The Curse (film series)

Lore & Background

The series started in 1987 with The Curse, an international co-production between Italy and the United States. Principal photography began on September 29, 1986, under the title The Farm, after being announced previously as The Well. The film opened in Los Angeles and New York on September 11, 1987, earning $1,169,922 from its opening weekend in 326 theaters, and finished grossing $1,930,001 at the box office. Its home video success caused three unrelated films to be retitled as sequels.

Curse II: The Bite (1989) was originally filmed as The Bite, an international co-production between Italy, the United States and Japan. Curse III: Blood Sacrifice (1991) was originally filmed as Panga, a co-production between the United Kingdom and South Africa, released direct-to-video in 1990. Curse IV: The Ultimate Sacrifice was originally made in 1988 under the title Catacombs, but its release was delayed for five years due to the film being seized by Crédit Lyonnais; it was eventually released direct-to-video in 1993. Curse V: Bollywood Bloodbath (2008) was completed under the title Pirate's Blood by Jayashree Cine International and released by Retrosploitation.

Reader's Guide

The Curse series is significant as an example of how home video success in the 1980s and 1990s led distributors to rebrand unrelated films into a franchise, a practice common in the era of video rental stores. The series highlights the marketing strategy of capitalizing on a hit film's name recognition, with the first film's rental success directly causing three unrelated films to be retitled as sequels. The franchise also illustrates the international nature of low-budget horror production, involving Italian, American, Japanese, British, South African, and Indian co-productions. The delayed release of Curse IV due to financial seizure and the negative review from Fangoria for Curse III reflect the uneven quality and troubled production histories typical of such repackaged series. The films have been released on various home video formats, including VHS, Laserdisc, DVD, and Blu-ray, often as double features or in multi-film sets, ensuring their continued availability to collectors.

Did You Know?

• The fourth film, Curse IV: The Ultimate Sacrifice, was originally made in 1988, predating the third film Curse III: Blood Sacrifice which was released in 1991.
• The Curse was originally announced under the title The Well and later filmed as The Farm.
• Curse IV was the last officially completed film by Empire Pictures under the title Catacombs before the company and film were seized by Crédit Lyonnais for failure to pay on loans.
• Curse V: Bollywood Bloodbath was completed in 2008 under the title Pirate's Blood by Jayashree Cine International.