[Matthew Warner]

Finally got to watch these movies this weekend.

CURSED was a fun werewolf romp and was original insofar as it borrowed a couple elements from the vampire genre. In this movie, werewolves in human form radiate a strong sexual attraction--both to the opposite sex and the same sex. Also, like in some vampire stories, one can be cured of werewolfism by killing the sire (the person who infected you).

The movie was otherwise predictable and silly, with hamhanded characterizations, smash cuts and other scares that have been done a hundred times before in other movies, and a romance subplot that had a completely forced resolution at the end. I will say, though, that two pleasant surprises were how the characters of the bully and the blonde-bitch publicist both changed.

SAW was an effective crossbreed of CUBE and SE7EN. It was extremely well done crime thriller filmed on a minimal budget, with most of the movie taking place in the ruins of a bathroom, where two kidnapped men chained pipes must solve a puzzle to escape. Stellar performances from Danny Glover and Cary Elwes. This movie was genuinely scary and contained some great surprises. I'm looking forward to the sequel.