Who knows why I went to the trouble of hunting down this 1990 B flick, but expecting nothing, I settled in for a less than ordinary "thriller" about African voodoo, gratuitous nudity, and electrical storms. Watching this movie is all about letting yourself go for 90 some-odd minutes and appreciating that someone took the time to construct an offbeat little thriller that takes itself way too seriously, and almost pulls it off. Completely devoid of the tongue-in-cheek humor that the Scream movies and Psycho Beach Party laid on us, Curse 3 painstakingly takes us through a couple of days of hell for the inhabitants of a 1950's African village. It's truly a horror relic of the pre-Dewey days. (I'm talking David Arquette, not the president!). Jenilee Harrison acquits herself nicely (I'm surprised she hasn't had more of a chance to stake her claim in Hollywood) and Christopher Lee chews the scenery like he's auditioning for Hamlet. All in all, odd enough to be a fairly interesting little diversion. 2-and-a-half (out of 5) on the Corkymeter.
17 Reviews
Cheesy 1980s horror film set in 1950s Africa
a_chinn5 June 2017
A likable cast and and decent location photography make this low budget horror film watchable. Jenilee Harrison (Suzanne Somers' replacement, Cindy, on "Three's Company") plays a 1950s great white huntress in Africa who interrupts a sacred tribal ceremony, so the tribe unleashes a demon-like creature to torment her. To add a bit of gravitas to the low budget cheese-fest is the great Christoper Lee, still in his career slump before Peter Jackson sparked a late career revival for Lee with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I also noticed in the credits Gavin Hood as a supporting actor, who's now better know as the director of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," "Enders Game" and other big Hollywood projects. This film's director never directed another film, but he didn't do a bad job. He was actually the editor on some pretty cool movies including "Quadrophenia" and "Return of the Jedi." Overall, this is nothing to go our of your way to watch, but it did have a scrappy, entertaining Charles Band/Full Moon Features kind of vibe that was enough to hold my interest.
Curse III: Curse of the Curse
Zeegrade15 November 2009
The Curse movies are exactly alike the Beyond the Door series in that none of the films bear any relationship whatsoever from each other. In this third installment of the series a white woman stops the sacrifice of a goat by the local tribe not understanding the significance of the act is to appease the death of a young boy who was killed in the beginning of the film. This really gets the Witchdoctor's goat (see what I did there) and in turn he places a curse on her. Apparently this involves being dispatched by the local sea spirit who kills friends and family alike. One can almost imagine the sea monster going onto ancestry.com and looking up extended family members in an ensuing sequel. Lone survivor Elizabeth enlists the aid of an older British woman and a young annoying child along with a haggard looking Christopher Lee as Doctor Pearson. The monster looks like the one of the fishmen from Castlevania. Who knew that sugarcane fields were so flammable.
Blah, that's all I can think about this movie. There really isn't anything memorable about this film to differentiate it from the tons of other monster mash flicks like it. This is by no means a Christopher Lee movie as he's only in it for about twenty minutes and he appears rather lifeless in his few scenes. Sometimes you just need the paycheck. Jenilee Harrison doesn't do that bad of a job as the main actress though I have to admit this is the first film I've ever seen her in since Three's Company. What I don't understand is this creature that was summoned uses a Panga - an African machete - to kill his victims. What's the point? Why didn't the crazy as hell Witchdoctor just kill them instead especially since he did just that to the boy in the beginning. By the way, it's not too smart to give away your position in a sugarcane field by incessantly cackling like an Arsenio Hall audience member. Some of the murders are rather graphic and there are a couple of nude scenes but other than that this is mostly a forgettable affair. Hope that check didn't bounce Christopher.
Blah, that's all I can think about this movie. There really isn't anything memorable about this film to differentiate it from the tons of other monster mash flicks like it. This is by no means a Christopher Lee movie as he's only in it for about twenty minutes and he appears rather lifeless in his few scenes. Sometimes you just need the paycheck. Jenilee Harrison doesn't do that bad of a job as the main actress though I have to admit this is the first film I've ever seen her in since Three's Company. What I don't understand is this creature that was summoned uses a Panga - an African machete - to kill his victims. What's the point? Why didn't the crazy as hell Witchdoctor just kill them instead especially since he did just that to the boy in the beginning. By the way, it's not too smart to give away your position in a sugarcane field by incessantly cackling like an Arsenio Hall audience member. Some of the murders are rather graphic and there are a couple of nude scenes but other than that this is mostly a forgettable affair. Hope that check didn't bounce Christopher.
A creature from the 50s with a machete in his hand appears only around the 80th min just to die within seconds.
Fella_shibby3 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs.
Revisited it recently.
This movie is very boring n not at all gory.
There is zero scare factor n absolutely no tension.
At least the second part has some gore, the jaw slashing of the nurse n the cop's heart removal from the mouth.
In this one the first kill happens around the 38th min n it is an offscreen one.
The second kill an offscreen one.
The third kill an offscreen one.
The fourth kill is that of a goat and an offscreen one.
The fifth kill is that of a dog n again an offscreen one.
Generous with a 2 cos of Lee n the lead actress' tight tits. (Jenilee Harrison).
The plot - An enraged voodoo practitioner calls forth an ancient demon from the sea to seek revenge on a woman n her family after his sacrificial ritual is disturbed. Dr. Pearson (Christopher Lee), a doctor, who knows everything about the voodoo master, the monster n the rituals, helps the woman in her fight against the evil.
