A father comes to take his daughter away from an apparently abusive mother by practically kidnapping her in the middle of the night. They take to the road but don’t get far, as an accident happens and they both get roasted alive in the burning getaway car. Cut to several years later, the brother of the killed little girl, George (Alan Scarfe), is an adult now and he’s returning to the old family house. He has with him his wife, who is recovering from a nervous breakdown, and his young daughter Cathy (Randi Allen), who is the same age as his sister when she died. They move in and of course the dead girl’s ghost is haunting the place, taking possession of sweet little Cathy. Nights are filled with terror for the mother and anyone else associated with the family, all except for George, who appears to be quite beleaguered by all the action, stretched thin between the two hysterical women in his life (as he sees it). He’s just trying to keep the peace, but the spirit of his dead sister won’t like things rest in peace. It all comes to a head, of course. Will Cathy be rid of the haunting, or will she be consumed by the possession?
This is a pretty routine thriller. The only thing that it really has going for it is its Canadian origins, which lends it this sort of weird filter, where everything is kind of dull but nice. Oh, and there’s also the occasional glowing green eyes that adorn various moments of horror. That’s pretty cool, too. There’s a lot of shattered glass in this movie. A lot. Whenever the spirit gets mad, look out, because vases or lamps are going to break. The doll Cathy carries is a bit creepy and I have to say, Randi Allen is pretty terrific in her role. She is nice and sweet one moment, dazed and deranged the next. But mostly this all feels like a put-on, a movie made by people trying to scare you but with no real idea how to do so. They follow all the beats and patterns of the myriad haunted/possession movies that came before them, without adding anything new. Again, the setting is the only real difference here, as well as the Canadian sensibilities. Beyond that, it’s kind of dull.
Nothing really more to add. I guess if you’re curious, get a copy and see what you think. Cathy’s Curse has always been considered a cult favorite, but for me, it’s going to wind up in my stack of movies to sell. It was decent enough for one viewing, but beyond that, color me not interested.
Two Stars out of Four