I felt like I published my thoughts on Pagan Warrior, directed by Louisa Warren, recently. In fact, it was 3 days ago. Now, I have the pleasure of watching The Mermaid’s Curse, her newest film. The screenplay is crafted by Tyler-James, who happens to be the writer and co-director of the movie Deadly Waters back in 2015. So what? I hear your inner voice wondering. Well, it hasn’t right and IMDB, but rather, it shares the same synopsis and an almost identical character list. The movie even stars siblings Tony Manders (The Young Cannibals, Death Follows) and Kate Lush (Pet Graveyard, The House on Elm Lake), who both played their characters in the other film too. I’m guessing it’s an uncredited remake.
Harry and Nikki are wallowing in the sand, defiling their bodies on the beach to celebrate their anniversary. As they are in the middle doing the nasty, a woman starts crawling across the beach while singing. Harry stops, wastes no time throwing his pants on and wanders off. Naturally, they both end up dead.
Jake, a journalist blaming himself for the recent cases of disappearances, walks into his best friend Cameron sleeping with his girlfriend Charlotte. His best friend’s betrayal is the least of his problems because throughout the day, he is either warned or blown off by the people he is trying to discuss the disappearances with. As if his day can’t get any worse.
Instead of taking her to a hospital, he brings a woman with an injured forehead to his home. He began to realize how strange the events turned out to be after everything started going out of control.
Despite the lack of effects in the both cases, The Water Witches was renamed and released as The Mermaid’s Curse. It is common knowledge that the word Sirens have become synonymous with Mermaids. The broad concept does change, but the creatures are related, having no effects also helps in putting them with Sirens. With a budget as low as The Mermaid’s Curse, it wouldn’t have been possible to do that.
The show’s script for The Mermaid’s Curse includes sex scenes. That is rather a lot, especially for one of Warren’s films, and I understand why, as it looks like she has never shot a sex scene before in her life. These scenes are incredibly droll and lack eroticism. That is unfortunate because Georgie Banks (Cupid) wears a swimsuit and looks quite decent in it.
This goes to show that Hendryk and Finch’s chemistry is incredibly dull if it even exists. And a film with this kind of relationship at its core needs a cast and director who is competent enough to portray that. We need to see the chemistry between all of them. The fact that Jake is willing to ignore some rather apparent and disturbing things due to his attraction to them. It feels like only yesterday I viewed Louisa Warren’s Pagan Warrior. Well, this was in fact three days ago. Now her upcoming film The Mermaid’s Curse is switching my focus. The screenplay is written by Tyler James. As some of you may know, he wrote and co-produced a film called Deadly Waters back in 2015, Did you ever wonder why? Well because, for one, it’s the same as the exact synopsis on IMDB and pretty much the same list of characters. Not to mention, Tony Manders (The Young Cannibals, Death Follows) and Kate Lush (Pet Graveyard, The House on Elm Lake) even took on their familiar characters in this film. So I’d consider it an unaccredited remake.
Harry (Jon Callaway, Black Ops, The Candy Witch) and Nikki (Gabriella Melrose) sneak out to a beach to celebrate their anniversary. While they are in the middle doing the deed, a woman crawls over the beach out of nowhere and starts singing. Harry, stunned, dresses and walks off. Of course, they will both be dead at the end of this.
Jake (Tom Hendryk, The Haunting of Alcatraz, Bram Stokers Van Helsing) is a reporter researching about the latest missing person cases. Depending on who he speaks with, he is either ignored or warned. Things do not look up for him when he accidentally walks in on his best friend Cameron (AJ Blackwell, Don’t Speak, Tooth Fairy: The Root of Evil) and his girlfriend Charlotte (Nina Jay) together in a compromising position.
Not long after that, he is on the beach and injury a woman (Rebecca Finch, Cyber Bride) catches his eye. She looks familiar, but instead of taking her to a hospital, he takes her home. That is the point where everything gets unusual. And bloody.
The Mermaid’s Curse, originally called The Water Witches, does not feature mermaids. The budget would not allow it. Instead, it focuses on sirens. Although the two words are used interchangeably in modern culture, they are two different beings. The plot only requires a cheap monster, which is why sirens are ideal for a low budget film like this.
The Mermiad’s Curse requires a certain level of sexual scenes. That is certainly not typical for one of Warren’s films, and I understand why. Because it is clear that she does not know how to shoot sex scenes. The scenes are ridiculous as there is virtually no eroticism at all. Which is regrettable, as Georgie Banks (Cupid) does look rather attractive in her swimsuit.
What this also means is that between Hendryk and Finch, there is almost no heat or chemistry. And a film with this sort of relationship at the center needs a cast and director who are able to pull that off. We need to be convinced of the attraction between them. That Jake is willing to ignore some very obvious and disturbing things due to his attraction.
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