I had high hopes for the Lionsgate horror film, Curse of Alcatraz. I love anything that could be related to Alcatraz so I was all set to be spooked by ghosts, disturbing deaths, and so much more. I have to admit that Curse of Alcatraz does try. It really does. It just never really gets to the point where it is a movie you can actually enjoy. It ends up being a disappointment all around as a result.

Curse of Alcatraz was supposedly shot on Alcatraz Island. Filming locations for IMDB say the film was shot in Oakland and San Francisco. If anything was shot on Alcatraz, it was probably just exteriors. Those of us who have never been to the prison and seen it, wouldn’t really know for sure now would we? I believe this was “advertising” similar to the “Leatherface is real” advertising done for the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It’s all talk and was only meant to attempt to make the movie more “horrific”, but it doesn’t. Not even Alcatraz can save this film.

Curse of Alcatraz is about a group of Anthropology students and their Professor, who are called to Alcatraz to exhume a mummified body of a Native American. The island had long been said to be haunted and there were many documented deaths with inmates and guards killing each other. Of course, there were also multiple undocumented accounts as well at Alcatraz.

The crew, headed by college professor Dr. Michael Hauser (Joe Jones), is invited to exhume what is believed to be historical, Native American remains, by a CSI investigator for the San Francisco Police Department, Lana Campbell (Sara Jane Nash). The Professor doesn’t come alone though. He is accompanied by his team of students, and one assistant, who is supposed to be hot, Alissa (Jessie Camacho). Personally, she just didn’t do it for me. The students include a guy in a wheelchair Andrew (Jose Solano), a high guy who likes to “party” and hit on chicks, Kurt (Alex Quinn), and a girl who seems frightened but likes getting in trouble with Kurt, Tiffany (Candise Lakota). The team also has the presence of Park Rangers, who work on the island to deal with and complicate their work.

It is a long time before people start getting killed, sick, and weird things start happening. Of course, you don’t see any ghosts or cool special effects. It’s a low budget film, but they could have done something more than rely on the actors to carry this horror film. It just didn’t work and it took too long for anything to get started anyway. By the time things started getting gory I was already bored out of my mind.

*********SPOILERS************

I do have to give them props for one of the most interesting deaths I’ve seen in a horror flick. Why do those in wheelchairs always get popped in horror films? I guess it’s the weakest link theory. Nevertheless, when Andrew died, he fought back and a lot of good it did him. I cringed in thought (as the guy in the wheelchair myself) and was impressed by both Jose’s acting and the way they killed him. He was one of the only good things about the movie and his death did perk me up a bit, mid-film.

Speaking of acting, the cast was okay. I didn’t see very many Emmy winning performers, but they didn’t suck so bad I wanted to stab my eyes out while watching. It was more the fact that I was bored with the plot and the actors were certainly better than most low budget films seem to hire on, with a few over the top moments, but little else to truly complain about in this department.

This is a low budget film and it does look like it. The aspect ratio for the transfer is 1.85:1. The screen has several dark moments, but for the most part, I didn’t have that hard of a time seeing the action going on. Those with smaller television sets might have an issue though so I don’t recommend watching this on anything under 25”. The audio quality was transferred at great lengths with a Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. There were no problems hearing the film. I just wish it got to the place it so desperately wanted to go, but never quite ended up.

The extras for Curse of Alcatraz might appeal to some. For starters, the film offers an audio commentary with both the writer and the director of Curse of Alcatraz. There are also featurettes on the disc including “In First Person: Cast & Crew” and “Pitch Black: A Night on Alcatraz”. English and Spanish subtitles are available on this DVD.

Bottom Line: If you’re looking for a great, spooky, horror flick, Curse of Alcatraz sadly falls short. I suggest you rent this one beforehand and decide if it is worth your purchase before buying this film. Lionsgate released this film near the end of September 2007 and is now available online through their website or various other retail outlets.

Rating:

Technorati Tags: Curse of Alcatraz, Lionsgate, DVD Review, Low Budget Film, Horror Movie