User Reviews

Curse of The Werewolf marks the beginning of a slight decline in the quality of Hammer's "Golden Age" horror output. It's a good film in its own right, with some very effective scare sequences; but the script also meanders too much, has some fine British character actors looking a bit uncomfortable playing Spanish peasants and also lacks the plush visuals Jack Asher used to bestow on their prior movies.

Ollie Reed allegedly visited the pub in Bray village in his lunch hour in full werewolf make-up - and no one batted an eyelid! Reed himself is very good in his first Hammer starring vehicle; it's often forgotten amidst all his hilarious hell-raising that he was a fine actor, and the role of Leon is a useful vehicle for his talents.

This actually feels like an origin story for a character intended to appear in a series of movies, as the attention to detail in showing how Leon developed his condition is perhaps a bit too much for a single film; but the opening scenes with the beggar and Marques are powerful and compelling. Indeed thanks to the farrago over Peeping Tom Hammer got into trouble with the censor over these scenes - somewhat of an irony as they were always careful to work closely with the BBFC at every stage of production.

You have to admire some of the bravura horror scenes here - the five year old Leon frantically tugging at the bars on his window to escape his confinement - the murder of the prostitute - Leon changing in the prison cell to his werewolf form to the astonishment of Michael Ripper. All these are handled superbly, as is Leon's baptismal scene, the latter landing Hammer in hot water again with the censor.

Director Terence Fisher tries to work in a tragic love story - a theme of his he was very keen to develop in his horror movies at the time. It does add to the story here, but he was to work it less effectively in Phantom of The Opera and The Gorgon.

Curse of The Werewolf remains an enjoyable horror film, and, after he once drank 126 pints in 24 hours, the modern viewer can derive much amusement from watching Ollie having to be coerced into going to the pub!

The Curse of the Werewolf was the only werewolf movie produced by Hammer studios, and to be honest, I can understand why: even with the usually excellent Terence Fisher at the helm and a young Oliver Reed in the starring role, I found the film rather disappointing, suffering from a weak script that offers up one of the most ridiculous reasons for a case of lycanthropy that I've ever seen and terrible pacing that keeps the werewolf under wraps for most of the running time.

Much of the first half is given over to back story: a beggar (Richard Wordsworth) visits a castle looking for food; there he is mocked and ridiculed by the wicked Marques Siniestro (Anthony Dawson) before being thrown into the dungeon, where he is looked after by the jailer and his mute daughter. Years pass, the beggar becomes a savage, the jailer dies, and his daughter grows up to be a major hottie (the stunning Yvonne Romain). When the Marques tries his luck with the buxom beauty, she is thrown into the same cell as the beggar, who cannot believe his luck. After attacking the girl, he dies a very happy man.

The mute woman is then taken back to the Marques to make amends for her behaviour, but she stabs him to death instead and flees the castle for the forest. There she is found several months later by kindly Don Alfredo Corledo (Clifford Evans) who takes her to his home and discovers that the young woman is pregnant, much to the concern of his housemaid Teresa (Hira Talfrey), who is worried that the child will be born on the 25th December: according to superstition, an unwanted baby born on Christmas Day is an insult to heaven, and can lead to lycanthropy (I told you it was dumb!).

The child is born, but his mother dies shortly after. Don Alfredo and Teresa raise the boy, named Leon, but as he grows older, the lad develops a lust for blood, attacking local animals. As a young adult, Leon (Oliver Reed) leaves to work in a winery (probably not the wisest place to send Oliver Reed), where he falls for the owner's daughter Cristina (Catherine Feller). Leon's love for Cristina prevents him from becoming a fully-fledged werewolf, but on a drunken night out with his work colleague, his blood-lust is aroused by a wanton woman, and he transforms. The next day, Leon is arrested for the murder of the woman; separated from Cristina, there is nothing to stop him transforming again, and he goes on the rampage—about five minutes before the end of the film! After some clambering around the rooftops of the town, attacking absolutely no-one in the process, he is shot with a silver bullet by Don Alfredo. The End.

