We featured the trailer for NFT: Cursed Images the other day, and it looked more interesting than usual. I was sent a screener so settled down to watch it.
NFT: Cursed Images stars Najarra Townsend, David Wayman, Mariah Nonnemacher, Durassie Kiangangu, Alelie Edwards, and Charlie Rich. Jonas Odenheimer is the writer/director of his first full-length feature.
The Story
The story for NFT: Cursed Images is basically an updated version of The Ring.
A group of crypto savvy friends begin experiencing strange occurrences after buying in to a cursed NFT collection.
We open with a couple walking home, where the girl (I don’t remember the names) opens an NFT image and then gets attacked by a live version of the image.
We cut to a group of friends, who conveniently explain what NFT images are and send them to each other. Sadly, these images are all cursed, and they are all killed off, one by one.
That’s pretty much it. I’m oversimplifying it, but I also found I wasn’t that invested in many of the characters.
The Cast
Everyone in the cast was new to me and, credit where credit is due, they are all very good. This is an indie movie, so they don’t have a huge budget. However, the majority of the cast do a great job.
The only issue I had was that some of the characters are just assholes. That’s not the actor’s fault, but the writing set them up as such. I mean, they are all… what’s the term for young people these days? Millennials?
All of the young people deal in NFTs, crypto, and all other forms of ‘not real money’. It’s not their fault they are asses, it’s just the TikTok generation. I digress.
The Scares
Firstly, I will say I didn’t give NFT: Cursed Images a full crack of the whip. I like a good horror, and I love sitting down, late at night, on my own, lights out, and really soaking up the atmosphere.
Sadly, I rarely do that these days, firstly because I’m old so I am too tired by 9pm, and secondly, most horror movies just aren’t worth it, as they have very little atmosphere.
NFT: Cursed Images is a solid horror, one that comes with a ‘but’. The trailer made the movie look interesting. I love ‘twist’ visuals in a movie, and I even enjoy some stuff that would be considered ‘nightmare fuel’. The trailer for NFT: Cursed Images promised this.
However, they overused it. Half the fun of a good monster is not seeing it in all its glory. Ridley Scott did this perfectly in Alien; you get glimpses, shadows, hints at the alien. It’s only revealed in the final act, when you’re already terrified by it.
The NFTs in this movie get mild hints, and then – bam! You just see them. It took the edge off and made them a little less scary. This was a shame, as the ‘images’ could have been very scary; they were well designed.
The Other Scares
The other main issue was the jump scares. There is nothing worse than overused jump scares in a horror movie. On the odd occasion, they can work, but when they are overused, it just stops being scary.
There were several moments in this movie where ‘something’ walks across the back of the screen, behind the protagonist. The music hits a note to make you jump in the background. It would have been far scarier to keep the music down and just have the visuals do the work. See a perfect example, watch John Carpenter’s (original) Halloween.
The silence is far scarier than a jump scare with a big music hit.
Overall
There is a solid movie somewhere in NFT: Cursed Images, but I think the director was trying too hard. If the music was toned down, or ever turned off, and the ‘monsters’ were more hidden, this would have been a great indie horror.
As I have said before, I’m a horror fan, but for me, it’s the old school horrors, mainly by very clever directors that do it for me. Most modern horror is just more of the same. NFT: Cursed Images is above average, but that’s not saying much.
The other issue was that I didn’t really get the story. In The Ring, there is an excellent played-out story that makes sense, and ties up perfectly at the end. Here, there is a story, but the final shot just confused me a little, as it just ended. I was surprised at how it just finished, without a satisfying ending.
You might have fun with it, but personally, I just didn’t find it scary. However, as I said, it might have been different if I had watched it late at night, so maybe I’m not being fair.
I’m giving the movie a generous 2.5 out of 5. It has some good moments, but it is also over the top in places. I would be interested in seeing more from the director.
NFT: Cursed Images is now streaming.