Revisited it recently.
This movie is very boring n not at all gory.
There is zero scare factor n absolutely no tension.
At least the second part has some gore, the jaw slashing of the nurse n the cop's heart removal from the mouth.
In this one the first kill happens around the 38th min n it is an offscreen one.
The second kill an offscreen one.
The third kill an offscreen one.
The fourth kill is that of a goat and an offscreen one.
The fifth kill is that of a dog n again an offscreen one.
Generous with a 2 cos of Lee n the lead actress' tight tits. (Jenilee Harrison).
The plot - An enraged voodoo practitioner calls forth an ancient demon from the sea to seek revenge on a woman n her family after his sacrificial ritual is disturbed. Dr. Pearson (Christopher Lee), a doctor, who knows everything about the voodoo master, the monster n the rituals, helps the woman in her fight against the evil.
Panga
Cujo10824 July 2010
An American bride's sister is visiting her and her sugar plantation owning husband in South Africa. While out one afternoon, the sister disrupts a native tribe's voodoo ceremony in an attempt to keep them from sacrificing a goat. As a result, a witch doctor puts a curse on them. It isn't long before a demon from the sea is stalking the family and anyone else they know.
Originally titled Panga, this is also known as Curse III: Blood Sacrifice, but none of the four films in that series have anything to do with each other. While this is far from a great movie, it is a fun watch. The African locations make for nice eye candy and we get Christopher Lee in a secondary role as a doctor who may be involved in the killings. Jenilee Harrison makes for an attractive leading lady, but her character can be rather annoying. No one else in the cast makes much of an impression, but they're mostly there to be machete fodder anyway. That's right, this demon uses a machete. It's funny to note that the director's last name is Barton, also the last name of the director behind Zaat, which I watched not long before viewing this one. The fish-like demon on display here reminded me of the creature from that film, only with much better effects work courtesy of Chris Walas.
The score for this film is rather odd, but you can't deny that it's catchy. It was stuck in my head for a good day afterward. Speaking of odd, there's a neat sequence where a character is burned alive after he's caught spying on the main characters from a sugar cane field. You would have to see the scene to realize how bizarre it really is.
Originally titled Panga, this is also known as Curse III: Blood Sacrifice, but none of the four films in that series have anything to do with each other. While this is far from a great movie, it is a fun watch. The African locations make for nice eye candy and we get Christopher Lee in a secondary role as a doctor who may be involved in the killings. Jenilee Harrison makes for an attractive leading lady, but her character can be rather annoying. No one else in the cast makes much of an impression, but they're mostly there to be machete fodder anyway. That's right, this demon uses a machete. It's funny to note that the director's last name is Barton, also the last name of the director behind Zaat, which I watched not long before viewing this one. The fish-like demon on display here reminded me of the creature from that film, only with much better effects work courtesy of Chris Walas.
The score for this film is rather odd, but you can't deny that it's catchy. It was stuck in my head for a good day afterward. Speaking of odd, there's a neat sequence where a character is burned alive after he's caught spying on the main characters from a sugar cane field. You would have to see the scene to realize how bizarre it really is.
A unique idea that turns into a stupid, annoying and dull horror film
lost-in-limbo4 February 2005
A group of westerners disrupt a religious ceremony involving a goat that is about to be sacrifice. In doing so it makes the voodoo priest very angry, so he summons a demon to take revenge on those people.
This was one very peculiar b-grade film with voodoo/slasher/monster elements, but with those features it's still basically a poor run-of-a mill horror film, that takes itself far to seriously. I haven't watched the first two films, so I don't know if this film relates back to the others.
There's not much to recommend- but the saving grace of the film is Christopher Lee, in which he brings some added class. Also the beautifully lush and exquisite African setting / atmosphere makes it a bit bearable.
While whenever Lee graced the screen it added some interest- but I can't say the same about the rest of the cast. It was to bad that the main female lead was annoying and stupid, that you wished that the demon would just finish the job. And the bloody demon seems to takes it's sweet time to finish off its victims by dragging out the scenes (especially towards the end). While Christopher Lee and Jenilee Harrison characters had 'SOME' depth, the rest of the supporting cast were too one-dimensional and lack any detail of any sort, by being pretty much stereotypical and waiting for their turn on the chopping block.
The special effects were inferior. The demon looked like a stupid rubber lizard from a Godzilla film, while carrying a machete in it's hand just looked bizarre. The movie had some blood and a tad of gore, but still it's minor stuff.
The story was very odd one, but it didn't stop it from being quite tiresome in parts and cliché ridden. Really, the characters just got on my nerves especially the heroine and the dumb little girl (you would know what I mean when you see it). Like I typed early there is a mixture of horror elements: the first half of the film feels like a slasher, as we are to think that somebody from the group is possibly the killer, with red herrings thrown in and we don't see nothing but machete doing the damage. While the second half (the part that lost my interest and boredom followed) plays the heroine being stalked by an unknown creature and she is frantically looking for help. In which case we actually see the menace and I found it incredibly bad and laughable. While, the voodoo element gels the other two together.
1.5/5
This was one very peculiar b-grade film with voodoo/slasher/monster elements, but with those features it's still basically a poor run-of-a mill horror film, that takes itself far to seriously. I haven't watched the first two films, so I don't know if this film relates back to the others.
There's not much to recommend- but the saving grace of the film is Christopher Lee, in which he brings some added class. Also the beautifully lush and exquisite African setting / atmosphere makes it a bit bearable.
