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The Curse Of The Werewolf
[Hammer/Universal]
1961; color
Directed by Terence Fisher
Starring: Clifford Evans, Oliver Reed, Yvonne Romain & Catherine Feller
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Despite some of the odd quirks in the treatment of the werewolf legend itself, The Curse Of The Werewolf is top-flight Hammer horror that I've loved from the first time I saw it when I was eight or nine years old. The extended opening sets everything up, as we see a beggar thrown into the dungeon of a wealthy (and evil) Spanish marquis, where he's promptly forgotten by all except the jailer and his mute daughter. These two are the only humans the beggar has contact with, and over the years he slowly deteriorates into a curiously feral state. Eventually the jailer dies, and his now hot teenaged (and still mute) daughter takes over feeding the prisoner. Somehow she runs afoul of the aged marquis, who has her thrown in the dungeon cell as well—where she's promptly raped by the former beggar. She rattles the bars enough (remember, she's mute so she can't scream) that some guards let her go, at which point she promptly goes straight to the marquis' room, stabs him to death and takes off. By way of some voice-over narration, we learn that she spends the next few months living in the forest but, eventually, somehow winds up face down in a lake, where she's found by a nobleman who takes her back to his mansion. His housekeeper informs him that the girl is pregnant, and of the legend that says an unwanted baby (particularly one born by way of rape or similar circumstances)—if born on Christmas—can become a werewolf. So you know what happens on Xmas day, right? As the young boy grows, he begins to exhibit signs of the curse (around age eight) but, unlike Eddie Munster, does not experience the full body hair growth thing until after puberty. (We assume.) The nobleman and his housekeeper, as the boy's de facto adoptive parents, consult their priest about his future fate and he tells them that only love can cure the boy - and only bullets made from the melted silver of a crucifix can kill him. Later, the little boy wolf grows up and becomes… Oliver Reed. Apparently the parental love he's been shown has cured him of his affliction (temporarily at least) and the time has come for him to leave the nest. So off he goes to seek employment at a nearby vineyard. There, he falls in love with the daughter of the vintner but, as it turns out, that love is not cutting it as far as keeping his "other" urges at bay and once he's away from the love of home for an extended period of time, the curse returns with a vengeance—an increasingly bloody and violent vengeance. After a few full moons worth of killin' and terrorizin', plus an arrest, his father and the priest attempt to convince the mayor to let them send him to a monastery instead of keeping him in jail so he can be properly looked after and not to do any more harm to the village folk. No dice, says the mayor. So, as soon as the moon is high again, it's time for a werewolf jailbreak. As he begins wreaking havoc throughout the town, an angry mob begins to form and the hunter becomes the hunted. Eventually, he's cornered (after a great chase scene) and shot with the only silver bullet in town. I'd tell you who shot him but that would be giving away too much. Absolutely vital viewing for Hammer fans and Oliver Reed fans alike.
—the Kommandant
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