Jeff Daniel Phillips is known to most people as an actor. Amongst many other film credits he is a frequent collaborator with director Rob Zombie, most recently starring as Herman Munster in Zombie’s The Munsters. Alongside his work as an actor, Phillips is also an aspiring writer and director, and his latest feature, Cursed in Baja, screens as part of this year’s Pigeon Shrine FrightFest programme.
In addition to writing and directing Cursed in Baja, Phillips also plays the film’s lead character, Pirelli. After serving time inside, former lawman Pirelli is tasked with a job that he doesn’t want. He is sent to Mexico to track down the heir to a Los Angeles fortune. Whilst on paper the assignment should be simple, Pirelli is not the man he used to be. Haunted by his past, once on Mexican soil his mental state begins to decline at an alarming rate. Worse still, his target is involved with a Russian beast cult, and what Pirelli witnesses pushes him ever closer to the brink of sanity.
For Phillips, Cursed in Baja is the result of over thirty years in the industry. In order to create it he has called upon the help of those that he has met during his career and this project has been a real labour of love. Filmed over five months in increments of a couple of days here and there, it is a miracle that Phillips has been able to keep everything together. His independent filmmaking spirit shines through with the movie’s low-fi shooting style forming part of its charm. The visual style is almost guerrilla in formation, which adds in an unexpected air of the found footage subgenre to the proceedings.
Cursed in Baja has some great ideas residing within it. The creature that the cult worships is one of popular legend, but not one brought to screen too often. That Phillips has chosen this as his beast of choice is interesting and his interpretation of the creature leaves an impression. Its inclusion livens up the project and makes Cursed in Baja a film that has to be seen by loyal cryptid fans. The ritualistic elements of this section provide the strongest and most memorable moments. Outside of this entity Phillip’s film is more of a puzzle. The constant switching between Pirelli’s past and present becomes hard to differentiate between. Whilst this helps to place the viewer at the same level of disorientation as Pirelli, in places it becomes too much and will certainly spin some viewers out completely.
Held captive by its lower budget, Cursed in Baja has plenty of moments of brilliance, but frustratingly not always enough gas to get it to where it needs to go. There is however, promise for Phillips’ future as a director, and with a larger budget and more structured production schedule the star would clearly be capable of something extra special.
Cursed in Baja
Summary
A film for the cryptid fans, Cursed in Baja is plagued by the problems of many low budget productions, but still manages to show promise for Jeff Daniel Phillips’ future as filmmaker.
Cursed in Baja was reviewed at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2024.
