Horror Movie Review: Cupid (2020)

Written and directed by Scott Jeffrey with a cast that includes Georgina Jane, Bao Tieu, Sarah T. Cohen and Michael Owusu, Cupid is the Valentine’s horror to snuggle up too this February 14th.

A surprisingly entertaining horror flick, albeit one that runs out of steam in the latter third and has a few gaping plot-holes you’ll have to ignore to really enjoy.

A very lengthy opening done in an animated style tells us the ‘true’ story of Cupid. A god who was tricked into killing his love. Filled with hate for all who feel love now, he can be summoned and used to extract revenge in the name of love.

After that prologue, it looks like the movie is starting properly but, no. We then get another prologue that shows what happens when Cupid is summoned. It turns out he is a great shot with a bow and arrow.

With all the groundwork laid, the movie begins properly by introducing Faye (Georgina Jane), a young school girl who is hated by the popular mean girls. One in particular, the group leader Elsie (Sarah T. Cohen) notices that Faye has a crush on teacher, Mr Jones (Michael Owusu) and decides to humiliate her.

She sends Faye messages pretending to be him wanting the pair to meet. This goes as well as you could expect. Mr Jones is forced to rebuke her advances. Faye is humiliated and all of it is captured on video.

When Elise decides to reveal the video and pictures Faye sent to the fake Mr Jones in class, the girl finally snaps. Being a practising witch, she decides to summon Cupid and demands that no-one in school be allowed to enjoy love.

A strong start, Cupid gets bogged down with all the school drama for a bit too long. If it wasn’t for strong performances by the some of the cast, it would be very tempting to switch off. Thankfully, Georgina Jane’s Faye is likable, Michael Owusu is charismatic and Sarah T. Cohen’s Elise is such a bitch, you’ll crave her comeuppance.

Once Cupid does enter the fray (after the prologue), it’s not quite as violent or gory as you might hope. The problem is that the expectation that things will ramp up after such a lot of talking is never realised. Not only that, the CGI on him flying is average and the up-close mask (Bao Tieu is behind it) is a little fake looking.

All of this might make it seem as though Cupid is a movie to avoid but that’s not the case. It’s entertaining and doesn’t overstay its welcome. Have low expectations going in and you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised.