CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961) -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 6/5/21

 

Currently rewatching: THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961), starring Oliver Reed (GLADIATOR, PARANOIAC, TAKE A GIRL LIKE YOU, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, THE BROOD) and several other faces familiar to fans of Hammer Films.

It is, indeed, one of the premiere Hammer productions, providing that lush, picturesque, and theatrical-yet-visceral quality that makes the company's early films so unique.

Production design is first rate from the start, as we follow a starving beggar (Richard Wordsworth, THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT, THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN) from the streets of an unfriendly village to the opulent wedding celebration of sadistic Marques Siniestro (Anthony Dawson, DR. NO, DIAL M FOR MURDER), who ridicules the poor wretch for the amusement of his guests before throwing him into his dungeon to be forgotten.

 

 
The beggar befriends the daughter of the dungeon keeper, a young mute girl, but grows increasingly insane during his years of captivity. One day the girl herself is imprisoned for refusing the sexual advances of the Marques, whereupon she is then molested by the crazed old beggar.

She escapes and survives in the woods until, now with child, she is taken in by well-to-do doctor Alfredo (Clifford Evans, "The Avengers: Dial a Deadly Number"/"Death's Door", KISS OF THE VAMPIRE) and his kindly servant Teresa (Hira Talfrey, THE OBLONG BOX, WITCHFINDER GENERAL).

The screenplay by Hammer mainstay Anthony Hinds, based on the novel "The Werewolf of Paris" by Guy Endore, takes its sweet time developing this backstory for our main character--Leon, the servant girl's child--who isn't even born until roughly half an hour into the film. It's this kind of meticulous storytelling which, when done well, allows the viewer to settle into a story that is as engrossing as a 19th-century novel.

 

 
Plagued with various curses borne out by superstition (not the least of which is being an illegitimate child born on Christmas Day), Leon grows up to be a turbulent soul who must be surrounded by tranquility and love lest he transform, by the light of the full moon, into a ravenous, bloodthirsty beast possessed by the spirit of a wolf.

While Alfredo and Teresa provide such love during his childhood (his mother having died in childbirth), the adult Leon strikes out on his own and soon encounters a harsh, hostile world that brings his murderous wolf spirit to the fore.

THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF came four years after the film that made Hammer the horror giant that it became, 1957's CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (HORROR OF DRACULA would follow a year later), while the soon-to-be legendary British studio was still in its prime. 

 

 

 

Terence Fisher, arguably Hammer's finest director, lends his impeccable visual artistry to a film which also benefits from the kind of colorful photography, production design, and costuming that made Hammer films some of the most visually lavish of the era.

In the lead role, a strikingly intense young Oliver Reed could not be a stronger and better choice, physically imposing and demanding of our attention with his every move and expression.

Reed is completely effective whether struggling to suppress his savage instincts, clinging desperately to the calming influence of his beautiful but forbidden love Cristina (Catherine Feller, THE BELLES OF ST. TRINIAN'S), who is promised to another, or, finally, transforming (thanks largely to Roy Ashton's brilliant makeup) into what may be the fiercest, most terrifying screen werewolf of all time.

We never see this fearsome beast during its initial murderous rampages, but those scenes are so well-handled as to be effective even while withholding the monster's actual visage. 

 

 

This is reserved for his final transformation while imprisoned in a jail cell, as Leon's terrified cellmate witnesses his gradual change into the raging beast that will kill him before escaping to wreak havoc upon the town's panicked citizenry.

Also appearing are Hammer regulars Michael Ripper and Charles Woodbridge, future James Bond regular Desmond "Q" Llewelyn in a bit part as one of Marques Siniestro's footmen, and Warren Mitchell ("The Avengers: The See-Through Man"/"Two's A Crowd") as the village wolf hunter. Benjamin Frankel, who composed the music for the John Huston classic NIGHT OF THE IGUANA, provides a robust score.

With its rich atmosphere and thrilling monster, THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF was one of my childhood favorites, and it's still a full-blooded horror experience today. Along with CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, HORROR OF DRACULA, THE MUMMY, and a few others, it's one of Hammer's all-time best.