Tetrady not as good as all the hype

ClassyWas Excellent, smart action film.

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Milo-Jeeder 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!

Scarecrow-88 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).

corky-27 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.

horror7777 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!