The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) Review

Known for its revival of the old horror franchises it was odd that only one stab was made at the werewolf subgenre by Hammer Films. Starring a novice actor named Oliver Reed and loosely based on a lurid bestselling novel of the 1930’s, it was something of a gamble. Fortunately for audiences, what they got was a portrayal of the warring sides of the human psyche and what I view as the best werewolf movie ever made.

Director Terence Fisher (Horror of Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein) was unquestionably Hammer’s go to guy when it came to directing reinventions of Universal’s old monster films. Adept at handling action, moody tension, and able to get serious performances out his actors, Fisher once again was called on when it was time to bring back the werewolf to the silver screen.

Adapted from a novel, Werewolf in Paris, the movie takes huge liberties with the source material and all for the better. The biggest change is in setting, which is moved to late 18th Century Spain. This is made very clear by the bold lettering that was considered so stylish at the time. After seeing how that screen capture turned out, I couldn’t resist using it. In fact, it’s the only reason for it to be in the review.

Time to get more serious and write about the story. But I still am amused by the screenshot.

All stories have a beginning and the prologue for one is longer than usual. Voiced over by an unseen narrator, the tale begins when a filthy beggar (Richard Wordsworth) makes his way into a town filled with the sounds of bells ringing. Knowing it isn’t Sunday, he inquires to discover it is a mandated holiday in celebration of the local noble’s wedding. From the disdain and fear the townsfolk show in equal amounts, it should have been adequate warning to the man that he should leave well enough alone.

However, the lure of possible charity leads him on a trek to the local castle where the marriage feast is already underway. Marques Siniestro (Anthony Dawson from Dr. No) is a very nasty piece of upper class work complete with a short temper and sadistic attitude toward the help. Even the doorman (Desmond Llewellyn aka Bond’s Q) tries to warn the beggar off, but it is too late for Siniestro has spied the feckless pauper.

Eager to have some fun at the expense of the beggar, he taunts the bewildered and not terribly intelligent man. Eventually he offers to buy the beggar to be his new bride’s pet dog, which the fool accepts eagerly. The pretty young wife (Josephine Llewellyn) tries to use her wiles to help the poor man, but to little avail.

Having nearly gotten away with his drunken behavior, a leering comment from the beggar seals his doom. He finds a new home in the dungeon of the castle, left there to be forgotten by all but the jailor and his mute daughter.

One of the better touches is the makeup employed to show the deterioration of the beggar. I noticed his teeth seemed too good in the party scenes, but sure enough they get progressively worse as also he grows more hirsute over the years.

His descent into a feral state is deftly portrayed with the passing of time. While befriending the mute girl, there is something creepy about his wordless flirtations with the child. In fact, there are a lot of hints of him being less a victim and more of a predator.

As children are wont to do, the mute girl grows up and in this case develops into a lovely young woman (Yvonne Romain). Too lovely for her own safety as the diseased and debauched Siniestro notices her. Looking like a ghastly Ebenezer Scrooge, the Marques attempts to molest her, but she is a feisty one who resists.

Her violent rejection is met with punishment, of course. Thrown into the dungeon until the mute’s more compliant, she’s raped by her “friend” before finding a way to exact bloody revenge on the nobleman. So far nothing but the dark side of human behavior has been shown, making the movie very grim.

Then something surprising happens, for a ray of light enters in the form of the previously unseen narrator, Don Alfredo Corledo. Played with warmth by Clifford Evans, the upper class gentleman stumbles upon the nearly drowned servant girl and rescues her. Aided by his devoutly Christian servant, Teresa (Hira Talfrey), he takes in the wretched girl to nurse her back to health.

It turns out the girl is pregnant, but there is a problem according to Teresa. She’s due to give birth around December 25th and according to folklore an unwanted child born then is cursed as an affront to Heaven. Sure enough, that’s when the boy is born only to have his mother expire shortly after. Oh and to make things worse, that Christmas is one with a full moon.

There are other signs of things not being right with the infant. Amongst them is the slight problem of the holy water in the baptismal font roiling when the local priest tries to dip his fingers into it. Credit has to be given to the man when he persists rather than freaking out and successfully performs the ceremony.

More time passes and the baby grows to be a lad who bears an eerie resemblance to Oliver Reed in a very nice bit of casting. Problems have arisen in the area due to a suspected wolf or dog tearing out the throats of goats. Assigned as the local warden or watchman, Pepe (Warren Mitchell) comes under a great deal of pressure to protect the local livestock.

His story is a secondary one that runs through a good chunk of the movie to its benefit. A very believable character and likeable soul, Pepe’s travails help ground the story in reality despite the supernatural core.  His attempt to kill the attacker results in a large blood trail that abruptly ends with no corpse in sight.

