There are movies whose budgets are visible in every frame, and then there are movies where something far more interesting is visible: the sheer determination required to get the damn thing made. Cursed Waters belongs firmly in the latter category. Produced by brothers Michael and Sonny Mahal and directed by Adam Werth, this sprawling collision of pirate adventure, horror, fantasy and old-fashioned exploitation filmmaking feels like the product of people who genuinely love movies enough to endure everything involved in making one.
Ships, period costumes, battles, pirates, cultists, practical locations, visual effects and a cast seemingly large enough to populate its own island—none of this is easy on an independent production. Yet Cursed Waters keeps pushing forward, frequently with the exuberance of filmmakers who have somehow convinced everyone around them to climb aboard the ship with them.
The premise certainly gives them plenty to play with. A band of pirates survives a naval battle only to wash ashore on an island where avoiding the Navy quickly becomes the least of their problems. A murderous cult awaits them, along with secrets better left buried, allowing Werth and co-writer BJ Mezek to mash together swashbuckling adventure and folk horror without worrying too much about whether those genres are supposed to occupy the same movie. They do here.
More importantly, the cast commits to the material. John Wells and Mezek are surrounded by the kind of gloriously eclectic ensemble independent genre movies rarely get anymore, including Vernon Wells, Glenn Plummer, Michael Paré, Sadie Katz, Costas Mandylor and Robert LaSardo. Nobody appears embarrassed to be making a pirate horror movie. That matters. Everyone seems to understand exactly what kind of ride they have signed up for, and their enthusiasm becomes part of the movie's personality.
What is equally impressive is everything happening behind those performances. Independent filmmaking is difficult when the story involves a few people talking in a house; attempting something on the scale of Cursed Waters borders on insanity. Michael Su's cinematography, Julian Brown's production design, Joanna David's costumes, Mariano Saulino's music, the makeup, sets, sound, stunt work and visual effects all contribute to creating a world much larger than the resources of an independent production would suggest.
Not every seam is invisible, nor should anyone reasonably expect it to be. Part of the pleasure is seeing filmmakers refuse to allow limitations to dictate the size of their imagination. There is an almost handmade quality beneath the spectacle, the sense of dozens upon dozens of people solving problems just outside the frame so that pirates can fight, ships can sink and monsters—human or otherwise—can emerge from the darkness.
It is impossible, however, to look at Cursed Waters now without recognizing the heartbreaking circumstances surrounding its arrival. Michael Mahal's passing changes the emotional weight of the movie. What might otherwise simply have been another ambitious Mahal Empire production now stands as evidence of the tremendous amount of work Michael put into building these films alongside his brother. The Mahal approach was never about waiting for someone else's permission to make movies. It was about gathering actors, filmmakers, craftspeople and supporters together and finding a way to make the impossible thing possible. That passion exists both behind and in front of the camera in Cursed Waters, and knowing that Michael did not live to see everything that would follow gives the film a poignancy nobody involved could have intended when cameras first rolled.
But this does not feel like an ending. Sonny Mahal is still here, carrying that work and his brother's passion forward, and perhaps that is the most meaningful legacy a filmmaking partnership can have. Movies survive their makers. They preserve hundreds of tiny decisions, exhausting days, ridiculous problems, friendships, arguments, compromises and moments when somebody looked at something that seemed impossible and said, “We'll figure it out.”
Cursed Waters, currently available to watch on Amazon Prime Video, is entertaining as an unapologetically pulpy pirate-horror adventure, but it means a little more now. Watch the names during the credits. Think about how many people had to believe in this strange, oversized idea long enough to make it real. Michael Mahal helped create that community and momentum, and Sonny continuing the journey ensures the voyage does not stop here.
In that sense, Cursed Waters may have pirates fleeing death on screen, but its lasting story is considerably more human: passion survives, the work survives, and the ship keeps sailing.
MPAA Rating: PG-13.
Runtime: 119 mins
Director: Adam Werth
Writer: B.J. Mezek; Adam Werth
Cast: John Wells; BJ Mezek; Vernon Wells
Genre: Supernatural Horror
Tagline: Some treasures should stay buried
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Release Date: September 25, 2026
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Synopsis: Shipwrecked pirates fleeing the Navy wash ashore on a remote island, only to discover it's home to a bloodthirsty cult guarding secrets no one was meant to find. Now survival means escaping both the law and something far worse.
