Curse II: The Bite (1989)

Powerful

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

~Spoiler~It's a movie about a guy with a snake hand...how do you f**k that up? The Curse II: The Bite is a sequel that has nothing whatsoever to do with the Wil Wheaton original. And if you disliked the first film, you ain't seen nothing yet. The Curse II is about a couple (played by 80's scream queen Jill Schoelen and soap star J. Eddie Peck) traveling through the desert who pick up a hitchhiking radioactive snake. When the boyfriend gets bitten by the traveling snake, he thinks it's okay to get treatment from a traveling salesman (Klinger from M.A.S.H.) who happens to be carrying anti-venom from various snakes. As his hand later transforms into a giant snake head and he gets all kinds of sick, his girlfriend can't understand what's wrong with him and even yells at the poor guy. Then local redneck sheriff Bo Svenson comes along and makes matters worse. I wish I were making this up. With this story and collection of random actors, you probably think I'm making this up! The Curse II might sound like some bizarre cult film, but it's not. It's really very boring until the end. That's where Screaming Mad George's unique effects come into play. The hero of the story starts vomiting baby snakes, his eyes fall out, and eventually a huge snake tears its way out of his head. It's as disgustingly offensive as it sounds. Speaking of disgustingly offensive, there is a slow-motion scene of the couple driving over hundreds of snakes on a deserted stretch of highway that will absolutely puzzle the hell of you. I would strongly suggest staying away from this film. But somebody out there must have liked it because there are 2 other movies that exist which bear the "cursed" Curse title.

I have always been a big fan of Jill Schoelen (The Stepfather). When I found out she was in this film I had to rent it. It's not the best film. But I didn't think it was the worse either.some of the things that didn't work for me included the cheesy music that came on when ever there was an attack and some of the scenes could have been shot a little better. The film tends to drag.Highlights in the film were the lovely Jill Schoelen as Lisa. I enjoyed seeing her sing and play the guitar. She is decent with the role of Lisa. J. Eddie Peck is easy on the eyes as Clark. There is some decent gore considering the low budget. The ending is really good. It's worth a look for the special effects or anyone who likes Jill Schoelen.

A sterling example of how a threadbare and unpromising premise can be made genuinely creepy and effective thanks to a proficient execution. Granted, the story ain't much: Young fellow Clark (affable J. Eddie Peck) and his sweet girlfriend Lisa (a winning performance by late 80's flash-in-the-pan scream queen cutie Jill Schoelen of "The Stepfather" fame) are driving their jeep across the parched, desolate Arizona desert. The pair take an ill-advised detour off the main road and discover an old abandoned nuclear test site. Things turn sour when one of the jeep tires goes flat. Things get worse when Clark gets bitten by a radioactive snake. And, naturally, things become all the more hairy and freaky when Clark's bitten arm starts to mutate into a foul, icky, highly deadly and disgusting snake monster! As I said before, the hackneyed plot leaves plenty to be desired. However, with this supremely yucky and revolting horror movie gross-out splatterfest it's not the story that counts; it's Screaming Mad George's astonishingly vile and revolting make-up f/x and Federico Prosperi's commendably able direction which really make the difference here. Among the picture's sickening highlights are a woman's jaw being torn off, a man's heart being yanked out of his throat, and Peck vomiting forth dozens of steaming slithery snakes. The acting is uniformly tops as well: Peck and Schoelen are credible and likable leads, with solid support from Bo Svenson as a mean, intimidating jerk sheriff, Jamie Farr as a friendly, helpful salesman, "Midnight Ride" 's Savina Gersak as a kind, pious Baptist lady, Sydney Lassick as a meek, squeamish motel clerk, and "Parasite" 's Al Fann as a belligerent gas station attendant. Roberto D'Ettorre Piazoli's crisp, fluid cinematography, the eerily forbidding atmosphere, Carlo Maria Cordio's spare, shivery score, the superbly spooky use of arid, swelteringly hot and sticky New Mexico locations, and the spectacularly grotesque and hence immensely upsetting bummer ending further enhance the overall flesh-crawling uneasiness of this harrowingly unpleasant and unnerving fright film surprise.

After a young man is bitten on the hand by a radioactive snake, his hand changes into a lethal snake head, which attacks everyone he comes into contact with. Also, his body becomes filled with snakes. Now, he must prevent himself from hurting others. "Curse II" is not only poorly made, but is also boring as watching paint dry. There are some gruesome parts, and screaming mad George's special effects range from really bad to acceptable, but the script is awful, the acting is so-so, and the music is extremely annoying. Don't watch 'Curse 2: the bite". it's a typical excuse for a sequel. (By the way, what does this have to do with the original?) 2-2.5/10.