“The Cursed” is an atmospheric, creepy horror film that will surely please viewers of the genre. While not big on gore or creature effects, director Sean Ellis creates a world where an act of unjust violence sets off a frightening series of events. The excellent score adds to the intense sense of foreboding.

The action begins in the trenches at the Somme in 1917 during World War I. Captain Edward Laurent (Alun Raglund) is with his men as they endure a chemical gas attack. They then surge forward into no-man’s-land.

In the next sequence, Laurent is being carried on a stretcher into a hospital tent. He has been shot three times. As the doctor removes the bullets in Laurent’s chest, he discovers another item. It turns out to be a silver bullet.

We then cut to a somber woman, Charlotte Laurent (Annabel Mullion), arriving at an English estate. She asks a maid how “he” is doing and is informed that “his” situation is not good. In another room she observes a photo of a man and two children. Her attention is distracted by memories of children playing.

The scene shifts to 35 years earlier (1882) as we observe Edward (Max Mackintosh) and a younger Charlotte (Amelia Crouch) teasing each other. Other scenes with their father Seamus (Alistair Petrie) and mother Isabelle (Kelly Reilly) follow to set the tone of a successful English landowner’s family.

Roma in several caravans make their way onto nearby land. A woman (Pascale Becouze) asks that a man prepare what has protected them. She gives him pieces of silver. These are molded into teeth with rune-like markings which are inserted into a bony mouthpiece. This is placed into a spherical container.

Seamus meets with prominent citizens to decide what to do about them. The Roma have a legitimate land claim but their presence cannot be tolerated. The Roma have been offered some money to leave but they refuse. The decision is made to hire mercenaries to take care of them.

This leads to an inevitable scene of bloodshed as the Roma are no match for these armed men. A fleeing Roma man has his feet and hands severed. He is made into a living scarecrow on a pole. Despite the obvious value of the silver teeth, it and its container are buried in front of the creepy scarecrow. The gypsy woman curses the mercenaries as she is buried alive.

Soon children start to have vivid identical nightmares. In these dreams, each individually approach across the field to the scarecrow. Each dig the container up, and extricate the silver-toothed contents. Just then the head of the scarecrow is revealed menacingly and they awake in terror.

A strange man, John McBride (Boyd Holbrook), arrives at the local inn. He is required to sign into the local guestbook, where he must state his name, occupation, and reason for staying. McBride writes his profession as “pathologist.”

While the children are playing in what is called “the settlement” (the town where Seamus’s tenants live), Timmy (Tommy Rodger) seems to be entranced while jumping rope. He leads the other children to the scarecrow, where they take an oath not to reveal anything about what they will discover.

Timmy disinters the container and somehow inserts the silver-toothed object into his own mouth. He then viciously bites Edward on the neck.

When Edward is brought back to his home, it is assumed that a wild beast has attacked him. Charlotte, having taken the oath, will not speak of what really happened. Then in the night Edward starts to transform, he flees into the forest, and the curse begins.

This film is engaging from the get-go. The scenes at the Somme are filled with gritty detail. We see the poor protection from gas attacks which the British troops have. One soldier brushes off the greenish dust from his uniform. In the hospital tent, the brutality of war is revealed as men have their limbs severed and the discarded body parts dumped into baskets.

Kudos go to the production design crew. Although the Laurents live in a large home, there is nothing lavish or ostentatious about their surroundings. The settlement and the church seem very lived-in and again what was probably the case versus a Hollywood version of them. The design reminded me very much of the superb movie “The VVitch.”

The landscape plays a major role in setting the tone for the terror. The dense woods are contrasted with bleak fields. The scarecrow, since you know it is a human even with the head hooded, is indeed the stuff of nightmares. There is excellent use of fog both in day and night scenes to add to the unnerving feel. The score is absolutely perfect in conveying menace and eeriness.

The dream sequences are such that you cannot distinguish them from reality at first. This adds to the almost surreal panic that envelops the townspeople.

Some religious signifiers are added as part of the lore of this film. Although I was not entirely clear if this was so, the allusion is made to the silver being used in the cursed mouthpiece as being the same silver paid to Judas for betraying Christ. There also is a later citation from Ezekiel 22 about the Lord’s anger melting people as if they were silver in a furnace.

The picture gains major points for not wasting time on exposition of a theory of why all of this is happening. The focus is on solving problems and accepting the results of the unfolding of the curse.

Ultimately the main theme is the abuse of power. Whether that is in the conduct of war or in the narrow-minded pursuit of wealth at all costs, there are consequences to be paid.

The creature effects are suitable. There was an interesting use of fleshy tendrils. The denouement of what the creatures constitute is rewarding. The use of gore is limited but very effectively used. There are very precise scenes of attack where the assault is ghost-like in its nature with precision inflicting of wounds.

The acting is first-rate. Holbrook as McBride is no-nonsense and adds a sexual tension with Reilly’s Isabelle. Petrie as Seamus has the necessary tunnel vision in protecting his family at all costs. Reilly displays believable vulnerability as a grieving mother and makes the sacrifices necessary to protect her children.

The film deserves its “R” rating. While there are no sex scenes, the violence, while not non-stop, is frightening when it occurs. The creation of the human scarecrow alone would give children nightmares for weeks.

So this is not recommended for children at all. But adults will savor the unique world created by director Sean Ellis and a new kind of monster with which to contend.

Four out of five stars

In the late 1800s, a once-peaceful remote country village is under attack—but by who or what, no one knows.  Villagers spread rumors of a cursed land, supernatural forces, and even demonic creatures, as the disappearances and killings continue.  Pathologist John McBride arrives to investigate the danger, only to discover something much deeper and more sinister than he ever could have imagined.

Starring: Boyd Holbrook, Kelly Reilly, and Alistair Petrie
Written and Directed by: Sean Ellis