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"You've seen horrible things, an army of nightmare creatures. But they are nothing compared to what came before, what lies below." This article may contain major plot spoilers. Proceed with caution. |
"No, this isn't right...we should split up." - Curt under pheromone influence playing out his part
Curtis "Curt" Vaughan was a Sociology major that persuaded his girlfriend Jules Louden and his friends, Dana Polk, Holden McCrea, and Marty Mikalski to go on a trip to his cousin's cabin in the woods. He nearly awakened Fornicus by trying to solve the spherical puzzle he found in the cellar. His designated role was "The Athlete," so during his stay in the cabin he was chemically altered in order to become more like a jock.
After the death of Jules Louden by the Buckner Family, he attempts to lead the others to safety. This plan is thwarted, however, with the collapse of the tunnel. Curt decides instead to jump across the canyon on his motorbike. This attempt leads to his death as he hits the forcefield and then plummets down into the canyon.
At the end of the film, Dana comments that she thinks Curt didn't even have a cousin.
Personality[]
Curt is handsome and charismatic young man playing college football, which explains why the technicians thought he would be the guy to be "The Athlete". Despite this, Curt's personality is awfully different from typical versions of this archetype. Curt is not a selfish, sexist alpha male. He is actually a very intelligent young man studying sociology on an academic scholarship. He has also shown to be very insightful, nice, and supportive of his friends.
Despite his intelligence, Curt actually fits "The Fool" archetype of the group. This is because he has been the easiest to manipulate by the technicians.
The Athlete:[]
Curt is selected by The Director to fill the role of the Athlete, which was one of the five allegories of the North American Ritual of Appeasal to The Ancient Ones. His role was one of four mandatory sacrifices as opposed to Dana Polk's role, the Virgin, the fifth role of the North American Ritual of Appeasal. The Virgin is a role which is only mandatory to suffer, death being optional upon fate's playout.
It is never revealed whether Curt just heard of the Cabin and passed it off as his cousin's, or received a message from whom he believed to be his cousin telling him to rent out the cabin for the weekend. Either way Curt took his girlfriend Jules, Jules' roommate and best friend Dana, his football friend Holden, and longtime friend Marty to accompany him to the cabin for a weekend of drinking and fun.
Curt took his motorbike, a large amount of alcohol and his father's van the Rambler to the cabin.
The group stopped at Mordecai the Harbinger's gas station to ask for directions to Tillerman's Road where the cabin is situated. While they were at the gas station, they learned that the place once belonged to a family called the Buckner's. The group ended up in a heated stand-off with Mordecai after he insulted Jules.
Before their departure, Curt paid Mordecai by rudely tossed the money to the ground. Mordecai responded by spitting tobacco on it.
Curt and the others arrive at the cabin and settle into the cabin.
He and Jules had settled into Room 1 whilst Dana and Holden had settled into Rooms 2 and 4 before switching and Marty into Room 5.
Curt and the others inspected Holden's initial room which contained the two way mirror connecting into Dana's initial room. He and Jules than explored the rest of the cabin to ensure there weren't anymore mirrors like the ones between Dana and Holden's, so as Marty wouldn't have a peepway into their connected rooms.
The group than went to the lake. Curt pushed Jules in before jumping in with her and then later returned to the cabin where Marty initiated a game of truth and dare. Marty dared Jules to make out with a stuffed wolf head on the wall behind them.
Jules then after completing her assigned dare turned her choice to Dana and the pheromones which had been pumping through had already worked their way in Curt's bloodstream bringing out his alpha-male side which made a rude assumption of what would be Dana's course of action.
The cellar door then had swung open as orchestrated by the facility and Jules had then decided her dare for Dana to be go down into the cellar and find out what's down there.
Curt and the others came down as Dana screamed upon being startled by a portrait of Patience Buckner and then with alpha male side still acting out told Dana she had to remove her top.
Curt along with the others went through the collective of items in the cellar picking out particular ones which struck their fancy.
Curt was the only one of the group to pick up more than one object, the first being the conch which if blowed into would send up the Merman to eliminate him and the other four mandatory sacrifices.
He then secondly began to solve a spherical puzzle and press upon the button to open it but pulled his thumb away as Dana drew his and the others' attention the diary of Patience Buckner which read an enscryption of Latin from and had the Undead Redneck Zombie Family the Buckners dispatched.
Curt at a point as they had arrived up in their elevator came back up to the main foyer area of the cabin with the others and watched on happily as Jules who had succumbed to the pheromones pumped to make her fill her role as the whore dance skankily and promiscuously.
Curt then with the still acting strong pheromones proceeded to insult Marty, Dana and Holden further before escorting away Jules outside and into the woods.
Curt spilled beer upon her shirt and prompted Jules to remove it but she decided against it on the account of the cold temperature.
The libido of both him and her were then increased by pheromones pumped through the soil and the temperature was turned in farenheit to get them both sweaty underneath their clothing.
A clearing area was lit up to entice Jules to oblige to Curt's requests and as the two began to make out and prepare to have sexual intercourse Jules was stabbed in the centre of right hand by Judah Buckner and Curt was forced to take action against an advancing Mother Buckner.
As he knocked her down he was stabbed in the right shoulder blade by Judah Buckner before punching him down and then being knocked down himself by Matthew Buckner and his tinkered bear trap.
Jules had attempted to run to the knocked down injured Curt but was then caught by Matthew Buckner's bear trap and pulled back over to him, Judah and Mother Buckner and then held for execution before the eyes of Curt who was then restrained by the appearing Papa Buckner.
Curt was then able to off-screen break free of Papa Buckner and run his way back to the cabin where Marty was proceeding to urinate out the front of as little Patience Buckner was sneaking up on him with her axe.
Curt came to Marty and dragged him along back to the cabin knocking over Patience and then entering the cabin to a startled Dana and Holden.
Curt informed Holden and Dana that Jules was gone and as Dana went for the door to go get her stating she's not leaving without her as Curt stated they need to leave immediately Matthew Buckner appeared with Jules' decapitated head before Curt and the others and chucked it to Dana who tossed it aside screaming.
Curt with Marty, Holden and then finally Dana shoved the front door shut on Matthew Buckner and after barricading the front door put into a place a plan of them sticking together and loading up with anything to keep them at bay.
Seeing as Curt then broken character the facility pumped more pheromones into the cabin through the ventilation shafts and Curt then decided the group should split up as they would cover more ground that way.
Curt and the others then retreated to their individual rooms locking themselves in as Matthew Buckner began to break into the cabin.
Curt and the others were then locked in their rooms and after Marty was dragged away from his room by Judah Buckner Curt was able to break free of his confinement and make his way to the dark room and reunite with Dana and Holden escaping from an injured Matthew Buckner.
Curt led the others to the Rambler out front and stated to Dana upon her asking that Marty didn't make it.
Curt drove the group the tunnel where the Demolition Team had failed to blow out it's interior which had to be done manually by Richard Sitterson.
Curt then had no choice but to back up the Rambler out of the tunnel and then came to the decision to jump the chasm over to the other side of Tillerman Road on his motorcycle.
Curt dies the most hilarious death in film history
Curt on Holden's mathematical work out followed an ensured speed from a distance and upon making the jump hit the invisible honeycomb barrier set up by the facility which killed Curt instantly as his head smashed into the barrier and his body along with the motorcycle then proceeded to roll down the barrier and into the chasm below.
A jar of blood was then broken to fill the pillar of the Athlete and signal his death to the Ancient Ones who accepted him as an offering.
