compressed time-frame since the action takes place over the course of a single three-moon cycle, which certainly helps keep things moving. As for the story, it's centered around talk show producer Christina Ricci and her brother, awkward high-schooler Jesse Eisenberg, who get into a horrific car accident one night on Mulholland Drive (which may be how they lost their parents -- apparently a fairly recent tragedy) and, while trying to help the driver of the other vehicle, get attacked by a werewolf. The other driver (Shannon Elizabeth) gets ripped to shreds (prompting Ricci to ask the standard werewolf movie question, "What happened to her, what kind of an animal could do that?"), but brother and sister walk away with only minor abrasions, which means they've now been -- say it with me -- cursed.
This being a Craven/Williamson joint, the supporting cast is packed to the hilt, starting with Joshua Jackson as Ricci's love interest, a harried club owner preparing for his big opening, Judy Greer as the "psycho" publicist for Happy Days alumnus Scott Baio (whose casting recalls Henry Winkler's turn as the principal in Scream), Milo Ventimiglia as an alpha-male bully whose homophobic taunts gall Eisenberg, Kristina Anapau as the nice girl he likes, Portia de Rossi as the fortune teller who warns Elizabeth (and singer Mýa) about their dark fates, Michael Rosenbaum as a co-worker who's smitten with Ricci, and Craig Kilborn as the host they both work for. He's also a clear sign that Cursed had a troubled -- and protracted -- post-production period since Kilborn left The Late Late Show in August 2004, a full six months before the film was released. I suspect the studio-mandated reshoots may also be why Rick Baker's special make-up effects are supplemented by additional make-up and werewolf effects by Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger.
So, the question remains, is this version of Cursed better than the one I saw in theaters close to six years ago? I would say undoubtedly yes. There are some areas where it doesn't quite come together on a story level, but overall it's an enjoyable ride that I shall henceforth quit badmouthing. It's just too bad the unrated DVD doesn't include a commentary by Craven and Williamson. I'm sure between the two of them they could have explained a great deal.