Review: Curse of the Werewolf

Set in 18^th Century Spain, Richard Wordsworth plays a poor beggar who begs at the feet of the cruel Marquis Siniestro (Anthony Dawson), and is thrown in jail for his troubles. Years pass and the beggar’s humanity all but evaporates, resulting in him forcing himself on a mute servant girl (the pretty Yvonne Romain), imprisoned herself for refusing the Marquis’ sexual advances. After the beggar subsequently dies, the servant girl ends up managing to escape the Marquis’ castle and is taken in by the kindly Don Alfredo Carrido (Clifford Evans). She subsequently gives birth to a boy and dies herself shortly after. Don Alfredo raises the boy as his own, calling him Leon. However, he eventually learns that Leon is no ordinary boy, he has strange animalistic tendencies…animalistic tendencies that only become more prominent in adulthood (with Leon now played by Oliver Reed).

 

Hammer Studios basically doing their stab at “The Wolf Man”, and only just managing to make the grade. This 1961 film from director Terence Fisher (“The Horror of Dracula”, “The Revenge of Frankenstein”, “The Mummy”, “The Gorgon”) and screenwriter Anthony Hinds (“Captain Clegg”, “Rasputin – The Mad Monk”) gets a recommendation from me, but it’s never as good as it could or should be. I mean, Hammer Studios making a werewolf movie with Oliver Reed? How does that not result in one of their classics?

 

Well, that’s the thing. Reed is terrific but the film takes 30 minutes to even turn into a werewolf film and Reed himself only shows up after 48 minutes into this 90 minute film. That’s simply too slow and too long, and I couldn’t look past it no matter how entertaining the film we’re given is. Early on we get a terrific, nasty ham turn by Anthony Dawson as a most rotten aristocrat, basically stealing the whole film if you ask me. Certainly the first 20 minutes at least, and he’s clearly having a high old time. However, the true lead here is actually Clifford Evans who plays the adopted father of the character who will become our wolf man. Evans has a likeable David Tomlinson vibe to him, but isn’t playing the character we came here to see. Also, if his character only meets Yvonne Romain’s mute servant girl after 20 minutes, how does he know the events of the first 20 minutes in order to narrate it? It’s not like she’s gonna tell him. Evans’ character really ought to have been the focus early on. Under the rather restrictive circumstances, Romain’s pretty good in her role (shamefully credited only as ‘Servant Girl’), but the first 20 minutes tell her story, the rest is basically Evans’ story, and yet the film is called “Curse of the Werewolf”, which describes neither character.

 

The only reason this ultimately works is that the story, lopsided or not is still enjoyable and the usual Hammer technical credits are all tops, including a terrific music score by Benjamin Frankel (“Storm Over the Nile”, “The Night of the Iguana”). The idea of a boy werewolf is a pretty interesting and unusual thing, and perhaps the whole film could’ve been about that or about the grown-up version played by Reed and it might’ve been a better film. We also get an interesting speech delivered by the local priest about the soul of a human and the soul of a werewolf.

 

When Reed turns up he’s perfectly cast, brooding and tortured but romantic. It’s a terrific, anguished performance, if the furthest thing from subtle. He plays the animal within perfectly, and it’s quite a shocking change in behaviour indeed. We also get a typically good, typically taciturn performance by Kiwi-born Ewen Solon as a Spaniard, and Catherine Fuller is gorgeous and adorable as his daughter. So there’s good stuff throughout the film, it’s just the plot structure that’s a bit screwy and not as satisfying as you’d like. One wonders if the lack of a werewolf for much of the film speaks to a penny-pinching studio, and/or a filmmaker apprehensive to show the creature. Personally I think the makeup job is just fine, so it really ought to have been shown off more. Lovely, nasty animal sounds too and despite the late arrival of the werewolf the climax is a good one.

 

The plot structure is wonky, but this Hammer werewolf film has just enough positives to get it over the line. Such a shame that Oliver Reed’s arrival is so late, however.

 

Rating: B-