The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

Director:

Terence Fisher

Writers:

Guy Endore (novel)
Anthony Hinds (writer)

Release Date:

7 June 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Romance

Tagline:

EVEN THOSE WHO LOVED HIM WERE NOT SAFE! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

In Spain, Leon is born on Christmas day to a mute servant girl who was raped by a beggar. His mother...

Plot Keywords:

Werewolf | Love | Moon | Beggar | Servant

Cast

Clifford Evans	...	Don Alfredo Corledo
Oliver Reed	...	Leon Corledo
Yvonne Romain	...	Servant Girl (Jailer's Daughter)
Catherine Feller	...	Cristina Fernando
Anthony Dawson	...	Marques Siniestro
Josephine Llewellyn	...	Marquesa
Richard Wordsworth	...	Beggar
Hira Talfrey	...	Teresa, Corledo's Servant
Justin Walters	...	Young Leon
John Gabriel	...	Priest
Warren Mitchell	...	Pepe Valiente the Watchman
Anne Blake	...	Rosa Valiente
George Woodbridge	...	Dominique the Goat Herder
Michael Ripper	...	Old Soak
Ewen Solon	...	Don Fernando

Also Known As:

The Curse of Siniestro
The Wolfman (USA)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:(Banned) (1961) | France:-12 | UK:12 (video rating) (1995) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Trivia:

The only werewolf movie made by Hammer Studios.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the opening credits, which features a very tight close-up of the werewolf's eyes, the edges of the contact lenses can be clearly seen.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Wolfman Chronicles (1991)

A superb addition to the cinematic annals of lycanthrope

A modest werewolf "epic" that never feels formulaic in the hands of director Terence Fisher and writer Anthony Hinds. The film is one of Hammer's most accomplished and deals with the subject of lycanthrope with some imagination. Young Leon (Justin Walters), the consequence of a rape, is born with what appears to be a dormant werewolf gene that is awakened when he tastes the warm, "sweet" blood of a bird. Unable to resist his true nature, he starts killing livestock in a small rural community. His juvenile rampage doesn't last long because the local priest (John Gabriel) identifies his condition and encourages his adopted parents to shower him with love and affection, convinced that it is love that will keep the boy's desires at bay. Clearly, the priest's faith in love is not misplaced, because, ten year's later, the adult Leon (nicely played by Oliver Reed), who has just left home, is only a wolf with the women. He falls hard for the daughter of his employer, but when he is deprived of her love, his lycanthrope surfaces and the killings begin again, only this time he leaves the livestock alone.

The film is a character drama in werewolf clothing, and, though it references genre classics such as "The Wolfman", "The Werewolf of London", and even "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" in its climax, it is still very much its own animal. There is a welcome depth to the performances and Reed's acceptance of his condition and desire to be destroyed gives the piece a fine sense of tragedy.

Unlke the genre films of today, which make this feel like something made on another planet, "The Curse of the Werewolf" really takes its time to establish a solid foundation for its horror and is a refreshing product of far less cynical times in which human warmth was seen as essential, not "uncool".

The last shot, in my opinion, is flawed. When the dead werewolf is flipped onto his side by his adopted father, he is not shown, in death, as having returned to his former state as represented by Oliver Reed.

A fine achievement.