Interviews
Former Dimension Exec Says the First Cut of Wes Craven’s ‘Cursed’ Still Exists and Should Be Released [Exclusive]
Cursed was the rare Wes Craven movie where the story of making it became more interesting than the movie itself. It was a job Craven took for Dimension, where he had made three Scream movies. Near the end of filming, Bob and Harvey Weinstein ordered reshoots which ultimately ended up redoing most of the movie.
Cary Granat, who was COO of Dimension from 1995-2000, thinks the first cut of Cursed should be released. At this point, it’s a lost Wes Craven film begging for discovery.
“Yes, yes, yes, 100%,” Granat told us when we asked about the Craven cut of Cursed in a phone interview promoting his new movie, Welcome to Mercy.
Since Cursed came after Granat’s tenure at Dimension, he’s not sure where to find the original cut, only that it’s got to be somewhere.
“It still exists,” Granat said. “I just don’t know if it went with The Weinstein Company. I left in 2000 to start Walden so it was in development after that.”
In the process of reshooting Cursed, some actors were entirely cut out of the movie. Omar Epps and Skeet Ulrich did not return for reshoots and other names cut out include Mandy Moore, Heather Langenkamp, Illeana Douglas, Scott Foley, Robert Forster and Corey Feldman. They would have to sign off on releasing their footage, but they would probably want the world to see the work they put in which has since been buried.
“Oh, I’m sure,” Granat said, confident the cast of Cursed would cooperate.
Cursed starred Christina Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg as high school siblings bitten by a werewolf. The original Craven shoot also featured practical werewolf makeup by Rick Baker, which was ultimately replaced with CGI. #ReleaseTheCravenCut
Granat’s new movie Welcome to Mercy is in theaters Friday.
As the inaugural season of Apple TV+’s stellar new series “Widow’s Bay” barrels toward its finale in two weeks, the latest episode gives Kate O’Flynn the spotlight as her character revisits her trauma with the Boogeyman.
“Your Baggage“, directed by Andrew DeYoung (Friendship), sees O’Flynn’s scene-stealing Patricia once again renew her fight with the Michael Myers-like stalker that slaughtered her peers during her adolescence. Thrillingly, it makes for one extended chase sequence that sees Patricia trying to warn others, while evading the undead killer.
In short, this episode’s incredible riff on Halloween and the slasher subgenre transformed Patricia into a fierce Final Girl.
“Well, that felt like a bucket list that I didn’t know was on my bucket list until I did it, but when I did it, I just lapped up every minute,” O’Flynn tells Bloody Disgusting of her triumphant turn this episode. “It felt fantastic for her to get that moment where she is becoming a badass. That was amazing.”
The actress turned to a few notable references for her performance. “Horror-wise, I go back to my youth, which was referenced in some of the episodes: Wicker Man, Carrie, and Rosemary’s Baby, that sort of thing is my kind of vibe.”
O’Flynn also notes how the series’ unique tone allows for so much creative freedom to make bold swings. “There’s something very freeing about it. Every moment is up for grabs, so it’s like we don’t have to totally land in one direction or another. It keeps it alive.“
Patricia is the eccentric assistant to Matthew Rhys‘ Mayor Tom Loftis, who’s at the forefront of trying to solve the island’s pesky curse predicament. Rhys felt the same about “Widow’s Bay” and its rare ability to make you laugh and scream in equal measure, stemming from series creator Katie Dippold.
“The mandate was, ‘It’s a real world with real people. You play for real.’ There’s no playing for comedy or horror,” Rhys echoes O’Flynn’s sentiments on how freeing the series’ tone has been.
New episodes will release every Wednesday through June 17 only on Apple TV+.
Kate O’Flynn in “Widow’s Bay,” now streaming on Apple TV.
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