Poisoned Earth pt 2 (the Curse, 1987)

The_Curse_PosterThis adaption of the Color of Space picks up at the time the meteorite crashes.  Going back to a small farm setting the focus is on the struggling Crane family.  The local realtor is working on a secretive deal to get people to sell their land to him cheap, but Nathan is holding out.

This film amps up Nathan as a religious man, making him a stern preacher.  His youngest son Zack feels out of place in his family.  There is the implication that his mother has a wandering eye and has been unfaithful.  The family is a bit stressed before the meteorite lands, but once it hits, the family starts to unravel.

This is closer to the original story, though as I recall, the religious emphasis  is more prominent in the movie.  The effects range from decent to blatantly obvious latex masks that do not blend very well at all. Claude Akins is very good at the role of deeply religious man teetering on the edge.

This is a decently fun adaption, clearly done on a restricted budget. One of only three films directed by actor David Keith, this showed some promise.  The Curse became an anthology series with three more direct to video films.  The Curse II: the Bite (which I have a soft spot for) and the Curse III: Blood Sacrifice and a film not actually made for the franchise call Catacombs (but titled as the Curse 4: the Ultimate Sacrifice) had no connection to the first film, and none were based on Lovecraft either.

Again, this is a decent adaption, it is definitely very much a product of the eighties, even in its reflection of the world encroaching on the struggling farmer. But it is a fun watch.

All Stand Together Part 2 (Return of the Seven,1966)

Return_of_the_Magnificent_Seven_PosterChico settled down in the village that the Seven defended years before and now they face a new threat by Rancher Lorca.  He has kidnapped the town’s men to force them into labor.

The town seeks the help of Chris and Vin (Vin now played by Robert Fuller) who assemble a new crew to help the town.

I do not have a tremendous amount to say about this one.  I like Yul Brynner’s (the only holdover from the original) Chris, but Robert Fuller is not Steve McQueen. And making the setting the same village instead of making them a heroic force for a new group (an orphanage or something? I don’t know).

The most notable thing to me about this movie is that the screenplay is by the 70’s/80’s horror director Larry Cohen.  But this is a pretty lifeless script.

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