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| The Curse of the Werewolf | |
|---|---|
.jpg) UK theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Terence Fisher Jon Peverall (asst. dir.) |
| Written by | Anthony Hinds (credited as John Elder) |
| Based on | The Werewolf of Paris byGuy Endore |
| Produced by | Anthony Hinds Anthony Nelson-Keys Michael Carreras |
| Starring | Clifford Evans Oliver Reed Yvonne Romain Catherine Feller Richard Wordsworth Francis DeWolff Michael Ripper[1] |
| Cinematography | Arthur Grant Len Harris |
| Edited by | Alfred Cox |
| Music by | Benjamin Frankel |
Production companies | Hammer Film Productions Hotspur |
| Distributed by | Rank Release (UK) Universal-International (US) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 88 minutes[2] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Curse of the Werewolf is a 1961 Britishhorror film directed byTerence Fisher and starringClifford Evans,Oliver Reed andYvonne Romain.[3] It was based on the novelThe Werewolf of Paris byGuy Endore.[4] It was produced byAnthony Hinds forHammer Film Productions. Roy Ashton did Makeup, Les Bowie did Special Effects, Bernard Robinson was Production Designer and Thomas Goswell was the Art Director.
The leading part of the werewolf wasOliver Reed's first starring role in a film. ComposerBenjamin Frankel's score is notable for its use of twelve-toneserialism, rare in film music.[5] It was the first werewolf film to be shot in Technicolor.[6]
A beggar in18th-century Spain is imprisoned by the cruelmarqués Siniestro after making an inappropriate remark at the nobleman's wedding feast. The beggar is forgotten, and his sole human contact is with the jailer and hismute daughter. Lonely after having driven away his wife with his violent temper, the agingmarqués makes advances on the jailer's daughter while she is cleaning his room. When she refuses him, themarqués has her thrown into the beggar's cell. The beggar, driven mad by his long confinement and sporting wolf fur over most of his body, rapes her and then dies.
The jailer's daughter is released the next day and brought to themarqués. She kills themarqués and flees. She is found in the forest by the gentleman-scholar Don Alfredo Corledo, who lives alone with his housekeeper Teresa. Teresa is unable to treat her ailment, and the jailer's daughter dies after giving birth on Christmas Day.
Alfredo and Teresa raise the baby, whom they name Leon. Leon, cursed by the circumstances of his conception and by his Christmas Day birth, is a werewolf. A number of goats are found dead, their throats torn out, and Pepe Valiente, the watchman, fires a shot at what he believes to be a wolf. The next morning Teresa extracts a bullet from Leon, but he denies having gone out, having no memory of his doings as a werewolf. However, when Alfredo presses him, he recounts how on his first hunting trip he started licking a dead squirrel out of compassion and found he had a taste for blood.
Alfredo consults his priest, who concludes that Leon is a werewolf due to an evil spirit that has been with him since birth. Only by Leon loving others and being loved in return can the spirit be kept at bay. Alfredo resolves to give Leon all the love he needs, and installs steel bars on Leon's bedroom window to keep him from getting out again. The werewolf transformations cease, and a herder Dominique's dog is blamed for the earlier killings.
Thirteen years later, Leon leaves home to seek work at the Gomez vineyard. The vintner, Don Fernando, sets Leon to work in the wine cellar with Jose Amadeo, who becomes Leon's friend. Leon falls in love with Fernando's daughter, Cristina, who is betrothed to a nobleman. He carries on a love affair with her and attempts to persuade her to elope with him, but unwilling to leave her home, she refuses him. Despondent, Leon goes with Jose to a nearby brothel. He transforms and kills Vera, one of the girls, and Jose, before returning to Alfredo's house.
Alfredo and the priest fill Leon in on his werewolf nature. Certain that Cristina's love can prevent his transformation, he makes a last appeal for her to elope with him, and this time she agrees. While Cristina is packing, Leon is arrested on suspicion of murder due to his clothes having been found at the scene. He begs to be released and entrusted to the care of a monastery before he changes again, but the mayor Don Enrique does not believe him after Cristina fails to corroborate his story, not having been told he is a werewolf. Giving up hope, Leon urges Alfredo to use the silver bullet which Pepe made from a crucifix blessed by an archbishop in response to his childhood killings. His wolf nature rising to the surface, he breaks out of his cell, killing an old soak and the gaoler. The local people pursue Leon with torches but are unable to bring him down. Though torn with grief, Alfredo loads the silver bullet, shoots Leon dead, and tearfully covers his body with a cloak.
The film was shot atBray Studios inBerkshire[7] on sets that were constructed for the 1960 proposed Spanish Inquisition-themedThe Rape of Sabena, a film that was shelved when theBBFC objected to the script. While the original Guy Endore story took place inParis, the location of the film was moved toMadrid to avoid building new Parisian sets.
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It was released in May 1961 on a double feature bill withShadow of the Cat (1961), another Hammer film. Upon its initial release, the film was heavily censored in the UK, and a restored print was first aired on theBBC in 1993. While a premiere TV screening of the restored print had been planned to air onBBC2 on 31 October 1992, during theVault of Horror all-night marathon hosted by Dr. Walpurgis (played byGuy Henry; later named Dr. Terror), the censored version was aired by mistake.
The film was not as successful asHammer's previous horror films such asFrankenstein,Dracula, andThe Mummy.
Howard Thompson ofThe New York Times wrote that some of the colour photography was "beautiful", adding that "for a werewolf yarn this Hammer Production has aGothic type of narrative that is not uninteresting, if broadly acted".[8]
Harrison's Reports graded the film as "good," finding the production values "a big asset" although the review felt there was "not enough action".[9]
Variety called it "an outstanding entry of the horror picture genre. Although not a particularly frightening or novel story treatment of the perennial shock film topic (werewolves ranking second only to vampires in cinema), it is a first-class effort in other respects".[10]
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Even by Hammer standards, this is a singularly repellent job of slaughter-house horror... Surely the time has come when a film like this should be turned over to thealienists for comment; as entertainment its stolid acting, writing, presentation and direction could hardly be more preclusive".[11]
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In North America, the film was released on 6 September 2005 alongside seven other Hammer horror films on the 4-DVD setThe Hammer Horror Series (ASIN: B0009X770O), which is part ofMCA-Universal'sFranchise Collection. This set was re-released on Blu-ray on 13 September 2016. The film received an individual release with a new 4K scan in April 2020. The new release included a new commentary track by Steven Haberman, a featurette on the making of the film, make up artistRoy Ashton, "Lycanthrophy: The Beast in All of Us" and stills from the film. Furthermore, in some versions of the video, the mute girl (Yvonne Romain)'s father is the beggar (Richard Wordsworth) himself.
The film was adapted into a 15-page comic strip for the January 1978 issue of the magazineThe House of Hammer (volume 1, # 10, published byGeneral Book Distribution). It was drawn byJohn Bolton from a script bySteve Moore. The cover of the issue featured a painting byBrian Lewis as Leon in human and werewolf forms.
Many of the characters inJoe Dante's 1981 werewolf movieThe Howling are named after the directors of werewolf films.Belinda Balaski's character Terri Fisher is named forTerence Fisher.
The Curse of the Werewolf is also referred to obliquely inJohn Landis's 1981 werewolf movieAn American Werewolf in London when David Kessler (David Naughton) asks Alex Price (Jenny Agutter) "Did you ever seeThe Wolf Man?" and Alex replies, "Is that the one withOliver Reed?"
InMetal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, it's one of the many movies that Para-Medic (Heather Halley) recommends toNaked Snake (David Hayter).