5/10 for Yvonne Romain, who is easily one of Hammer's hottest babes, and for the cool werewolf design (shame we don't get to see more of it throughout the film).

"Curse of the Werewolf" is a film steeped in uncertainty. Sometimes referred to as a wasted opportunity, sometimes considered the greatest werewolf movie of all time, "Curse" isn't really either, and although a well-made film, it isn't very good. But what I am certain of is that it's my favorite Christmas movie of all time!!!

Don Alfredo Corledo(Clifford Evans)is apparently an omniscient immortal, as he begins the film(after the creepy opening credits showing the werewolf's crying eyes)by informing us(through past-tense voice-over)of events he could not possibly have witnessed or found out about and that he states happened "200 years ago", when by the time we meet him during those events, he is clearly a middle-aged man. Oh well, the film starts with the ringing of a church bell in a small Spanish village, where a handsome but scruffy beggar(Richard Wordsworth)inquires why the bell is ringing even though it's not a Sunday. After several curt dismissals, he finds that the local Marquis has just gotten married to a village girl(and left the village impoverished by raising taxes to fund the wedding), and from what we can tell, it apparently wasn't a marriage she was willing to enter into. A sarcastic barfly tricks our rag-clad hero into going to beg the Marquis for food. And as you may have gathered, the Marquis isn't exactly a charitable man....

The Marquis(Anthony Dawson, from "Dial "M" for Murder") is a sadistic creep who loves abusing his underlings, and he makes no exceptions with the beggar, making him act like a dog and dance. After the Beggar makes a suggestive comment, he ends up being locked in a dungeon where he gradually loses his grip on reality(and his good looks too). Meanwhile, the Marquis, now suffering from leprosy and more occupied with creating houses of cards than the outside world, tries to rape a busty mute servant girl(Yvonne Romaine, who effectively uses facial expressions to emote for a role that requires no talent)who bites him. He has her thrown in the same dungeon as the beggar, who rapes her anyway. The beggar dies, and the girl escapes after killing the Marquis. She tries to drown herself, but is rescued by Don Alfredo and brought to his home, where she is taken care of by his maid, Teresa. The girl dies giving birth on Christmas eve, but because widdle baby Jeebus has some serious birthday attention issues("For an unwanted child to be born on Christmas is an insult to heaven!" says Teresa), the child, Leon, is cursed.....

I'd like to point out that this has all happened in the first 26 minutes.

Following some boring, long-winded exposition involving an explanation for Leon's affliction, a comedic subplot involving the goat-herder's rivalry with the night watchman(two of the most British sounding 'Spaniards' I've ever heard!), and some truly awful overacting(Teresa's line "I just mean--he didn't come through here!!" gets my medal as the most meaningless line ever uttered with such over-the-top conviction) balanced with some very good acting(John Gabriel gives a wonderful, naturalistic performance as a kindly priest), scenes intended to be frightening that will give rise to all kinds of lewd jokes(check out the kid's hairy palms), we finally meet the adult Leon(Oliver Reed) who sets off to work at a local vineyard and falls in love with the owner's daughter Cristina(Catherine Feller) and the story begins....at last.

Its' pretty much just a retread of "Romeo & Juliet' with elements of the 1941 universal film thrown in. The difference being that there we got to know and like Lon Chaney Jr's character. Here, we find out NOTHING about Leon, and what we do find out pretty much makes him come off as a jerk, yelling at Cristina and shaking her, even before he finds out that he's a werewolf and needs a woman's love to cure him. Cristina pretty much sees that Leon is little different from her controlling dad and obnoxious fiancée, but decides to give him a shot anyway(what girl could resist a young Ollie Reed?) Leon refuses to show some simple patience and instead goes to a brothel with his Benny Hill-like coworker Jose. Apparently being in a 'sinful' atmosphere awakens the beast in Leon, and he becomes a werewolf, Don Alfredo finds out, and you can guess the rest....

