The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

Hammer earned its horror reputation by breathing life back into many of the old Universal horror monsters.  With the advantage of being made in color and with less fear of censorship than before the movies became quite popular on both sides of the Atlantic.  They also introduced a whole range of British actors that would find popularity worldwide.

The one monster that was overlooked - and that seems to be a pattern - is the Wolf Man.  Whether it was a rights issue or just a lack of interest in remaking The Wolf Man, Hammer never brought Larry Talbot back to life.  The studio did, in 1961, attempt to bring their own wolf man to the big screen and, though not a big hit at the time, The Curse of the Werewolf is now considered one of the studio's classic films.

A beggar (Richard Wordsworth) visits a small Spanish town on the wedding day of the Marques Siniestro (Anthony Dawson) and, for the crime of asking the Marques for charity, is imprisoned.  A mute servant girl (Yvonne Romain) takes pity on him but also falls victim to the Marques's whims and, while imprisoned with the beggar for a night, is raped by her former ward who has now gone insane.  After being released she escapes and is taken in by Don Alfredo Corrido (Clifford Evans) and his servant Teresa (Hira Talfrey).  She gives birth to a son, Leon, on December 25, before dying.

Teresa warns that a baby born on that day would be cursed by God, and true to form strange things happen.  With the help of the village priest (John Gabriel) Don Corrido and Teresa are able to curb the thing that possesses young Leon (Justin Walters), who after the troubles pass grows up without incident.  As a young man (Oliver Reed) he leaves to make his way in the world and begins a secret affair with Christina (Catherine Feller), his boss's daughter.  However, being away from his parents brings out the other side of him as well, and soon the change comes over him under the full moon.

The Curse of the Werewolf is based on Guy Endore's novel The Werewolf of Paris.  The reason for the Spanish setting instead of Paris is because producer Michael Carreras had been set to make a movie about the Spanish Inquisition but, with threats of censorship due to various Catholic organizations abandoned the project.  I don't fault him for this as the sets are quite impressive and there was no reason for them to go to waste. 

This particular entry is story-heavy, so much so that the actual werewolf action doesn't happen until about the last half hour.  Oliver Reed, the star of the movie, is barely in half of it.  Director Terence Fisher had been told that he could have sex or violence in the movie, but not both, so he chose the latter.  It was still trimmed by about five minutes by the British censors, and even more when Universal distributed it in the U.S.  The good news is current cuts feature the uncensored version and many of the effects, including Reed's makeup as the werewolf, are quite impressive for the time.

Being as centered on the story as it is Fisher did a good job directing it and the cast is quite impressive.  Anthony Hinds adapted the story from the novel and lends a sort of dark fairy tale feel to the proceedings.  Reed gives a great performance, but so does Anthony Dawson as the evil Marques and Yvonne Romain, although she remains mute throughout.  It is too bad that, although this movie would not have leant itself to sequels, that Hammer didn't at some point revisit the werewolf legend, as even after all these years they are underrepresented in horror films.  It's a good thing that the one they did is one of the best examples. 

The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

Time: 93 minutes

Starring: Oliver Reed, Clifford Evans, Catherine Feller, Hira Talfrey, Yvonne Romain, Richard Wordsworth

Director: Terence Fisher