[Curse Of Alcatraz]
Plot:A college professor, his students, and a forensics expert venture into the legendary penetentiary to examine a recently dug up mummified body. Soon however, one by one they all begin to fall victim to a mysterious blood born illness.

Cast: Jessie Camacho, Joe Jones, Candise Lakota, Sara Jane Nash, Alex A. Quinn, José Solano.

My Thoughts:Good grief.

Review:Just when you think you might have something that actually might be interesting on your hands, leave it to someone to totally ruin it, which is the case with "The Curse Of Alcatraz". Writer/Director Daniel Zirilli really didn't seem to know what he had here. Either that or he was just clueless on the proper execution. The film follows an inmate at the infamous Alcatraz prison who goes insane which prompts a killing spree. This event takes place back in the day, and now fast forward to present times, the bones of said inmate are accidentally dug up by forensics experts who aren't interested in the job at all, so they pass it off to a crew of University students who just so happen to be studying archeology.

The pic pretty much lays out what it plans to do early on, and that is it's biggest problem. Of course the films main goals are to explain what made the prisoner all those years ago go nuts, and will it affect the current temporary occupiers of the prison, but the film really doesn't throw us any curveballs. Instead, it sticks closely by cliches, a predictable order of demise for it's characters, and gives us a story based on Native American folklore...which has ties to whatever supernatural entity might be responsible for the psychotic inmate many years ago. If it's one thing horror films, specifically B-horror films never get right it's Native American folklore.

For some reason, writers and directors seem to love to use it in supernatural horror pic's, but can never create a storyline interesting or intriguing enough to keep one from dozing off once things are explained. Not to mention believeable. I'm starting to think Native American mythology is becoming a copout for writers who are just tired of using the pagan or occult related origins for their evil spirits, origins which are already grossly overused in horror pictures these days. Another thing to hate about this movie is the bad acting. None of these people manage to be the least bit interesting, except for the one girl who is an expert in Native American mythology.

It's also not a surprise that she ends up being one of the survivors. I mean who would've saw that coming eh? Certainly not I...*sarcasm*. "The Curse Of Alcatraz" has many problems indeed, and among the ones I just mentioned, there's also the fact that it takes forever to really get anywhere. Seriously, this movie doesn't pick up speed until the 60 or 65 minute mark. Leaving just a 20 minute window to cut through the cast, and end with a barely decent body count. Before the 60-65 minute mark, 1...count it...one death occurs. Ultra pitiful. On top of all that, the deaths are quite pathetic.

There's nothing new, special, or eye-opening here. Just off screen deaths, characters sealing their own fate by being total idiots when it comes to rules of engagement with a psycho killer, the usual things that give us all headaches and a strong urge to toss our remotes at the screen. And did I mention the cheesy music that gets played throughout this movie? Talk about horrible scoring, I wasn't sure if it was the curse or the music that made the killer go nuts. If I had to hear this music over and over again for 80 minutes, I might snap too.

The film tries to wrap up on a clever note but even that ultimately fails and I actually take away points from this film for even suggesting during it's finale, the awful thought of there being a sequel to this clutter. "The Curse Of Alcatraz" isn't an extremely bad movie, but at the same time, it doesn't even reach average standards. This is a bad film, with no redeeming qualities beyond one good looking female lead and a death scene that's funny in a goofy yet pathetic kind of way.

Positives:The female lead was attractive.

Negatives:Bad script, awful score, terrible death scenes, bad acting, and a lame ending.

Overall:You're better off watching a documentary about Alcatraz on the History Channel.





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