Oliver Reed is one of my favorite actors, but he doesn't get to do much here. We see or hear so little of Leon, and what we do makes him come off as an impatient jerk who is hard to pity. He does however, pull off the transformation scenes incredibly well, and as the werewolf, he's simply one of the coolest-looking monsters of all time. Larry Talbot couldn't escape a bear trap, Leon can rip a rip an iron prison cell down and chuck doors and bales of hay at people! The rest of the cast is competent, Clifford Evans is obviously disinterested, Hira Talfrey overacts badly as Teresa, and although she does a good job as Leon's mute mother, Yvonne Romaine has little screen time(despite prominent billing and poster art depicting her as Leon's love-interest!). Martin Matthews provides good comedy relief as Jose. Catherine Feller isn't believable as an object of affection for two handsome men, but she succeeds at evoking sympathy, and is the film's most pitiable character. The real standouts however, are Wordsworth and Dawson as the Beggar & Marquis. Both actors deserved better careers.

"Curse' isn't great, despite nice sets and cinematography, but it's great to pop in at Christmas time! Where else can you see a movie about Christmas with cruelty to the homeless, food wasting, leprotic lechers, a mute woman being raped, werewolves, drunk guys named Jose who kiss paper-cutouts, and 'Spaniards' who talk like Monty Python extras?

Hammer had already made films for Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, and The Mummy. Surely it was time for the werewolf, with this being the first furry horror film shot in color, as well as Oliver Reed's first starring role.

This wolf - Leon - has a wild origin story. His mother (Yvonne Romain, Devil Doll) was a mute jailer's daughter who was assaulted by a beggar who had the gall to complain at a nobelman's wedding and ends up imprisoned for 18 years. She had turned down the rich man herself and was sent to the dungeons, which caused her to be impregnated. Once released to "entertain" the nobleman, she kills him instead and runs into the forest.

She gives birth and dies. Because the beggar had died right after attacking her, that makes young Leon an orphan. He's raised by Don Alfredo Corledo and his housekeeper Teresa. As he was born on Christmas Day, that means that he's cursed to become a werewolf, already hunting for the blood of goats before he's even out of puberty.

Leon finds work in a winery, but become despondent when he realizes that his station in life will never allow him to marry the owner's daughter. When a co-worker takes him to a house of ill repute, his wolf nature comes out and he ends up killing one of the girls and his friend.

Too late, our hero learns that the love of a good woman can keep the wolf in check. Seriously, British werewolves are crazy, because you can become one without being bitten. You just need to not be born on December 25th. And man, if you're unlucky in love, people are going to get, well, wolfed down.

Eventually, Leon's adoptive father must make a silver bullet and take care of matters. All of this period drama longing seems to take forever to get to that transformation though. I remember this airing on UHF TV in my single digit years and just fiending for the moment that the man became wolf. It takes nearly sixty minutes of the movie's 93-minute run time before we get to see Reed go fully hirsute.

Before being released, the British Board of Film Classification gave Hammer Films this edict: This movie could either have scenes of sex or violence, but not both. So they went with violence.

The publicity shots for this and the images of Reed in full werewolf mode were pretty popular. The actual film doesn't live up to what was in my mind as a kid, but it's still pretty fun.

I liked this because it wasn't your standard Universal Studios werewolf movie.

First, it's set in Spain, not in Romania. The movie starts a bit slow as it's the origin story of how the werewolf is born and not via a gypsy curse. Then the boy's family and the priest are very sympathetic and even the werewolf begs them to kill him. This movie is so different. Even the ending where the werewolf, shot by his father, dies at the top of the church tower and does NOT transform back.

The only issue I had was the rape origin story and potential rape by the nobleman. The rape was tastefully done and over dramatic, but I felt it wasn't necessary.

I would recommend this movie to werewolf fans, but not to a general audience. The story is good, the direction is good (especially the shots of the moon), Oliver Reed is quite good, and all the pieces seem to be in place, but somehow it does not all add up the way it should.

For one thing, despite some eerie moments it is not a frightening film. This may be because the white-haired makeup job makes Reed look more like a child's stuffed animal than a vicious werewolf. There is also a big big mistake at the ending (SPOILER alert!) when Reed, after being killed at last, retains his werewolf form in death. How much more poignant to have him revert to his human form as her perishes - to underscore not the justice but the tragedy of the killing.