Cursed World Problems



Director - Doug Hawley (Red Christmas, Alamo Down)
Starring - Jeff Austin (The X-Files, That 70’s Show), Doree Seay (Helpless, The View from Here), and Fernando Hernandez
Release Date - 2017
Genre - Comedy/Horror
Tag line - “In this family evil is what you can expect when you are expecting”
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I hate streaming films for review.  I especially streaming films to review on YouTube and Vimeo.  I live in southern West Virginia which is a place known for it's rolling mountains and not technological advancements.  The mountains, gorge, and rivers make it difficult for a lot of areas to get high speed internet.  Where I live I can stream Netflix or Hulu but it takes forever for YouTube and Vimeo vids to load.  This is the same on every device I own.  I've spoke with tech support, updated all my routers and still the same.  It's been this way for 8 years now.  A few months ago I was contacted to review the horror short Cursed World Problems.  I kept putting it off because I knew it would be a hassle to review but I started to feel like a dick.  I decided it was time to check it out.  It took me a little over 2 hours to watch this 9 minute short.  I really enjoyed it but the hassle was real.
     The film follows a young married couple who is expecting their first child.  While visiting his family they drop the news that their bundle of joy is a boy.  They learn that their bloodline has a gypsy curse and their first born male child never survives because of an incident involving the gypsy and a stolen chicken.  They panic and prepare for a battle with the gypsy for the survival of their unborn when they have a brilliant idea...just give the gypsy money to save the little life that is hanging in the balance.  
     I had no idea what to expect from Cursed World Problems.  At first I thought it was a loose adaptation of an indie comic that I covered on Horror Society when I was first brought on.  I mentioned the comic and learned that this had nothing to do with that comic.  The two projects simply share the same name.  Regardless, this was a fun watch.  The acting in this one is great.  The entire cast brings some fun characters to life which is what makes this short so damn entertaining.  The cast fully submerges themselves into their role and I love it.  The story for this one is short and sweet but left a lot of meat on the bone.  I liked the gypsy curse and the comedic take on a family trying to protect the unborn child but I feel that story was so much bigger than the short we are given.  I could see this short becoming a feature film with so much possibility.  Finally, this isn't a bloody one.  It does have some great make up effects and effective use of CGI.  No budget films typically use horrible CGI but this short is not one.  It looks great.  Overall, Cursed World Problems is a damn fine short that could be a fantastic feature.  Check it out.