Hidden Kiwi Gems: The Killian Curse
“The Killian Curse” was an interesting and peculiar footnote in the beats of Kiwi television history, and remains a show that either falls under everyone’s radar of memory, or lies at the very edge of it, reawakened only upon a faint mention of its name or its synopsis.
Season 1 aired in 2006, with a second season airing in 2008, but the total count of episodes remains tight at only fourteen. Having only seen the first season so far, I’ll be analyzing this season alone and see if it stands up to scrutiny after all these years past and if it was as good as some remember when it first hit Kiwi screens.
To begin, the kid/young-adult horror/fantasy series seems in my opinion, to be a noble New Zealand reflection of other TV cultural phenomena like the “Goosebumps” TV show based on the influential kids books by R.L. Stine, and “The Killian Curse” appears to share the same themes and atmosphere to scare Kiwi kids in the same vein as shows like these, with less than adequate results.
The show houses its events at a famous school where back in 1906, the nefarious teacher Charles Killian was apprehended after being caught teaching the dark and occult arts to his students of Room 21 (pay close attention to this number). Perishing in a fire, Killian (well versed in dark magic, etc.) utters a curse upon the school where, after a hundred years, his spirit shall return and fellow demons that he summons shall prey upon the souls of the future students of Room 21 and gather at least eleven souls in order for Killian to return back from the dead, albeit more powerful than ever.
Naturally, Room 21 is sealed off.
In the “present” day, the 2006 students of Room 21 (now reopened by a skeptical principal) are indeed, set upon by the Killian Curse and must each face their own individual curses and/or demons that seek to attain their souls.
This I find to be a great concept for a show like this, the creative possibilities can stretch vastly and the episodes do their best to explore it as best they can.
The scary scenarios and enemies they face are more different than the last, each student facing their own personal curse which begins when the number 21 appears on screen. They must also fight alone, for Killian added a nasty clause to the fine print of his curse where adults are completely blind to their suffering.
Firstly, my main gripe with the series as a whole is how they squeezed the stories together. Each individual episode presses three stories with three students into the standard 25 min runtime (not accounting for ads).
As opposed to shows like “Goosebumps” or “Are you Afraid of the Dark?”, where each half-hour episode was dedicated to only one story and one main character, “The Killian Curse” feels pressed for time to fit three students and their curses into one episode, and it shows. There isn’t much wiggle room to expand on the characters or their story enough for it to feel natural and flow easily. The students get hand-wave explanations and scenes showing the baseline of their personalities and are then flung head-first into their curse without so much as a pat on the back. However, the adults being left unable to help does aid well in making the kids rely on themselves and their own wit and skill to outwit Killian and his demonic cronies, revealing a bit more about themselves in the process.
Visual effects, be it monsters, environments or computer-generated, either work fine in some places or fall flat other times. The same can be said for the child actors, as best as they try, their performances are passable at best and cheesy at worst. Certain NZ fame does appear in the forms of Nathaniel Lees and Jed Brophy, of “The Matrix” and “The Lord of the Rings” fame, and Nick Blake as Charles Killian himself.
It’s quite clear that a great deal of effort and passion was put into this series, but whether it be budget, half-decent acting from the kids or time constraints, it doesn’t quite achieve the full extent of its potential.
Once again I believe the squeezing of three stories in each episode was the key pitfall that prevented “The Killian Curse” from sticking hard and fast in the memories of us viewers, with rushed plots, flat characters and weak scares and chills quickly being forgotten.
I’m of course being balanced and fair towards those who worked hard on this show to produce an intriguing piece of television, but more blunt viewers would say that it’s (pardon my French)… pretty shit.
To such people, I’d say that’s being too harsh, but “The Killian Curse” is by no means perfect. On the other hand, it did receive an award for “Achievement in Sound Design in General Television" at the Qantas Film and Television Awards 2008.
All in all, it remains an interesting series that I would not mind being renewed or remade in a new light to see how far someone can carry the concept. I’d like to see how it would fare in today’s world of streaming and fast entertainment. But as it stands, you could live with or without watching it.
If you’ve got some free time, episodes are not hard to find on Youtube or elsewhere, but if you’re still reeling off of your faint but cool memories of watching it in the afternoon when you came back from primary school, be prepared to remove the rose-tinted glasses and put on the contact lenses of skepticism.
Perhaps in the future, I’ll watch and review the second season, and see if things changed... for better or worse…
Thank you for reading and have a beautiful day!
Daniel
