Curve review: One third an alright film, one third set-up, and one third awful…
Curve review
Director: Iain Softley
Cast: Julianne Hough, Teddy Sears, Madalyn Horcher, Penelope Mitchell, Drew Rausch
Certificate: TBD
Running Time: 86 Minutes
Synopsis: A woman intentionally crashes her car to escape the clutches of a creepy hitchhiker. She ends up getting trapped, and must survive using her limited surroundings.
Directors and writers just love stretching their mind by slapping characters in very small spaces they just can’t get out from. Phone Booth, Buried, and Locke are just some of the examples in an ever expanding sub-genre of films where it can be boiled down to the actor’s name in a (fill in the blank). Now Hackers Iain Softley, tries his hand at a tense and unnerving thriller by trapping lead actress Julianne Hough, upside down in a crashed car with her leg stuck.
Again, the idea is simple, or at least it should have been. In fact, there is more to Curve which suggests the writers Kimberly Lofstrom Johnson and Lee Patterson, just couldn’t stretch their premise to an interesting length. This results in a clunky affair that wants to be one thing, and then another, and then another, with none of it ever quite gelling together.
Hough plays Mallory, a young woman about to embark on the journey of marriage, a journey she’s not too sure she wants to take. After her car breaks down, the absolutely lovely Christian (Sears) gets Mallory back on the road and accepts a lift. Once Christian reveals himself to not be so lovely, in a surprise shocker, Mallory takes the initiative and crashes the car on purpose. Christian leaves her trapped but pops back every so often to torment her.
Curve review
Left for days we see Mallory evolve into a woman of great ingenuity. She starts using objects within reach to help herself survive, captures rain, cooks rats etc. and all this material is the best stuff in the film. We feel for her when she has nothing but nature to contend with. Severe rain and rodents are a big enough threat as it is, and works much better than the forced on psycho-stalker plot.
It’s a shame that Sears just doesn’t convince as an unhinged psychopath and seems to struggle with the role. That’s of no surprise, given that the script wants to take him from sinister creep to mass murdering monster without little motivation on his part. He plays the part as somebody trying to act tough, but then the script makes his actions truly demented and unhinged. Hough isn’t much better, with her transformation failing to convince. She’s strong at first, but the gradual tie-ins with her relationship and upcoming marriage are very forced.
Curve review
The final act is typical schlock nonsense. You’ll be forgiven for assuming that the projectionist has screened the reel to a completely different film. With its sights set on shocks, the intensity of the middle section of the film is all but lost. Even those moments are interrupted by Christian, who gets by a lot on luck.
Generically shot, unconvincingly acted, and with a script that squanders its best idea in favour of your usual horror fluff, this is one of the Blumhouse films that is not likely to be quoted on posters besides Paranormal Activity, Sinister, and The Purge. They may not have all been great films, but at least they tapped into some form of caring. Curve is unfortunately one third an alright film, one third set-up, and one third awful.
Curve review by Luke Ryan Baldock, August 2015.
Curve screened at Frightfest 2015.
