The Curse Of The Werewolf (1961)

4 / 5 Feb '09
Tagline: Even Those Who Loved Him Were Not Safe!
Directed by: Terence Fisher
Written by: Guy Endore, Anthony Hinds
Actors include: Oliver Reed, Clifford Evans, Yvonne Romain
Genre: Horror
Length: 91 minutes
Banned: Finland
Country: UK

Review:
This is a very interesting take on the whole werewolf thing, thank you Hammer! It starts off way more excitingly than it ends up but all the way through it's worth your time. We meet a poor beggar who goes to the castle to beg for food only he winds up being locked in the wine cellar for pretty much eternity. The longer he is down there the more he resembles a wolf like creature. Then a slave girl who was feeding the beggar got locked in and was raped by the wolfman, their born child of course is the real wolfman but the slave girl dies in childbirth. Then we meet him and his new family and learn of his struggle to not change and his family's way of hiding their terrible secret. Will the love of a beautiful woman be enough to stop him from his vicious ways? It's different because it focus' more about the family and about him trying to not resort to violence, so it's not the bloodiest thing but rather an interesting character study really. I guess I really enjoyed the point of view on this one. It's maybe not as good as "The Howling" but a completely different and beautiful shot film that should definitely interest any fan of Hammer films or of werewolf films.