BLOOD WORK: HALLOWEEN HORROR DAYS ~ DAY 12: CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961)

We're dropping the Hammer once more with the 1961 British film THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF. From HAMMER Studios, this film is another entry in their list of reinventions of the classic monster movies of 1930's Hollywood. Starring the great Oliver Reed in his first leading role and directed by horror maestro Terence Fisher. Hardly the first werewolf movie in existence, far from it, but it was the first film adaptation of Guy Endore's classic 1933 novel THE WEREWOLF OF PARIS. You'd think the 1935 film WEREWOLF OF LONDON or even the 1941 movie THE WOLF MAN may have been based off the book, especially with the titles being so similar, but no.

Werewolf movies are some of the most interesting monster movies out there because they require a lot more than just a knife or a pair of fangs. Werewolf movies, whether they're good or not, survive solely on the werewolf design. Everybody remembers AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON or THE HOWLING. Remember the movie BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE? Congratulations! Not many do. That's far from the worst of them too. But the look and design of the werewolf and to a major degree the transformation scene too are the most critical parts to these films. Anybody can be a vampire and sparkle. A werewolf? Even movies with a nice size budget and special effects have failed.

THE PLOT (spoilers)

The movie takes place in 18th century Spain. A beggar wanders into a small village lorded over by a selfish cruel nobleman. The beggar knocks upon the nobleman's door during a wedding reception. The nobleman, the Marques Siniestro, brings the beggar inside, forces him to humiliate himself in front of all the other nobles, and treats him like a filthy animal. Afterwards he locks the beggar up in the dungeons and forgets about him for years. The jailer and the jailer's daughter who bring him food everyday are his only contacts with humans.

Conception of the beast. The feral beggar attacks the jailer's daughter.

More years pass. The jailer dies and his daughter, now a beautiful young woman, takes care of the beggar. For all these years the beggar has lived in the single jail cell with rats and spiders and flies, wallowing in his own filth, and slowly going mad. One day the Marques, now old and decrepit, attempts to rape the jailer's daughter. When she fights back the Marques has her tossed in the dungeon, in the same jail cell as the now mentally deranged beggar. The beggar, now more of a wild animal than a man, succeeds in raping her, beating her, and ripping her skin with his claws. After brutalizing her the beggar's old heart gives out and he falls down dead.

The jailer's daughter is let out of the dungeon, kills the Marques and escapes, and tries to drown herself in the lake. A man by the name of Alfredo pulls her from the lake and he and his wife nurse her back to health. Nine months later the jailer's daughter dies giving birth to a demon child born of violence, hate, and death. What's more the child is born on Christmas, an insult to God and Christ. Alfredo and his wife raise the child as their own naming him Leon. From the start they can tell there is something wrong with the child. As Leon ages this darkness within him grows stronger, boiling to a head during the full moon, transforming him into the likeness of a demon beast from Hell. Is there any hope for Leon or is he as much a part of this monster as the curse itself? Is he one of the eternally damned?

THE GOOD

The movie is surprisingly violent and cruel for an early 60's monster movie, almost as if director Terence Fisher didn't see it as merely a B horror film. The origin of this werewolf is unique too. The film goes into a fairly extensive origin sequence which is actually more violent and disturbing than the rest of the film and very interesting. In fact, one could use this story as the tale of the first werewolf, where the curse came from to begin with. In most cases of werewolf movies the curse is passed from a preexisting werewolf and we are typically never told where it originated.

The werewolf design in this movie is both reminiscent of the older werewolf films like that The Wolf Man and Werewolf of London but brings a more modern edge to the look. This design is scarier and more realistic than any werewolf make-up effects or costumes before it. Also the addition of blood, as was a staple of Hammer's horror films, again adds another degree of intensity and reality to the film and the werewolf.

And then of course there is the technical perfection of the film. One of the strengths of Hammer horror films are the convictions of the men and women behind the camera and those in front. All of them take what most would consider B films extremely serious and that feeling translates to the screen. It's this dedication that allows these films to rise above the genre conventions of merely being schlock to becoming true classics. Director Terence Fisher is a big reason why this movie goes beyond its B-movie monster brethren along with actor Oliver Reed delivering a truly memorable performance.

THE BAD

Oliver Reed and Yvonne Romain never actually appear on screen together in the film

I touched on it briefly earlier. The opening narrative where we see the origin of the werewolf is both subtly disturbing and in your face horrific. It is a major highlight of the film. But once we get past that and Leon has supposedly suppressed the beast inside the movie slows down considerably. There is a lengthy period where it seems the werewolf inside is gone for good. The movie becomes considerably less interesting in this segment. It picks up again once the werewolf resurfaces but by that time the movie is ramping up towards the climax. As a result we only really have one major sequence with the werewolf. If I had one wish it would be that we would get one more sequence with the monster. But as was the way with some of the best monster films of old "less is more."

THE VERDICT

John Bolton's comic book adaptation of The Curse of the Werewolf

It's my personal opinion that there are very few actually good werewolf movies out there. Either plagued by poor production value, low budget, bad acting, or a terrible monster design, quality werewolf movies are hard to come by. Curse of the Werewolf is a wonderful example of how a good werewolf movie should look. Far more effective than any werewolf film before it and still better than many that have come after it. The beginning of the film is far more brutal and twisted than you'd expect from 1961, a film ahead of its time. Lon Chaney Jr's The Wolf Man and Henry Hull's Werewolf of London may be classics but this film marks a major step forward for the genre.