While whenever Lee graced the screen it added some interest- but I can't say the same about the rest of the cast. It was to bad that the main female lead was annoying and stupid, that you wished that the demon would just finish the job. And the bloody demon seems to takes it's sweet time to finish off its victims by dragging out the scenes (especially towards the end). While Christopher Lee and Jenilee Harrison characters had 'SOME' depth, the rest of the supporting cast were too one-dimensional and lack any detail of any sort, by being pretty much stereotypical and waiting for their turn on the chopping block.
The special effects were inferior. The demon looked like a stupid rubber lizard from a Godzilla film, while carrying a machete in it's hand just looked bizarre. The movie had some blood and a tad of gore, but still it's minor stuff.
The story was very odd one, but it didn't stop it from being quite tiresome in parts and cliché ridden. Really, the characters just got on my nerves especially the heroine and the dumb little girl (you would know what I mean when you see it). Like I typed early there is a mixture of horror elements: the first half of the film feels like a slasher, as we are to think that somebody from the group is possibly the killer, with red herrings thrown in and we don't see nothing but machete doing the damage. While the second half (the part that lost my interest and boredom followed) plays the heroine being stalked by an unknown creature and she is frantically looking for help. In which case we actually see the menace and I found it incredibly bad and laughable. While, the voodoo element gels the other two together.
1.5/5
Nope.
bombersflyup17 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Curse III: Blood Sacrifice is woeful from start to finish.
Just a bad slasher film and I loved the second Curse film by the way. There's a long and arduous build-up before every attack and the killer and deaths not shown, just a raised machete. You see the creature at the end, but by then you don't care anyway. The initiating scene is silly, "I can't let this happen," like you could stop him if he persisted. He may have killed a goat just prior to you being there and may kill one right after you're gone. Christopher Lee doesn't add anything and is no better than anyone else in the film, you people are so bias.
Just a bad slasher film and I loved the second Curse film by the way. There's a long and arduous build-up before every attack and the killer and deaths not shown, just a raised machete. You see the creature at the end, but by then you don't care anyway. The initiating scene is silly, "I can't let this happen," like you could stop him if he persisted. He may have killed a goat just prior to you being there and may kill one right after you're gone. Christopher Lee doesn't add anything and is no better than anyone else in the film, you people are so bias.
Attack of the African Sea Demon.
BA_Harrison24 August 2021
A hideous, slimy sea demon wielding a machete is summoned by an African witch doctor to punish those who interrupted a sacred sacrificial ceremony.
Yeah, I know it doesn't make much sense for a creature with vicious fangs and claws to use a machete to kill, but if that's his weapon of choice, who am I to argue? Either way, those who come face-to-face with the monster wind up dead, and, in the case of sugar cane plantation foreman Mletch (Henry Cele), minus their head.
Curse III: Blood Sacrifice delivers just enough gore to keep fans of cheezy horror happy, and chucks in two pairs of bare breasts for good measure, making it a passable way to spend some time despite a lack of originality in terms of plot and execution (I would loved to have seen the little girl get slaughtered for a change). Horror stalwart Christopher Lee is on hand to show the rest of the cast how to do this sort of nonsense, the actor starring as Dr. Pearson, who may or may not be somehow involved in the killings. Lee plays his character straight but still manages to chew the scenery, his performance sometimes dangerously teetering on the edge of hamminess but never going over the edge.
With such a silly monster one might easily forgive Lee had he played his role totally tongue-in-cheek: Chris Walas's rubbery creature is only seen in its entirety at the end and it's easy to understand why - it's not that great, nowhere near as effective as the similar slimy sea monsters in Humanoids From The Deep, with which it bears a passing resemblance. Director Sean Barton maintains a steady pace, and ends matters with a fiery climax that, if anything, looks spectacular. As a fan of really trashy horror, I would liked to have seen more of the fishy beast (no matter how bad it looks) and a tad more splatter (the attack on the couple bonking in a tent was rather weak given the messy aftermath discovered later on), but I appreciate that budgetary restraints can be an issue.
5/10. Passable monster fun for fans of '80s/'90s straight-to-video horror.
Yeah, I know it doesn't make much sense for a creature with vicious fangs and claws to use a machete to kill, but if that's his weapon of choice, who am I to argue? Either way, those who come face-to-face with the monster wind up dead, and, in the case of sugar cane plantation foreman Mletch (Henry Cele), minus their head.
Curse III: Blood Sacrifice delivers just enough gore to keep fans of cheezy horror happy, and chucks in two pairs of bare breasts for good measure, making it a passable way to spend some time despite a lack of originality in terms of plot and execution (I would loved to have seen the little girl get slaughtered for a change). Horror stalwart Christopher Lee is on hand to show the rest of the cast how to do this sort of nonsense, the actor starring as Dr. Pearson, who may or may not be somehow involved in the killings. Lee plays his character straight but still manages to chew the scenery, his performance sometimes dangerously teetering on the edge of hamminess but never going over the edge.
With such a silly monster one might easily forgive Lee had he played his role totally tongue-in-cheek: Chris Walas's rubbery creature is only seen in its entirety at the end and it's easy to understand why - it's not that great, nowhere near as effective as the similar slimy sea monsters in Humanoids From The Deep, with which it bears a passing resemblance. Director Sean Barton maintains a steady pace, and ends matters with a fiery climax that, if anything, looks spectacular. As a fan of really trashy horror, I would liked to have seen more of the fishy beast (no matter how bad it looks) and a tad more splatter (the attack on the couple bonking in a tent was rather weak given the messy aftermath discovered later on), but I appreciate that budgetary restraints can be an issue.
5/10. Passable monster fun for fans of '80s/'90s straight-to-video horror.
When the slasher film was all horror was, inepty directed
HEFILM20 April 2024
Panga is, I guess a hooked African Knife and that's what the film was sold as, until it failed and instead became part of the shaggy series of dog movies under that title.
But now it should just be seen and called Panga, it reflects the 80s everything is about knives cutting people era of horror. Now to be clear this film has little gore, it does feature bits of sexual exploitation in two scenes, Harrison self-consciously holding up her breasts to make them look larger. She isn't actor enough to carry the movie which has plenty of other problems.
Though we have Christopher Lee top billed, he barely has anything to do or is even in most of the film. Eventuallly a monster does appear, though even the monster must still lumber around, briefly with the Panga.
So do we don't get lots of killings, which might help a film where nothing really happes for half it's running time. The few times the Panga kills someone we have a shot of the blade rising and falling through frame--as if it's a TV movie, and even these shots don't birng any fear or, if you're after it, any blood or terror.
It's directed by an editor of the Least of the first three Star Wars films and one that drew criticism in part for doing a lot of intercutting between scenes making all the scenes seem less important individually than creataing any tension that that happens in this film too, which may make it sound more like it has some style than it does.
The film just can't pull off any kind of action at all, even if it's two people walking up stairs the camera seems awkwardly placed and the action artificial. The director, has no feel for the genre, there are only one or two kinda of moody shots and one long tedious walking around a dark empty house scene. He never directed another movie.
The obnoxious cheap sounding electric music score took two people to push some kind of cheesy thin synth momentum into the non eventful proceedings. It wasn't good then and it's worse now as far as hurting not helping the movie.
Harrison is a big problem, she's all surface, bugging out her eyes and letting her mouth hang open, getting messy and then suddenly having perfect hair and make up again. There is one of the unintentionally funniest reaction shots in genre history. She finds a body and screams while messing up her hair with both hands like she's in a hair commercial showing off how much body her hair has, then she slow walks out of the room and has perfect hair again. It's a high or low light that has to be seen to be believed.
Lee finally has a good moment telling his characters backstory which sounds much better than anything we've had to sit through in this movie. If he and the possibly interesting African supernatural elements had been allowed to take up more time the film could have been better. Or if it was going to be a slasher film then where is all the slashing and elaborate set-piece suspense scenes? Not in this movie that's where!!!
Then the film climaxes with not one but two totally unlikely and increbibly huge instant fires. The climax takes place in the rain yet one lantern instantly ignites a large very gree cane field!
So interesting perhaps as an example of a movie failing to pull off older horror elements while including trendy ones of the day. Ligthing is often done very flatly and though dolby stereo it doesn't do anything creative or effective with its sound either, and the cheesy synth music sounds like it's playing on a poolside AM radio of the day.
All said a loser, but not the worse of THE CURSE movies if that says anything. As others point out and like most of THE CURSE movies it's wasn't made to be one in the first place.
But now it should just be seen and called Panga, it reflects the 80s everything is about knives cutting people era of horror. Now to be clear this film has little gore, it does feature bits of sexual exploitation in two scenes, Harrison self-consciously holding up her breasts to make them look larger. She isn't actor enough to carry the movie which has plenty of other problems.
Though we have Christopher Lee top billed, he barely has anything to do or is even in most of the film. Eventuallly a monster does appear, though even the monster must still lumber around, briefly with the Panga.
So do we don't get lots of killings, which might help a film where nothing really happes for half it's running time. The few times the Panga kills someone we have a shot of the blade rising and falling through frame--as if it's a TV movie, and even these shots don't birng any fear or, if you're after it, any blood or terror.
It's directed by an editor of the Least of the first three Star Wars films and one that drew criticism in part for doing a lot of intercutting between scenes making all the scenes seem less important individually than creataing any tension that that happens in this film too, which may make it sound more like it has some style than it does.
The film just can't pull off any kind of action at all, even if it's two people walking up stairs the camera seems awkwardly placed and the action artificial. The director, has no feel for the genre, there are only one or two kinda of moody shots and one long tedious walking around a dark empty house scene. He never directed another movie.
The obnoxious cheap sounding electric music score took two people to push some kind of cheesy thin synth momentum into the non eventful proceedings. It wasn't good then and it's worse now as far as hurting not helping the movie.
Harrison is a big problem, she's all surface, bugging out her eyes and letting her mouth hang open, getting messy and then suddenly having perfect hair and make up again. There is one of the unintentionally funniest reaction shots in genre history. She finds a body and screams while messing up her hair with both hands like she's in a hair commercial showing off how much body her hair has, then she slow walks out of the room and has perfect hair again. It's a high or low light that has to be seen to be believed.
Lee finally has a good moment telling his characters backstory which sounds much better than anything we've had to sit through in this movie. If he and the possibly interesting African supernatural elements had been allowed to take up more time the film could have been better. Or if it was going to be a slasher film then where is all the slashing and elaborate set-piece suspense scenes? Not in this movie that's where!!!
Then the film climaxes with not one but two totally unlikely and increbibly huge instant fires. The climax takes place in the rain yet one lantern instantly ignites a large very gree cane field!
