The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

Admirable film.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Hammer was quick to plunder the Universal vaults in their search for new horror successes. Dracula, The Mummy and Frankenstein had all been done, and it seemed only natural to film a lycanthropic story, following on from the success of Universal's THE WOLF-MAN. Happily enough, their (strangely) sole werewolf offering is a huge success, offering a tragic love story and horrific elements in equal amount.While the Spanish setting eliminates any Gothic visuals, CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF more than makes up for this in the intriguing werewolf story, which spans a whole twenty years, and a sense of gloom and doom as you just know that Leon is going to come unstuck. Also, the introduction of a young, handsome, charismatic actor in the form of Oliver Reed, meant that audiences could really sympathise with the character of Leon, after all lycanthropy is merely an illness, and can anyone be to blame for illnesses which afflict them? This is one of the films that paved the way for Reed's later stardom, he would go on to star in a range of other varied horror flicks like THE BROOD and THE DEVILS. All the classic folklore concerning werewolves is in this film, along with a good score and lavish costumes. The acting is all above par and there are small roles for Peter Sallis, Warren Mitchell, and Michael Ripper, who plays his tiny role of the town drunk with relish.CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF also has some excellent special effects. Stop motion animation is used to show hair growing on Leon's palms, while Roy Ashton's werewolf makeup is fantastic and groundbreaking, much as the transformation in AN American WEREWOLF IN London was twenty years later. To top this all off, the finale is something of a throwback to classic films like Chaney's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and a satisfying conclusion to this epic romantic horror. CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF is yet another classic from Hammer's heyday, a tragic, inventive story which can be watched time and time again. This is a fairytale epic of a werewolf film.

If your looking for a good scary werewolf film, this is for youThe plot is simple narrated by Don Alfredo Corledo played by Clifford Evens. A beggar (Richard Woodsworth) wanders to a town in 18th century Spain, where he learns the town Marques is marrying and that the town people are forced to celebrate. The beggar decides why not try some luck and goes to the castle where the Marques (Anthony Dawson) treats him like an animal and cruelly tosses the beggar when he is finished with him in the castle dungeon.The beggar survives many years with only contact with the Jailer and his young daughter who was born mute. the old jailer dies not long afterwards with his daughter having blossomed into a attractive young woman. The servant girl (Yvonne Romain) now continue to feeds the beggar who has become more animal like living in his cellThe Marques meanwhile is alone and secluded in his room. His vile temper caused his young wife to go to an early grave and the few friends he possessed abandoned him. The old man attempts to seduce the mute servant girl, but when she bites and refuses his advances he has her tossed into the same prison cell with the beggar.The beggar having gone insane from his confinement rapes the girl and dies from exhaustion. When the servant girl is released back to the marques. she kills him and flees the castle. living in the woods like a wild animal for some months before being found half drowned in a lake by Don Alfred and brought to his homeDon Alfredo's maid Teresa nurses the girl back to health and informs him that the girl is with child and that a unwanted child born out of wedlock is an insult to heaven. The baby, a boy is born on Christmas day and the mother dies shortly afterward. They name the child Leon who a few years later has grown up to be a handsome boyWhen a local goat herders goats are found dead with their throats torn, by a wolf hunter. The mayor has the wolf hunter stay at the site to stake out for the culprit. The hunter shoots at a young wolf but as he hurries to check out the animal it is gone leaving a pool of blood.Don Alfredo discovers Leon injured and takes the bullet out of him. After learning Leon had a nightmare for a period of weeks as a wolf drinking blood, he consults a priest. The priest suggests Leon's conception and unlawful birth cursed him and he needs love and affection from his familyYears pass and the transformations have ceased and Leon becomes a man. He leaves home and gets a job at the next town where he falls in love with his bosses daughter.Unfortunately he turns into a werewolf and kills several people including the goat herder. Don Alfredo shoot Leon with a silver bullet and covers him with a clothThe film is very interesting especially since George Woodbridge is in this as well as Oliver Reed. I really do recommend this film its worth a shot

A decent and well made but ultimately underwhelming Hammer film. Rather amazingly, it's the only werewolf film that the company ever made. At this early stage in his career, Oliver Reed just wasn't a good enough actor to play the lead role in the film. However, he is very effective as the werewolf towards the end of the film. However, the film does have a very good supporting cast, something that I've come to expect from Hammer, including Clifford Evans, Anthony Dawson (who is suitably vile as the Marques), Richard Wordsworth, Warren Mitchell, Michael Ripper, Ewen Solon, George Woodbridge, Francis de Wolff and Desmond Llewelyn.Speaking of the beggar, the plan was originally to have him be a werewolf and infect Leon's mother when he raped her. However, the censor objected to this (presumably due to the bestiality implications) and this element was removed from the script. That makes the long prologue in which the beggar is the central character seem less relevant than it should have been. Overall, the writing for the film was decent but not great. It wasn't one of Anthony Hinds' best. He seemed to enjoy writing about mute young women as they pop up again in "The Evil of Frankenstein" and "Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell". It was a bit too jumbled and Oliver Reed's first appearance was far too late at almost 48 minutes into the film.I thought that the make-up was very good but I was surprised how similar it was to that worn by Lon Chaney, Jr. in the Universal Wolf Man films, considering that Hammer was legally forbidden to emulate Boris Karloff's make-up from "Frankenstein" when making "The Curse of Frankenstein". However, it would have been nice if the werewolf made a proper appearance prior to the last ten minutes.

In Spain, Leon (Oliver Reed) is born on Christmas day to a mute servant girl (Yvonne Romain) who was legitimately raped by a beggar (Richard Wordsworth). His mother dies giving birth and he is looked after by Don Alfredo Corledo (Clifford Evans).While Hammer made a name for themselves with Christopher Lee's vampire films, they never really were known for doing werewolves. In fact, this was the only werewolf picture they ever made. That gives it a bit of power in itself, as this has to be seen as Hammer's specific view on lycanthropy.You have to love the mythology here about how a werewolf is created (although it comes off a bit confused), and some boundaries were clearly pushed; a few minutes were cut by censors, and it is unclear if they were ever put back in. The movie focuses a lot on Leon as a human, and it builds slowly through his life (spending a fair amount of time on his father). Those who want to see the wolf early and often will not be pleased. But if you like a solid plot, good story structure and a piece of humanity, this film has a lot to offer.Oliver Reed deserves recognition for having a strong breakout performance here, though he was surely not the man in the makeup for all the roof-jumping scenes. Richard Wordsworth (the beggar) is the strongest actor here, and he needs to be singled out. Hammer fans will also know him from "The Revenge of Frankenstein" (1958), also directed by Terence Fisher.Viewers will take notice of Catherine Feller, Leon's love interest, as she has a very distinct look. Feller is something of a mystery, not having a long list of credits to her name; even her birth date seems a mystery. If a decent DVD were to be released of this film, it would be incredible to track her down for an interview or commentary.Bonus: the name Leon means lion, a kind of cat. In this film, however, he transforms into a wolf, a kind of dog. Was this intentional?