Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

CURSE OF THE VOODOO isn't the worst movie I've ever seen (so far, that honor goes to Criminally Insane 2), but it's not so hot either. A big-game hunter named Mike (Bryant Haliday) helps bag a lion in africa, and is cursed by one of those voodoo / lion-worshiping cults, so popular in the 60s. Once back in England, Mike begins seeing visions of a voodoo priest following him around. He also has nightmares of being chased by spear-toting tribesmen. The only one who believes him is his estranged wife, who eventually comes to his aid. Together, they must find the way to break the curse. Now, don't get me wrong, I like the basic idea of this story. It's the long-winded, dull execution that kills this one. COTV would have made a terrific 30-45 minute episode on a horror anthology show. In a more compacted form, it would have been more of a thriller and not seemed so drawn out. I did enjoy Dennis Price (Horror Hospital, Tower Of Evil) in his ultra-serious role, and that voodoo-dancing lady was smashing! Love those shiny, metallic pants! Goodness gracious me...

While thumbing through my ever growing `to be watched' DVD pile last night I came across this English feature titled Curse of the Voodoo (1965) aka Curse of Simba...the strange this is I cannot recall how I came about this film, or what drove me to purchase the DVD...directed by Lindsay Shonteff (Devil Doll, The Million Eyes of Sumuru), the film stars Bryant Haliday, who's main claim to fame seems to be of the handful of movies he's appeared in (less than ten), two of them, Devil Doll (1964) and The Projected Man (1967), have been featured on the show Mystery Science Theater 3000 (perhaps that's what drew my initial interest in this film). Also appearing is Dennis Price (Kind Hearts and Coronets, Twins of Evil, Horror Hospital), Lisa Daniely (The Vicious Circle), Ronald Leigh-Hunt (The Liquidator), and Mary Kerridge (Anna Karenina).

As the movie opens we see some natives dancing about a fire, including a woman in a leopard print bathing suit. This is followed by some stock footage of Africa, along with some voice over laying down a bit of foundation for the story soon to follow. Soon after we see a smartly dressed man take a potshot at some stock footage of a lion. He hits his target, but not very well, forcing big game hunter and guide Mike Stacey (Haliday) to go in after the injured beast (apparently a wounded lion is too dangerous leave running about). Mike tracks the lion into Simbaza territory and takes it out (nice shot Bwana!), but not before the angry critter (he's a big `un all right) takes a swipe at his shoulder. An injured Mike returns with the skin and it's around this time we learn the Simbazi tribesmen actually worship lions, and anyone who kills one on their land shall suffer the penalty of...here it comes...death (actually, Mike was warned of this prior to his going after the critter, but he contemptuously disregarded it as a bunch of hooey). The tribe expresses their displeasure with Mike's actions by putting the whammy on him, but he shrugs it off...anyway Mike, who's got a real problem with the booze (yeah, he can't get enough!), and his wife Janet (Daniely) have been having marital problems, so much so she picked up and headed back to England with their son while Mike was in the bush, and in an effort to get them back, Mike (curse and all) follows. As Mike tries to patch things up with his estranged wife, he begins having visions, while awake and asleep, about loin cloth clad, spear wielding Simbazi tribesmen stalking him through the streets of London...a doctor believes he's got the D.T.'s (delirium tremors), and given the amount of booze Mike consumes on a daily basis it wouldn't be all that far-fetched, but we know differently. Janet, concerned for Mike's welfare (he's gradual wasting away as the curse is attacking his mind, body, and spirit) does some research and learns the only way to lift the curse is for Mike to return to Africa and confront the one responsible for his whammified state.

All in all Curse of the Voodoo is a tepid thriller produced on a minimal budget, one that might entertain if your expectations are kept fairly low. There's nothing outstandingly bad about the film, but then again there's nothing outstandingly good, either. Haliday, who must have had a really bad case of acne when he was younger given his pock marked face, just didn't seem to possess the qualities one would hope for in a lead male character, but then again, the story didn't really present him as character deserving of empathy, seeing as how he was contemptuous, cynical boozehound. There's one part in the movie where he's waiting on his wife in the bar of the hotel he's staying in, and when she doesn't appear (she never promised to come, and I didn't blame her), he ends up latching onto the first available barfly and following her home. Are these the actions of someone who's desperately trying to make amends with his wife? It wouldn't appear to be the case...and as far as the curse, well, he pretty much stepped into that steaming pile all on his own, despite warnings from his colleagues. All together it seemed more of a case of what comes around goes around, as they say...I will say his mother-in-law seemed like an unmerciful pain in the ash, but then again, listening to my married friends, this isn't an uncommon factor. As far as the other performers, they did well enough I suppose, the only one really worth mentioning being veteran actor Dennis Price as one of Mike's colleagues and good friend. He brought a little class to the feature, and I'm unsure why he wasn't cast in the lead as I have no doubt he could have handled it well, probably better than Haliday who came off very two dimensional. I did learn a number of things while watching this feature, including the following;

1. If you've ever hunting lions in Africa, specifically the Simbaza territory, and you bag one, it's probably best not to display the skin prominently within your nearby campsite as it will only further upset the natives, seeing as how they worship the creatures as gods and all.
2. The jungles of Africa share the exact, same foliage as the forests around London.
3. When using stock footage to establish the fact the characters in your movie are in Africa, utilize footage that features as many different jungle animals as possible as to really push the point that the characters are truly in Africa, and not on a damp, foggy English field.
4. Hotel managers disapprove of guests firing pistols into the doors of their rooms enough to call the police, but not so much as to ask the offending individual to leave (I suppose it's best not to antagonize the drunk with the gun anymore than you have to).
5. A drunk and a drunkard are two, completely different things.
6. When making a cheapie jungle flick, it's okay to include a whole lot of pointless scenes of women dancing about, excessively shaking their junk to pad out the running time.
7. African witchdoctors possess some mighty strong mojo.
8. When hunting the African witchdoctor who cursed you so that you may kill him and lift said curse, be sure to bring along more than five rounds of ammunition as they're not likely to provide an easy target (in fact, they're quite wily).
9. If you're making a movie and you're in a bind for financing, you can always turn to corporations for help (like Cinzano, for example), but know they will want something in return in terms of having their products or corporation logos displayed prominently throughout the film.

I did think the direction here pretty solid within the scenes, but I didn't care for the overall flow of the story. A small portion at the beginning involves the set up (the lion, the witchdoctor, and the curse), while the main bulk features the business of Mike in London, boozing himself silly, suffering tortuous visions, and eventually his health failing to the point of him being bedridden. Once Mike returns to Africa to track down the one who cursed him, the film is nearly over and this portion goes by very quickly, hardly worthy of the extensive build up that followed. Given the feature was shot in London I suppose the less time spent trying to pretend English forests were African Jungles the better, but still...I did like the authoritative and commanding musical score featured in the movie, but it wasn't necessarily appropriate for all the scenes.

This Elite Entertainment DVD release features a fullscreen (1.33:1) that looks pretty sharp, although I did notice some `ghosting' effects in some of the scenes. The audio comes through very well, and with no complaints. There aren't any extras included, but there is a scene index featuring six chapter stops.

Cookieman108