So interesting perhaps as an example of a movie failing to pull off older horror elements while including trendy ones of the day. Ligthing is often done very flatly and though dolby stereo it doesn't do anything creative or effective with its sound either, and the cheesy synth music sounds like it's playing on a poolside AM radio of the day.
All said a loser, but not the worse of THE CURSE movies if that says anything. As others point out and like most of THE CURSE movies it's wasn't made to be one in the first place.
Panga
BandSAboutMovies24 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Shot as Panga by director Sean Barton (who only directed this one movie, but has edited many more) on location in South Africa in 1989, this film was added to the Curse series of films. None of these movies are connected and you know, that's kind of how we like it. You can call it Witchcraft, Blood Sacrifice or Curse III: Panga, if you'd like.
Geoff Armstrong (Andre Jacobs) and his wife Elizabeth (Jenilee Harrison, Cindy Snow from Three's Company and Jamie Ewing Barnes on Dallas) are running a large sugar plantation in East Africa. Things go wrong when the sacrifice of a goat by the locals get interrupted and a witch doctor calls a demon from the sea that kills everyone in the Armstrong family except Elizabeth.
Elizabeth gets help from Dr. Pearson (Christopher Lee) and to break the curse she must lure the witch doctor into the sugar cane fields and set him on fire. Seems like a good plan, I guess.
The fish man is designed by The Fly special FX artist Chris Walas, so this has that going for it. It's not really all that exciting, nor is at as devoted to being entertaining weirdness like the first two films in the Curse non-series.
Geoff Armstrong (Andre Jacobs) and his wife Elizabeth (Jenilee Harrison, Cindy Snow from Three's Company and Jamie Ewing Barnes on Dallas) are running a large sugar plantation in East Africa. Things go wrong when the sacrifice of a goat by the locals get interrupted and a witch doctor calls a demon from the sea that kills everyone in the Armstrong family except Elizabeth.
Elizabeth gets help from Dr. Pearson (Christopher Lee) and to break the curse she must lure the witch doctor into the sugar cane fields and set him on fire. Seems like a good plan, I guess.
The fish man is designed by The Fly special FX artist Chris Walas, so this has that going for it. It's not really all that exciting, nor is at as devoted to being entertaining weirdness like the first two films in the Curse non-series.
The horror and the Demon are real.
garzillo1322 December 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Entertaining and a good back story in the reveal segment. The horror builds slowly at first and is well done. The European character violated a taboo which brought the curse and the Demon to all involved.
They interfered with something that was nothing to do with them and paid the price. The doctor is my favorite character. Better than many current so called pointless horror films actually. Christopher Lee is spot on. A little mysterious and sinister but lends authenticity to the story and the action. Lots of blood slashing and gore but totally has replay value when looking for an atmospheric blood fest.
They interfered with something that was nothing to do with them and paid the price. The doctor is my favorite character. Better than many current so called pointless horror films actually. Christopher Lee is spot on. A little mysterious and sinister but lends authenticity to the story and the action. Lots of blood slashing and gore but totally has replay value when looking for an atmospheric blood fest.
Curse III:Blood Sacrifice
Scarecrow-8830 January 2010
Warning: Spoilers
In Africa, an English Sugar Cane Plantation owner's pregnant American wife is cursed for her sister's stopping the tribal sacrifice of a goat. Christopher Lee, given obvious star treatment and always a welcome presence as far as this horror fan is concerned, is a raspy-voiced doctor with asthma, Dr. Pearson, who also has ties to the witchdoctor, and attends to the medical needs of his neighboring locals.
The ceremony interrupted, the blood sacrifice removed, a summoned monster from the sea might just wreak havoc on them all.
I think what works best for a film such as this is the knowledge of possible peril in store for those out of their own environment, with danger lying in wait throughout the African landscape where a killer could appear at any moment. Carefully presented is the culture clash between the outsiders and the Africans. Lee's supporting role is interesting in that he's a wedge between these very different worlds, having garnered relationships with both sides, understanding the customs and beliefs of the tribe with clarity. We actually see him drive into the tribal village to chat with the witchdoctor, developing a mystery as to his intentions. His ambiguous motives do call into question whose side he's on. I thought this film has some good suspense because the plot really builds on the fact that the innocents are outnumbered, in a place home to those that threaten them. The film also introduces English neighbors(..a widower and her granddaughter)who provide shelter to Liz when she needs it the most. Many might find this sort of film a bit racist, I guess, in today's politically correct world.
I think the most intense scenes occur when characters find themselves moving through the endless wave of sugar cane fields, the perfect place for a killer to lie in wait. My favorite has this great sense of upending doom as a more and more frightened Elizabeth(Jenilee Harrison) walks through her house delicately searching for her husband, Geoff(Andre Jacobs) who had arrived from a near-death experience, in a state of panic, who is not answering her calls. The crescendo to this really packs a wallop because Elizabeth finds herself in a very difficult scenario with limited options of survival. Poor Liz, did nothing wrong to deserve such rotten circumstances. While the machete makes it's grand appearance throughout(..accompanied by the "whoosh!" sound as it does damage off-screen), there isn't a lot of gore on display. The score really pounds away, effective I think at eating away at the viewer(..or perhaps annoying the hell out of you, which ever you prefer)as a suspense scene culminates. This film would probably be taken more seriously if it weren't part of what many consider a lackluster franchise of unrelated films. At any rate, Curse III:Blood Sacrifice wasn't as bad as I was expecting, in actuality, I kind of enjoyed it.