Shortly after, Don Corledo and Teresa make an awful discovery involving Leon that raises a lot of questions. Their concern for the boy is palpable and each goes off to investigate in their own way. While they do that, Pepe finds himself the equivalent of the boy who cried wolf with the townsfolk disbelieving his story.

Corledo consults the local priest (John Gabriel) who explains the basics of possession and rogue spirits. With gentle careing, he describes how under the right circumstances a spirit can enter the body of a newborn resulting in a battle between the soul of the child and the spirit. All that is carnal and bestial will strengthen the evil animal spirit. Conversely, the power of love is able to do the same for the soul.

Therefore the only cure for a werewolf is love and a child of Leon’s parentless circumstances will need even more than usual. Vowing to provide that, the Don makes preparations to save the boy from certain doom. It’s just in time, for the full moon has risen, the goats are being stalked again, and Pepe is now armed with a silver bullet.

Again time passes and we see that Leon (Oliver Reed) has been raised in a loving household and turned into a serious young man. It is time for him to seek his fortune in the world and so he ventures off in search of his first job. That he finds and more at a vinery run by Don Fernando (Ewen Solon) thanks to the Don’s pretty and very betrothed daughter, Cristina (Catherine Feller).

Soon engaged in wine bottling and an illicit affair with an unattainable girl, Leon is happy if frustrated. Fortunately he has a new friend and coworker, Jose (Martin Matthews) who has a plan to get rid of that frustration. Unfortunately, it involves going to a local bordello for a night of wine, women, and dance – not necessarily in that order.

Succumbing to Jose’s pressure to go, Leon finds himself very uncomfortable in the den of iniquity. Ignoring the blond whore procured for him and feeling unwell, he exits to find some fresh air. There he finds a full moon outside.

Fastened on to by another prostitute, Leon finds himself in a place he should not be. There her efforts to awaken the beast inside him succeed all to well and the killings begin…

Can true love save the tormented young man or will his own weaknesses be his undoing?

Thoughts

The Curse of the Werewolf is a morality fable, which is about as far away from the book it was based on as you could get. As I wrote earlier, this makes for a better story in my opinion. Instead of being a political commentary and descent into one grotesque perversion after another, the film is a depiction of the struggle between the animal side of our nature against the nobler human side.

This focus adds quite a punch to the third act and the events that unfold there. More on this can be found in the spoiler section below.

At the start of the film, the worst of human behavior is depicted with greed, sadism, weakness, and lust all present. Painting a dark and hopeless picture of the human conditions, it then changes gears for the middle of the tale by showing that there are truly good people in the world.

Don Corledo is a marvelous adoptive father as depicted in the scenes involving him and young Leon. An apparent bookworm and intellectual, we never get his backstory but his good nature shines forth with great warmth.

Providing a feminine touch, Teresa is the doting surrogate mother who may be superstitious and uneducated, but is a sharp cookie. Watch her scenes with Cristina in the final scenes of the movie and you’ll see some excellent acting.

Cristina is a sweet and strong young woman rebelling against being trapped into an arranged marriage to a true upper class twit. While the beginning of the romance is completely omitted, her commitment to Leon comes off as genuine and you can’t help but root for the moon crossed young lovers.

Pepe and his wife are also good people that I found myself getting very attached to. Believable is what they are and I’ve known many like them over the years. Watching the subtle interactions of the couple is one my favorite things in the movie, to my great surprise.

Finally, there is the unnamed priest. Rather than being the hellfire and brimstone or cowardly hypocrite normally found in horror movies, he’s another humane presence in the film. Knowledgeable, caring, and filled with mercy, he’s the character relied upon to explain what’s going on and voice of hope.

These excellent characters and terrific performances by the actors playing is what makes this film a cut above most horror films.

I suppose it is time to write about Oliver Reed’s debut performance. Truthfully, he’s a bit over the top, but it works since he’s playing a very sensitive and overly emotional character. Leon is unstable though his intentions are good and hiring someone with the personality of Reed was great casting.

Reed in reality was much like the beggar character in the beginning. A drunken womanizer always in search for a good time, he drank himself to death in a bar back in 2000. Sex and booze was what he lived for, which is pretty much describes the beast in Leon.

Using lust and dark emotions as triggers for the werewolf transformation rather than just a full moon was a brilliant idea that allowed for the exploration of the war between the animal and human in Leon’s soul. It also made him a much more interesting character than your average victim of a werewolf bite like in other flicks of the genre.

Paired with that is the theme of responsibility. Having to do what one should do is a repeated throughout and it is here that Leon achieves a form of nobility at the end. It’s a wonderfully adult story and not childish in the least.

