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Is Audrey a Bad Girl?

A lot of things in Thomas Robert Lee's "The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw" are never fully explained, and it's of no negative consequence. It actually adds to the oddness of the film, in a good way.

The group of people here are members of an ancient and obscure Christian cult whose history we never learn that much about. All we know is that this current group exists somewhere, even though we're not sure exactly where. We do know that it takes place in 1973.

Agatha Earnshaw (Catherine Walker) is an outsider of the community, and for good reason. She is really not part of them. Agatha has her own little world on the spiritual outskirts of the rest of them. Her daughter, Audrey (Jessica Reynolds), was born during an eclipse, which in a film like this will no doubt have serious meaning.

Audrey is around 18-years-old, but has had little to do with other members of the community; her worried and protective mother has seen to that. When she witnesses her mother in an argument with some of the villagers, Audrey is torn by mixed emotions. She doesn't like someone threatening her mother, but she has her own problems with mom. Toss in that Audrey possesses at least some similarities to Stephen King's Carrie and you know that something's coming.

Sitting between the two warring factions is Seamus (Sean McGinley), a Christian priest. He tries to shield Catherine from the hostility of the other villagers. The group is suffering from hunger and disease, and for some reason the land where the Earnshaws live is far more fruitful, which is a huge source of tension.

Where the story goes may be less important than how it all feels to the moviegoer. Everything about "The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw" is about mood and tension. That part of the film works beautifully, but that's not enough to make a great movie. It's still worthwhile, especially if you like this type of genre, but not much more than that.