‘I Curse This Land’ Review: A Hauntingly Charming Supernatural Thriller from Trash Arts!
Sam Mason Bell is an absolute UK treasure to those who see any movies from his circle of talents. Constantly making movies since 2008, he has directed over 70 of ‘em, produced loads, and acted in a fair few — all in the name of Trash Arts of course.
He is responsible for such quiet gems like Taped Up Memories (see Delving into the Depths of War and Madness: A Review of ‘Taped Up Memories’ by Sam Mason Bell here) and Terror at Black Tree Forest (see Terror at Black Tree Forest movie review here) as well as contributing segments to many twisted anthologies such as Video Shop Tales of Terror (see review here), Deep Web XXX (see Deep Web XXX review from The Enchanted Architect here), and many, many more.
His movies are low budget, well written, and lowkey, relying on acting and mood building more than graphic gore — however when the blood flows, it truly flows! I Curse This Land is written by Sam and lead actress, Annabella Rich, who stars in loads of his movies plus tons of underground UK flicks, whilst Jackson Batchelor (co-director of Taped Up Memories and Monstrous Disunion) directs this eerie supernatural film.
Personally, I’m a fan of Trash Arts stuff, and my Partner in Gore, Willow, is a geek for the supernatural, curses, witches, and such (she’s written a couple of books on the subjects) so I Curse This Land we were enthusiastic about — and believe me we weren’t let down…
We open the doors to a lady called Eloise (Charlie Bond of Eating Miss Campbell, Bram Stoker’s Van Helsing, The Fall of the Essex Boys) sat alone by the water. The setting is a sleepy British seaside town (actually, Selsey, a neat lil village on the coast). Melancholic music plays, then a creepy awkward bloke and his dog arrives. He strikes up a conversation and comes across as a total prick. She receives a frantic call on her phone, so she leaves, and heads back to the pub she owns. Once inside, things aren’t what she expected, especially in the dark storage room…
Three months pass. Our main character, Ally, (played by the above-mentioned Annabella Rich) arrives to take over the pub and flat up above. Cue a long rather (for some reason) captivating scene of her unpacking. Is it the excellent music (thanks Craigus Barry and Krissy Lewer) or the rather bewildering moments as she arranges endless cushions on her sofa? Oh, the mystery!!!
She finds some vile black gooey shit in the kitchen sink (incidentally the same goo appears throughout the movie in the form of footprints) and the music turns sinister. She heads out on a night stroll and meets a young smiling man called Matt (Chris Mills of Mega Ape — hehehe), who takes an obvious shine to her. Back home whilst sweeping out the storeroom, lights darken, and she’s face to face with a horrific half-blind burnt gnarled woman who simply vanishes when the lights go on again.
Her first punter is a rude obnoxious fat sausage — most of the locals are unfriendly, but he’s the least of her worries for whilst she’s getting crisps from the storeroom, she faces the apparition again. As luck would have it, Matt pops by and saves her as the door is jammed.
One evening, Ally explains to him what she’s seen. The next day whilst he’s showing her around the town, he explains to her what happened to Eloise. “They didn’t tell you about the curse?” It dates back to 1751, a smuggler is hanged (flashback in sepia of course) but the tale is of the smuggler’s wife who was a witch, and the revenge she unleashed on the community upon finding her dead hubby.
Ally decides to face the witch head on, telling her she is not giving up, she’s staying! The witch gets right nose to nose, uttering a blood curdling snarl, then vanishes.
Also added to the cauldron plot is a man called Alan, deemed the local weirdo, but he warns Matt that it isn’t over, “It’ll come after you now!” Sure enough, Alan’s warnings are correct, she’s totally balls out relentless now. Ally and Matt research what they’re up against, then approach Alan for help…
Don’t expect tons of effects and gore in every scene. This is a pleasant little chiller. When the effects and make-up appear, they are fairly effective. Katie Grist has done a brilliant job. It all feels so old-school but very original. It’s not copying anything else. In fact, I Curse This Land would have fit in well as part of the BBC Ghost Story for Christmas TV spookies from years ago — or at least the newer ones since 2005.
I Curse This Land is an enjoyable quaint supernatural romp, which doesn’t drag its heels and is (of course) left open for a very welcome sequel one day.
Directed by: Jackson Batchelor
Written by: Sam Mason Bell, Annabella Rich
Produced by: Sam Mason Bell, Annabella Rich, Chris Riley Ellis, David R Hughes Jr.
Cinematography by: Sam Mason Bell
Music by: Craigus Barry, Krissy Lewer
Edited by: Sam Mason Bell
Special effects by: Katie Grist
Cast: Annabella Rich, Chris Mills, Ella Palmer, Simon Berry
Year: 2024
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Colour: Colour
Runtime: 1h 26min
Studio: Six Foot Under Productions, Brutalist Films, Trash Arts
