HOME |  CULT MOVIES | COMPETITIONS | ADVERTISE |  CONTACT US |  ABOUT US
 
 
 
Newest Reviews
American Fiction
Poor Things
Thunderclap
Zeiram
Legend of the Bat
Party Line
Night Fright
Pacha, Le
Kimi
Assemble Insert
Venus Tear Diamond, The
Promare
Beauty's Evil Roses, The
Free Guy
Huck and Tom's Mississippi Adventure
Rejuvenator, The
Who Fears the Devil?
Guignolo, Le
Batman, The
Land of Many Perfumes
Cat vs. Rat
Tom & Jerry: The Movie
Naked Violence
Joyeuses Pacques
Strangeness, The
How I Became a Superhero
Golden Nun
Incident at Phantom Hill
Winterhawk
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Maigret Sets a Trap
B.N.A.
Hell's Wind Staff, The
Topo Gigio and the Missile War
Battant, Le
Penguin Highway
Cazadore de Demonios
Snatchers
Imperial Swordsman
Foxtrap
   
 
Newest Articles
3 From Arrow Player: Sweet Sugar, Girls Nite Out and Manhattan Baby
Little Cat Feat: Stephen King's Cat's Eye on 4K UHD
La Violence: Dobermann at 25
Serious Comedy: The Wrong Arm of the Law on Blu-ray
DC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery and More on Blu-ray
Monster Fun: Three Monster Tales of Sci-Fi Terror on Blu-ray
State of the 70s: Play for Today Volume 3 on Blu-ray
The Movie Damned: Cursed Films II on Shudder
The Dead of Night: In Cold Blood on Blu-ray
Suave and Sophisticated: The Persuaders! Take 50 on Blu-ray
Your Rules are Really Beginning to Annoy Me: Escape from L.A. on 4K UHD
A Woman's Viewfinder: The Camera is Ours on DVD
Chaplin's Silent Pursuit: Modern Times on Blu-ray
The Ecstasy of Cosmic Boredom: Dark Star on Arrow
A Frosty Reception: South and The Great White Silence on Blu-ray
You'll Never Guess Which is Sammo: Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon on Blu-ray
Two Christopher Miles Shorts: The Six-Sided Triangle/Rhythm 'n' Greens on Blu-ray
Not So Permissive: The Lovers! on Blu-ray
Uncomfortable Truths: Three Shorts by Andrea Arnold on MUBI
The Call of Nostalgia: Ghostbusters Afterlife on Blu-ray
Moon Night - Space 1999: Super Space Theater on Blu-ray
Super Sammo: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son on Blu-ray
Sex vs Violence: In the Realm of the Senses on Blu-ray
What's So Funny About Brit Horror? Vampira and Bloodbath at the House of Death on Arrow
Keeping the Beatles Alive: Get Back
   
 
  Curse of the Werewolf He was known as the Wild One
Year: 1961
Director: Terence Fisher
Stars: Clifford Evans, Oliver Reed, Yvonne Romain, Catherine Feller, Peter Sallis, Hira Talfrey, John Gabriel, Warren Mitchell, Ewen Solon, David Conville, Anthony Dawson, Desmond Llewelyn, Richard Wordsworth
Genre: Horror, Drama, Romance, FantasyBuy from Amazon
Rating:  7 (from 2 votes)
Review: Having revitalized Dracula, Frankenstein and the Mummy, a werewolf picture was the logical next step for Hammer Films. Based on the novel “The Werewolf of Paris” by Guy Endore, Curse of the Werewolf was relocated to 18th century Spain to make use of sets built for a Hammer movie called The Inquisitor, which was abandoned following objections from the Catholic church. Benjamin Frankel’s score thunders as mightily as anything by James Bernard, as credits zoom in for a close-up on Oliver Reed’s scary eyes.

Whereas a writer like Jimmy Sangster might have cut to the chase, producer/scriptwriter Anthony Hinds (working under his usual “John Elder” pseudonym) dawdles over a lengthy, elaborate setup. However, this ranks among the best acted Hammer movies, while Terence Fisher's direction musters sympathy for all involved in an affecting back-story. A forlorn beggar (Richard Wordsworth) wanders into town in search of food, only to suffer imprisonment at the cruel and capricious hands of Marquis Siniestro (Anthony Dawson). Years later, the Marquis takes a fancy to his mute servant girl (gorgeous Yvonne Romain), whom he imprisons after she spurns his advances. The now-crazed beggar rapes the girl, who stabs the Marquis and escapes to the villa of Don Alfredo Corledo (Clifford Evans).

Kindly Don Alfredo and his housekeeper Teresa (Hira Talfrey) embody the compassion and warmth that enhance the tragic nature of what follows. After the girl dies in childbirth (poor soul couldn’t catch a break, could she?), the pair raise her infant son whose arrival is heralded by a thunderclap and howling wolf. As if that weren’t enough, his christening makes holy water boil. Young Leon can’t stand the sight of blood, but during a full moon sprouts fur and fangs to gnash goats and kittens or gnaw at the bars around his bedroom window. However, thanks to his foster parents’ tender loving care, he eventually grows into strapping Oliver Reed. Unaware of his lycanthropic heritage, Leon ventures into the wide world, but the lure of the full moon is too strong to resist.

Although it's forty-five minutes before Oliver Reed appears onscreen, this film made him a star. He glowers and snarls magnificently under Roy Ashton’s scary makeup, but also conveys vulnerability, brooding like a lycanthropic James Dean. Terence Fisher indulges his usual preoccupation with monstrous sexuality, as cavorting with bar girls spurs Leon to more murderous activities, yet he remains a sympathetic figure, as is traditional with werewolves. The plot turns on his redemptive romance with Cristina (Catherine Feller), but when things go awry he spurns the girl he loves for her own protection and - in a moving scene - urges Don Alfredo to kill rather than confine him to a monastery.

Catholicism mixes with superstition in the somewhat muddled theory of a “weakened soul” prone to influence by the “cycles of the moon”. Much of this metaphysical blather makes no sense on a theological level, but the core idea of true love being a force for redemption retains its power. It lacks pace compared to Fisher’s previous films, but the werewolf attacks make good use of unsettling sound effects and Ollie’s freaky facial expressions. The sets are impressively grand and the cinematography by Arthur Grant is among the finest in any Hammer horror. Things builds to a rousing climax where the werewolf rampages across the church rooftop and flings flaming bales of hay at screaming villagers. Sounds like your typical night on the tiles for Oliver Reed. Connoisseurs of British character actors should keep an eye out for Warren Mitchell as the huntsman with a silver bullet, Michael Ripper as a tavern drunk, the erstwhile “Q” Desmond Llewellyn as a servant, and Peter Sallis who forty years later would tackle a very different lycanthropic menace in Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005).

Click here for the trailer

Reviewer: Andrew Pragasam

 

This review has been viewed 10318 time(s).

As a member you could Rate this film

 
Review Comments (1)


Untitled 1

Login
  Username:
 
  Password:
 
   
 
Forgotten your details? Enter email address in Username box and click Reminder. Your details will be emailed to you.
   

Latest Poll
Which star probably has psychic powers?
Laurence Fishburne
Nicolas Cage
Anya Taylor-Joy
Patrick Stewart
Sissy Spacek
Michelle Yeoh
Aubrey Plaza
Tom Cruise
Beatrice Dalle
Michael Ironside
   
 
   

Recent Visitors
Mary Sibley
Enoch Sneed
Darren Jones
Mark Le Surf-hall
  Louise Hackett
Andrew Pragasam
Graeme Clark
  Desbris M
   

 

Last Updated: