The Curse of the Werewolf

If you like period piece movies with rich colors and interesting set pieces then look no further. If you like movies that aren’t mostly dull then look somewhere else.

It’s a Hammer film through and through which for me is rather blah, but brings out enormous sentiment from the legions of fans that support the films made by the famous studio.

The most interesting piece of this film is the explanation of how werewolves come to be. If you think about, this isn’t clarified in a great many films about the subject, outside of the bitten by another werewolf standard.

A beggar is tossed into prison where he eventually gets the chance to rape a hot large breasted woman. The woman is promptly impregnated by the beggar. This was odd because the beggar seemed like a good enough guy and the woman was the only one who ever helped him. Just a thought, if this is the way werewolves are made, wouldn’t there be heaps of them running around?

She dies while giving birth and her son is raised a nobleman. The catch being that he is actually a werewolf. So there you have it, the original werewolf.

The werewolf struggles with his condition which is the focus of most of the story, and this is most certainly a story driven film. The groundwork is laid for what seems like an eternity compared to contemporary flicks. This leads to some dull moments that slow the film down and keep it from being truly memorable.

Oliver Reed is the werewolf and plays his part as the tortured soul well. The cinematography and score are well done, which is to be expected with most Hammer films.

Hammers only foray into the werewolf genre proved to be a mixed bag. The film is rather boring with way too much exposition early in the film to make for an enjoyable watch.

Snore Factor ZZZ

IMDB 1961