Alright, not bad. Not bad at all. I do tend to believe that I enjoy these types of movies, the ones set in medieval times when hard lives are the norm and religion along with dread and the supernatural are everyday occurrences, more than I let on. The Dreadful in my opinion, is a simple enough movie to enjoy. The solid performances from all three of the main cast, consisting of Sophie, Kit and Marcia definitely added to that.

I think the only thinking point for me is the obviously semi-ambiguous ending showing Anne holding the cursed helmet. I think it was a given prior to the reveal that the mysterious horseman in armor was Anne’s husband, Seamus. It turns out that Jago had lied about his death initially to Anne. Instead of being killed by bandits during their travels, Seamus was actually transformed into some evil type of person due to the war. Since Anne is such a pious woman and of how much she wishes for Seamus to return, we can assume that Seamus was a decent person before he left. So, he himself killed another dude in the armor, and when he was lured by the cursed helmet, he was unable to get it off him, and Jago ditched him. We also saw that Morwen fell into the trap as well when she put on the helmet after having found out she killed her own son. I found it kind of hilarious that she also had a hard time getting the helmet off, and Anne was able to help her by using some stick to just whack it off her.

So will Anne eventually succumb to the temptation and curse of the helmet? We see her in the end putting some type of necklace into the chest that’s holding the helmet. Is she doing that to hold off the evil and demonic energy temporarily? Like some sort of sacrifice to satisfy its greed? Being that Anne and Morwen are so poor, she will eventually run out of earthly materials for the sacrifice. Will she then succumb to the same evil and greedy temptations of Seamus and Morwen herself by murdering innocent people and stealing their possessions? On the one hand, with Morwen, she killed people and stole their money, but it was so that both she and Anne could buy food at the market to survive. Obviously she’s still in the wrong, but with Anne, she had admitted to Jago when they were still together that she has “thoughts” about greed and temptation. She wants material things. She wants what her rich neighbor has, and why shouldn’t she? There was that scene where Morwen, once the helmet was taken off, briefly saw Anne shrouded in a mysterious and bright aura, almost like she was an angel but how long will that hold true?

We also have to take into account that Anne’s situation has now reversed in the end. Whereas it was Morwen who had to do the evil deeds to ensure their survival in the beginning, with Anne having dumped Jago and choosing not to abandon her now that she’s injured from the helmet, it’s now her responsibility. With no husband, Anne is literally now the man of the house, and we all know from movies and books how hard medieval life can be for women. My take and bet is that Anne will eventually succumb to the temptation. Initially, we see that Anne isn’t affected by the helmet when she picks it up. But right at the end, we see that she is still able to hear the evil voices from the helmet. We can tell from Seamus that once the helmet is put on, the person wearing it will eventually begin to weaken and lose their identity. I’m one to believe that yes, Anne will eventually become the next host until eventually another person kills her and begins the cycle all over again.