This is not a movie for kids thanks to copious amounts of bright red blood and adult themes that while not explicitly stated are implied. The version I originally saw was the theatrical release and this DVD version has five minutes of restored content that was cut to appease censors of the time. Teens on up can handle it and I’d rate it as a PG-13 film due to what I listed before. No profanity or nudity is to be found, unless you count a topless and pasty Oliver Reed.

I recommend the film to Hammer Films fans, werewolf aficionados, horror movie buffs, and those who enjoy an intelligent parable about the internal struggle with human nature. Curse of the Werewolf is my favorite Hammer movie, so I think highly of it.

Technical

The copy of Curse of the Werewolf I have is part of Universal Studios’ The Hammer Horror Series set. Consisting of eight movies on two double sided DVDs, the quality is better than expected given that it is wedged in as half of one side of a disc.While I’m happy to own the film and the others in the set, I worry about the durability of the discs since I’ve never been a fan of flip DVDs.

The discs are held in fragile clear plastic holders glued to cardstock that unfolds to give a synopsis for each movie. A slipcase with a printed clear front makes for a nice three dimensional effect and the looks of the packaging outclass the quality of its materials.

So how does the movie look despite only taking up approximately 4 GB of space on the disc? Far better than it should, I’m happy to report. Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, it has good contrast and vivid colors. Both are musts for showing off Hammer’s sets and costumes which were quite colorful.

However, this is a digitally remastered movie, not restored. This means that there are specks, scratches, and other artifacts present. Thankfully, I did not detect any obvious compression induced artifacts.

Sound is good and in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. All the grunts, growls, and screams come through perfectly as does the quiet dialogue and dramatic score.

There are no extras.

BEWARE! HERE BE SPOILERS!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The stunned reactions of Don Corledo and Leon after his first adult rampage were well played. I particularly liked how the camera followed Corledo while he wandered around Leon’s room trying to absorb what was happening. Subtly, the bent in iron bars are never mentioned, just shown.

Leon’s freak out at the news he’s a werewolf was very angsty. But if I awakened with blood on my hands with no memory of what had happened, I’d be more than a little on edge myself.

The brief moment of composure where he thanked the priest for not revealing his secret to others over the years was a nice touch. Of course he flips out at the suggestion of being chained up and ruins it.

The night spent with Cristina proved the priest’s old prediction right: the true love of a young woman could cure him. Leon’s panic and frantic effort to chase her off was one of Reed’s better scenes.

When their plan to run off and elope is foiled by his arrest, Leon decides to do the right thing and ask to be executed immediately. Responsibility as a theme is at its strongest here. Also adding to it is the skeptical magistrates questioning and refusal to order the execution based on a conspicuous lack of evidence along with Cristina’s testimony of his normality.

Pity the old sot stuck in the cell with the sun setting, he never had a chance. It’s an atmospheric shot that I thought was striking.

It was an interesting decision to save the transformation for the final minutes of the film. Starting with the hands and using time lapse photography was also a nice nod to the 1940’s The Wolfman.

The reveal of his appearance was worth the wait. Instead of looking like the dog faced boy, Leon’s appearance is closer to a gargoyle as foreshadowed in the baptism scene. A plausible mix of beast and man, it may look quaint to those used to the more lupine humanoids introduced in movies like The Howling. I think this is more realistic, if such a term can be used for a film like this.

Reed was always a physical actor, so the scene of his breaking out of the jail looked very convincing. It also demonstrated the immense strength of the werewolf. Listen for the whimpering of the jailor before he dies, it is a chilling touch.

My favorite line of the movie comes from the chastened magistrate, “It is as you said.” When’s the last time you heard an admission like that out of a government official?

Leon’s roaming the rooftops of the village was another nod to the gargoyle reflected in the font. The beast’s fear of the assembled mob again felt plausible, for he was a mindless animal showing no signs of human intelligence.

I liked the burning hay bale part and thought it was a very well done stunt.

Cornered in the belfry, Leon barks and snarls at the villagers. The fact that he didn’t sound just like a wolf or dog, but like a human trying to sound like one is another thing I felt added to the plausibility.

When a villager gets clever and rings the bells, Leon’s total panic betrays not a hint of humanity. Neither does his attempt to attack his father, who dispatches the tortured soul with Pepe’s silver bullet in a realistically bloody scene. The death throws of the werewolf were like that of a wild animal too.

The theme of responsibility comes to its necessary conclusion at the end. A grieving father has to kill his son and it’s a sobering moment made sadder by the turning over of the body for a last look at his face.

Leon’s blue eyes are the only human part of his body and I suspect the original intent was for Reed to wear brown contacts while as the werewolf so that this would have more impact. If the opening credits are any indication, the hard contacts were just too uncomfortable to wear.

The last shot of the film says everything without any need for dialogue. No exposition or narration is used and the events speak for themselves. Not a happy ending.