The Curse of the Werewolf

1961 "HALF-MAN... HALF-WOLF... COMPELLED BY THE HIDEOUS CURSE OF HIS EVIL BIRTH TO DESTROY - EVEN THOSE WHO LOVED HIM!"
6.5| 1h33m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 07 June 1961 Released
Producted By: Universal Pictures
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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A child conceived by a mute servant girl transforms from an innocent youth to a killer beast at night with uncontrollable urges.

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Director

Terence Fisher

Production Companies

Universal Pictures

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The Curse of the Werewolf Audience Reviews

WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.
Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable
ShangLuda Admirable film.
Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
Prichards12345 Curse of The Werewolf marks the beginning of a slight decline in the quality of Hammer's "Golden Age" horror output. It's a good film in its own right, with some very effective scare sequences; but the script also meanders too much, has some fine British character actors looking a bit uncomfortable playing Spanish peasants and also lacks the plush visuals Jack Asher used to bestow on their prior movies.Ollie Reed allegedly visited the pub in Bray village in his lunch hour in full werewolf make-up - and no one batted an eyelid! Reed himself is very good in his first Hammer starring vehicle; it's often forgotten amidst all his hilarious hell-raising that he was a fine actor, and the role of Leon is a useful vehicle for his talents.This actually feels like an origin story for a character intended to appear in a series of movies, as the attention to detail in showing how Leon developed his condition is perhaps a bit too much for a single film; but the opening scenes with the beggar and Marques are powerful and compelling. Indeed thanks to the farrago over Peeping Tom Hammer got into trouble with the censor over these scenes - somewhat of an irony as they were always careful to work closely with the BBFC at every stage of production.You have to admire some of the bravura horror scenes here - the five year old Leon frantically tugging at the bars on his window to escape his confinement - the murder of the prostitute - Leon changing in the prison cell to his werewolf form to the astonishment of Michael Ripper. All these are handled superbly, as is Leon's baptismal scene, the latter landing Hammer in hot water again with the censor.Director Terence Fisher tries to work in a tragic love story - a theme of his he was very keen to develop in his horror movies at the time. It does add to the story here, but he was to work it less effectively in Phantom of The Opera and The Gorgon.Curse of The Werewolf remains an enjoyable horror film, and, after he once drank 126 pints in 24 hours, the modern viewer can derive much amusement from watching Ollie having to be coerced into going to the pub!
Theo Robertson On the surface this could easily be dismissed as just another hammy Hammer horror film and to a degree does contain many of the trademarks . Let's see now Monster - check Most foreigners are dangerous scum - check Inherited wealth and social standing equals cruel sadism - checkMost young woman have big boobs - check You can't help thinking if Benny Hill was a communist he'd be making Hammer horrors as propaganda films and despite as insane as it sounds this is exactly how much of THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF plays out and yet the film does it brilliantly . Class division and a slightly conscious mild xenophobia are in evidence and yet that is what makes this film one of the studio's finest productions . It might be tame today but there's more to it than Oliver Reed putting on a furry mask and false teeth The story is probably best in the first third set in 18th Century Spain where a begger arrives at the wedding reception of the local Marques who after publicly humiliating the begger has him thrown in to the dungeon below the castle . Years pass and the jailer's daughter is imprisoned and becomes a rape victim of the begger . This section illustrates very well a running theme of Hammer horrors where the European locale is hostile to outsiders and positively cruel towards any sort of underclass , and you think perhaps this film might be a firm favourite with Marx . Lenin and Orwell . The cast are very good in these scenes especially Richard Wordsworth as the begger and Anthony Dawson as the Marques who plays the role with shades of Franco If there's a problem with any of this it is that the rest of the film pales in comparison and a film that has Werewolf in the title we don't see much werewolf action . Oliver Reed is .... well no prizes for guessing the first thing you think off when the late legend is mentioned and it is amusing that his character Leon is sent away to work in a vineyard and in some scenes it looks like Reed might have been sampling the goods a bit too much . That said he does have presence and brings a pathos to Leon that is always needed in a character who is cursed by lycanthropy This is a very good film from the Hammer Studios , a company that high brow critics often scoff at but whose output was very popular with the British public , possibly because the films appeal to the working class " little Englander " mentality and it's probably this post war Briton world view that makes the film so enjoyable
GL84 After deciding to venture out onto his own, a man finds himself suffering from a deadly curse that turns him into a ravenous werewolf and must seek the help of his father and his lover in order to keep his affliction dormant before he kills again.This here turned out to be quite a flawed and wholly uninspiring werewolf effort. One of the major flaws here is the film's terrible pacing that leaves this one utterly, terribly disjointed, as the opening prologue that explains his condition taking over a half-hour to be revealed for what it really is before we get any sense of what's supposed to be going on with our following the royal and his treatment of the girl before the birth, which afterwards imparts another big flaw in the fact that this one doesn't really have much in the way of a true werewolf. There's none of the mysticism, folklore or anything imparted upon this one, and it's really hard to determine why a werewolf was needed in here as this could've easily been another creature inserted into the story without any difficulty or much change. As well, with the creature only on-screen for two sequences, it's really hard to get much fear out of it, although both of those scenes are pretty fun including the usual finale where it really lets the action fly with a superb sequence of it running amok through the town. Still, it's not enough to overcome the flaws here.Today's Rating/PG: Violence and talk of a rape.
trashgang I was so afraid of plugging this in. Not of being scared but movies coming from the fifties and sixties aren't my thing. The effects used were laughable. I rather would go for those old Universal flicks or even Nosferatu (1922). But two reason made me buy this flick. Terence Fisher and Hammer Horror. I guess I don't have to introduce both names to the geeks of the genre. Terence really delivered the best Hammer flicks. Strangely, it took awhile before this flick got a proper release and finally in 2012 it got a DVD release. The story reminded me a lot of The Wolf Man (1941) but this is really enjoyable to watch. I was never bored with the story. But it's the way it was directed by Terence and the use of lighting that gave it a creepy atmosphere, I would even say a Gothic feeling. The effects used are very low, it was all done in a way the camera was used. So you really doesn't see the werewolf changing and that's were this still works up to today. The only effects I was surprised by is the way they used the red stuff. it isn't gory of course but when the werewolf is being shot the blood do sputter out of his body.I can't go in on the way the acting went because acting back then was more theatrically then nowadays but one name I looked at closely, Oliver Reed. Oliver played the werewolf and he did great. This was a flick at the beginning of his career (1958) and his first leading role, just look what he did here. He really looked believable and you could care for him. He went further to make classics like for example The Brood (1979). Sadly it went downwards with him due his drinking problems and he past away in 1999 while shooting for The Gladiator. One to surely watch not only for the directing but also for Reed's performance. Classic.Gore 1/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5