Lee fans, have no fear, even though he doesn't have a large part, he does provide that great monologue as to his history and relationship with the witchdoctor(..always giggling as he looks on from within the deep sugar cane fields).
The ceremony interrupted, the blood sacrifice removed, a summoned monster from the sea might just wreak havoc on them all.
I think what works best for a film such as this is the knowledge of possible peril in store for those out of their own environment, with danger lying in wait throughout the African landscape where a killer could appear at any moment. Carefully presented is the culture clash between the outsiders and the Africans. Lee's supporting role is interesting in that he's a wedge between these very different worlds, having garnered relationships with both sides, understanding the customs and beliefs of the tribe with clarity. We actually see him drive into the tribal village to chat with the witchdoctor, developing a mystery as to his intentions. His ambiguous motives do call into question whose side he's on. I thought this film has some good suspense because the plot really builds on the fact that the innocents are outnumbered, in a place home to those that threaten them. The film also introduces English neighbors(..a widower and her granddaughter)who provide shelter to Liz when she needs it the most. Many might find this sort of film a bit racist, I guess, in today's politically correct world.
I think the most intense scenes occur when characters find themselves moving through the endless wave of sugar cane fields, the perfect place for a killer to lie in wait. My favorite has this great sense of upending doom as a more and more frightened Elizabeth(Jenilee Harrison) walks through her house delicately searching for her husband, Geoff(Andre Jacobs) who had arrived from a near-death experience, in a state of panic, who is not answering her calls. The crescendo to this really packs a wallop because Elizabeth finds herself in a very difficult scenario with limited options of survival. Poor Liz, did nothing wrong to deserve such rotten circumstances. While the machete makes it's grand appearance throughout(..accompanied by the "whoosh!" sound as it does damage off-screen), there isn't a lot of gore on display. The score really pounds away, effective I think at eating away at the viewer(..or perhaps annoying the hell out of you, which ever you prefer)as a suspense scene culminates. This film would probably be taken more seriously if it weren't part of what many consider a lackluster franchise of unrelated films. At any rate, Curse III:Blood Sacrifice wasn't as bad as I was expecting, in actuality, I kind of enjoyed it.
Lee fans, have no fear, even though he doesn't have a large part, he does provide that great monologue as to his history and relationship with the witchdoctor(..always giggling as he looks on from within the deep sugar cane fields).
Interesting, different, and entertaining
horror777730 December 2000
Curse III: Blood Sacrifice is quite an entertaining film. As of yet, I have only seen this one and Curse I in the series. I hated "The Curse", because I felt it was one of those "quick films" to try and make Wil Wheaton a star. I had read that none of the sequels had anything to do with the original, so I figured that I would enjoy this. I did. I figured the budget was low, and I always enjoy when filmmakers work well on a shoestring budget. A women interrupts the sacrifice of a goat. The leader of the tribe summons a curse from the sea to pay her, her friends, and her family back. The movie was well done, and the East African scenery was a nice addition to an already well done film. Christopher Lee was in fine form, and the film made some sense unlike the original. The "sea creature" was a little cheesy, but the mystery and suspense made up for the cheesy, low budget special effects. It's one of those films that leaves you guessing about what might happen next. "Curse III" is definitely one of the best purchases I made. See this film, I guarantee you that if you don't like it, you won't hate it!
Better than expected.
Hey_Sweden14 August 2019
Unrelated to "The Curse" (1987) and "Curse II: The Bite" (1989), this in-name-only sequel stars Jenilee Harrison of 'Three's Company' fame as Elizabeth Armstrong, wife of a farmer in 1950 East Africa. She and her sister meddle in a tribal ceremony (they don't want to see a goat get sacrificed), much to their regret. The local witch doctor (Dumi Shongwe) summons a powerful demon of the sea to slaughter these foolish whites for their interference.
Co-written and directed by Sean Barton, a veteran editor whose credits in that capacity include "Return of the Jedi", "Curse III: Blood Sacrifice" is actually a pretty enjoyable B horror flick. It gets most of its impact from its on-location shooting in South Africa, and has a very good atmosphere. It can also get rather gory at times. Barton and company are wise not to give the monster too much screen time; it's largely unseen until the end, and when we finally get a good look at it, it's got a reasonably impressive design (by Chris Walas, the effects man who gave us the Gremlins and the 1986 version of The Fly). The music score composed by Julian Laxton & Patric van Blerk is another big plus. "Curse III: Blood Sacrifice" goes through its paces with skill, building up a decent body count and giving us an incendiary finale.
One doesn't exactly feel too much sympathy for the victims, but at least some of the cast deliver okay performances. Harrison has some appeal as the heroine. Henry Cele has a powerful screen presence as the character Mletch. Co-star Gavin Hood, who plays Robert, may be better known now as a director of such movies as "Tsotsi", "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", and "Ender's Game". The true star power in "Curse III" is provided by ever-reliable Sir Christopher Lee, who doesn't get that much screen time despite his top billing. But he makes every moment count.
Overall, not bad at all. The novelty of the African setting helps to make up for the routine storyline.
Six out of 10.
