The Cursed (2021) ★★★½

SEAN Ellis is another name to look out for.

The British writer/director has made barely a handful of feature films but they include two highly lauded ones – crime drama Metro Manila (2013) and the 2016 WWII thriller Anthropoid.

In 2021 he moved into the horror genre with The Cursed and his next film is a boxing drama with Orlando Bloom.

The Cursed, also known as Eight for Silver,  is a visually arresting gothic horror film with an interesting take on werewolf mythology, written, directed, edited and co-produced by Ellis.

An excellent pre-credits sequence set during the Battle of the Somme in 1916 showcases the on-screen results that can be skillfuly achieved with a limited budget.

The story then reverts back 35 years to a 19th Century village in rural France. Local landowners have gathered to discuss how to rid themselves of a group of Romani gypsies who have travelled to the area and laid claim to ancestral lands.

The landowners decide on the radical solution of hiring mercenaries to drive the gypsies out by force, resulting in one of the film’s best and most confronting sequences.

An elderly female victim places a curse on the village before being buried alive, resulting in nightmares followed by a series of murders. A travelling pathologist, played by Boyd Holbrook, is enlisted to help solve the mystery behind the curse and killings.

Scene after scene is nicely shot and edited, stretching the budget to achieve exceptional results.

Watched on Apple TV streaming.