Co-written and directed by Sean Barton, a veteran editor whose credits in that capacity include "Return of the Jedi", "Curse III: Blood Sacrifice" is actually a pretty enjoyable B horror flick. It gets most of its impact from its on-location shooting in South Africa, and has a very good atmosphere. It can also get rather gory at times. Barton and company are wise not to give the monster too much screen time; it's largely unseen until the end, and when we finally get a good look at it, it's got a reasonably impressive design (by Chris Walas, the effects man who gave us the Gremlins and the 1986 version of The Fly). The music score composed by Julian Laxton & Patric van Blerk is another big plus. "Curse III: Blood Sacrifice" goes through its paces with skill, building up a decent body count and giving us an incendiary finale.
One doesn't exactly feel too much sympathy for the victims, but at least some of the cast deliver okay performances. Harrison has some appeal as the heroine. Henry Cele has a powerful screen presence as the character Mletch. Co-star Gavin Hood, who plays Robert, may be better known now as a director of such movies as "Tsotsi", "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", and "Ender's Game". The true star power in "Curse III" is provided by ever-reliable Sir Christopher Lee, who doesn't get that much screen time despite his top billing. But he makes every moment count.
Overall, not bad at all. The novelty of the African setting helps to make up for the routine storyline.
Six out of 10.
* *1/2 out of 4.
brandonsites19812 June 2002
Much better then you would expect and bearing no relation to the first two films. This film is about a woman interrupting the slaughter of a goat during a sacrifical ceremony. The African tribalsman decides to get even by sending a monster after the woman and anybody that is connected with her. Straight forward horror film with a good amount of atmosphere and scares is well made on a shoestring budget.
Rated R; Nudity, Violence, Sexual Situations, and Profanity.
Rated R; Nudity, Violence, Sexual Situations, and Profanity.
Supernatural slasher flick, set in Africa, in the 50s
Milo-Jeeder22 July 2018
Here we have another flick that is advertised and branded as a sequel for another film, though it has no connections to it whatsoever. "Curse III: Blood Sacrifice" was originally titled "Panga", so I'll be referring to it with the latter title, because it seems more appropriate.
In "Panga", the story takes places in the 1950s, and our main character is Elizabeth Armstrong, a sweet American woman living in South Africa, with her husband, Geoff. Elizabeth, who is carrying a baby, seems to have a hard time adjusting to the way of life in South Africa, but she's a genuinely nice gal and she wants to support her hubby, who owns a sugar plantation, so she makes an effort to be positive and manages to get along with the residents just fine.
While out one afternoon, Elizabeth and her sister, Cindy (who is visiting for a while) witness a tribe's ritual, in which the natives attempt to sacrifice a goat. Horrified by this, Cindy interrupts the ritual and takes the goat, with the support of Elizabeth and her boyfriend, Robert. Things get really tense between the American bunch and the natives, and the language barrer clearly doesn't contribute. A witch doctor, who seems to be leading the ceremony, starts yelling at the confused American and puts a curse on all of them, which seems like silly hocus pocus, so they don't pay much attention to this. (Stupids!) After this event, those who were involved in the incident begin to get slashed by an unknown figure that carries some sort of machete. In the end, Elizabeth will find herself facing that entity that was summoned by the witch doctor, in order to punish them for disrespecting the ritual.
"Panga" provides a killer that stalks people with a machete, and said killer seems particularly interested in slashing the sex-crazed youngsters, as he/she/it goes after them first. Does it ring any bells? It should! This flick tries to capitalize on the success of slasher films that came out mostly during the eighties, but it also adds a few original details along the way, to stand out. For instance, our villain seems to be a supernatural entity that lives in the sea and is summoned by someone, rather than the average killer who (inexplicably) rises from the dead to slaughter obnoxious teenagers. Also, this story takes place in the 50s, where certain technological devices weren't available to make things easier for the poor bastards who are being chased by the blood-thirsty creature. On top of that, the events happen in a rural area of South Africa, with a really (really!) heavy storm throughout most of the film, which leaves our poor characters in an utter state of defenselessness. Finally, unlike most slasher flicks, in lieu of a main set of characters composed by randy kids, we get quite an eclectic bunch, which features: a sweet old lady, her granddaughter (who is around 10), an old man, a young American woman and her husband, two horny young adults and a local foreman, who supervises a sugar plantation. Heterogeneous characters is something that I very much appreciate in a genre, like horror, that mostly focuses on obnoxious teenagers or young adults.
The movie doesn't really offer an outstanding moment, but the final 20 minutes or so provide a fair amount of tension, with the main characters barricading themselves inside in a big house, in the middle of the country. We do get a final confrontation between the main character and the beast-like killer that stalks them, which is a little bit more on the campy side than anything else (the "less is more" concept would have worked well here). That being said, this film mostly stays on the serious side, while not necessarily being an example of artistic or subtle filmmaking. Though "Panga" isn't memorable by any means, it really is an entertaining and mildly creepy film for the most part and the fact that we have Christopher Lee playing a main character should give the film, at least, some recognition. Oh, well!
In "Panga", the story takes places in the 1950s, and our main character is Elizabeth Armstrong, a sweet American woman living in South Africa, with her husband, Geoff. Elizabeth, who is carrying a baby, seems to have a hard time adjusting to the way of life in South Africa, but she's a genuinely nice gal and she wants to support her hubby, who owns a sugar plantation, so she makes an effort to be positive and manages to get along with the residents just fine.
While out one afternoon, Elizabeth and her sister, Cindy (who is visiting for a while) witness a tribe's ritual, in which the natives attempt to sacrifice a goat. Horrified by this, Cindy interrupts the ritual and takes the goat, with the support of Elizabeth and her boyfriend, Robert. Things get really tense between the American bunch and the natives, and the language barrer clearly doesn't contribute. A witch doctor, who seems to be leading the ceremony, starts yelling at the confused American and puts a curse on all of them, which seems like silly hocus pocus, so they don't pay much attention to this. (Stupids!) After this event, those who were involved in the incident begin to get slashed by an unknown figure that carries some sort of machete. In the end, Elizabeth will find herself facing that entity that was summoned by the witch doctor, in order to punish them for disrespecting the ritual.
"Panga" provides a killer that stalks people with a machete, and said killer seems particularly interested in slashing the sex-crazed youngsters, as he/she/it goes after them first. Does it ring any bells? It should! This flick tries to capitalize on the success of slasher films that came out mostly during the eighties, but it also adds a few original details along the way, to stand out. For instance, our villain seems to be a supernatural entity that lives in the sea and is summoned by someone, rather than the average killer who (inexplicably) rises from the dead to slaughter obnoxious teenagers. Also, this story takes place in the 50s, where certain technological devices weren't available to make things easier for the poor bastards who are being chased by the blood-thirsty creature. On top of that, the events happen in a rural area of South Africa, with a really (really!) heavy storm throughout most of the film, which leaves our poor characters in an utter state of defenselessness. Finally, unlike most slasher flicks, in lieu of a main set of characters composed by randy kids, we get quite an eclectic bunch, which features: a sweet old lady, her granddaughter (who is around 10), an old man, a young American woman and her husband, two horny young adults and a local foreman, who supervises a sugar plantation. Heterogeneous characters is something that I very much appreciate in a genre, like horror, that mostly focuses on obnoxious teenagers or young adults.
The movie doesn't really offer an outstanding moment, but the final 20 minutes or so provide a fair amount of tension, with the main characters barricading themselves inside in a big house, in the middle of the country. We do get a final confrontation between the main character and the beast-like killer that stalks them, which is a little bit more on the campy side than anything else (the "less is more" concept would have worked well here). That being said, this film mostly stays on the serious side, while not necessarily being an example of artistic or subtle filmmaking. Though "Panga" isn't memorable by any means, it really is an entertaining and mildly creepy film for the most part and the fact that we have Christopher Lee playing a main character should give the film, at least, some recognition. Oh, well!
Offbeat horror film shot in Africa
lor_24 June 2023
My review was written in June 1991 after watching the movie on RCA/Columbia video cassette.
African tribal rites form an atmospheric backdrop for horror in "Curse III", a convincing genre title recently released directly to video.
Unlike many films shot in South Africa, this one benefits from not trying too hard to hide its origins with some fake U. S. setting. Instead, pic is set in East Africa in 1950 for a tale of black magic.
Previous entries in the "Cursed" series were produced by Ovidio Assonitis: "The Farm", directed by David Keith in Tennessee and Rome; and "The Bite", a goofball snake picture starring Jill Schoelen, shot in New Mexico.
Jenilee Harrison is the pregnant heroine married to farmer Andre Jacobs. She and her family are cursed by witch doctor Dumi Shongwe when her sister (Jennifer Steyn) butt in and saves a goal from being sacrificed in traditional manner after the death of a native boy.
As local doctor Christopher Lee points out in one of several expository speeches, if a proper sacrifice isn't carried out after the death of a child, the Nyonga (witch doctor) can summon up the evil spirit of the sea to create mayhem.
Such a reptilian monster shows up on screen at film's end, after going on a killing spree. Both monster and mean witch doctor are destroyed by fire.
With Lee's stentorian voice delivering ominous warnings and attractive Harrison filling the damsel-in-distress slot, "Curse III" delivers quality scares, especially when Harrison finds her foreman (Henry Cele) with hi head falling off waiting in the car in a getaway scene.
Only silly element is homesick Harrison chanting "America, America" out loud to pump up her spirits in moments of distress; it sounds like a familiar chorus uttered by actresses toiling in B movies shot in distant locales.
African tribal rites form an atmospheric backdrop for horror in "Curse III", a convincing genre title recently released directly to video.
Unlike many films shot in South Africa, this one benefits from not trying too hard to hide its origins with some fake U. S. setting. Instead, pic is set in East Africa in 1950 for a tale of black magic.
Previous entries in the "Cursed" series were produced by Ovidio Assonitis: "The Farm", directed by David Keith in Tennessee and Rome; and "The Bite", a goofball snake picture starring Jill Schoelen, shot in New Mexico.
Jenilee Harrison is the pregnant heroine married to farmer Andre Jacobs. She and her family are cursed by witch doctor Dumi Shongwe when her sister (Jennifer Steyn) butt in and saves a goal from being sacrificed in traditional manner after the death of a native boy.
As local doctor Christopher Lee points out in one of several expository speeches, if a proper sacrifice isn't carried out after the death of a child, the Nyonga (witch doctor) can summon up the evil spirit of the sea to create mayhem.
Such a reptilian monster shows up on screen at film's end, after going on a killing spree. Both monster and mean witch doctor are destroyed by fire.
With Lee's stentorian voice delivering ominous warnings and attractive Harrison filling the damsel-in-distress slot, "Curse III" delivers quality scares, especially when Harrison finds her foreman (Henry Cele) with hi head falling off waiting in the car in a getaway scene.
Only silly element is homesick Harrison chanting "America, America" out loud to pump up her spirits in moments of distress; it sounds like a familiar chorus uttered by actresses toiling in B movies shot in distant locales.
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