Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Morgan Hua I liked this because it wasn't your standard Universal Studios werewolf movie.First, it's set in Spain, not in Romania. The movie starts a bit slow as it's the origin story of how the werewolf is born and not via a gypsy curse. Then the boy's family and the priest are very sympathetic and even the werewolf begs them to kill him. This movie is so different. Even the ending where the werewolf, shot by his father, dies at the top of the church tower and does NOT transform back.The only issue I had was the rape origin story and potential rape by the nobleman. The rape was tastefully done and over dramatic, but I felt it wasn't necessary.

BA_Harrison The Curse of the Werewolf was the only werewolf movie produced by Hammer studios, and to be honest, I can understand why: even with the usually excellent Terence Fisher at the helm and a young Oliver Reed in the starring role, I found the film rather disappointing, suffering from a weak script that offers up one of the most ridiculous reasons for a case of lycanthropy that I've ever seen and terrible pacing that keeps the werewolf under wraps for most of the running time.Much of the first half is given over to back story: a beggar (Richard Wordsworth) visits a castle looking for food; there he is mocked and ridiculed by the wicked Marques Siniestro (Anthony Dawson) before being thrown into the dungeon, where he is looked after by the jailer and his mute daughter. Years pass, the beggar becomes a savage, the jailer dies, and his daughter grows up to be a major hottie (the stunning Yvonne Romain). When the Marques tries his luck with the buxom beauty, she is thrown into the same cell as the beggar, who cannot believe his luck. After attacking the girl, he dies a very happy man.The mute woman is then taken back to the Marques to make amends for her behaviour, but she stabs him to death instead and flees the castle for the forest. There she is found several months later by kindly Don Alfredo Corledo (Clifford Evans) who takes her to his home and discovers that the young woman is pregnant, much to the concern of his housemaid Teresa (Hira Talfrey), who is worried that the child will be born on the 25th December: according to superstition, an unwanted baby born on Christmas Day is an insult to heaven, and can lead to lycanthropy (I told you it was dumb!).The child is born, but his mother dies shortly after. Don Alfredo and Teresa raise the boy, named Leon, but as he grows older, the lad develops a lust for blood, attacking local animals. As a young adult, Leon (Oliver Reed) leaves to work in a winery (probably not the wisest place to send Oliver Reed), where he falls for the owner's daughter Cristina (Catherine Feller). Leon's love for Cristina prevents him from becoming a fully-fledged werewolf, but on a drunken night out with his work colleague, his blood-lust is aroused by a wanton woman, and he transforms. The next day, Leon is arrested for the murder of the woman; separated from Cristina, there is nothing to stop him transforming again, and he goes on the rampage—about five minutes before the end of the film! After some clambering around the rooftops of the town, attacking absolutely no-one in the process, he is shot with a silver bullet by Don Alfredo. The End.5/10 for Yvonne Romain, who is easily one of Hammer's hottest babes, and for the cool werewolf design (shame we don't get to see more of it throughout the film).

Scott LeBrun If you're only going to make one werewolf story, you might as well make it one to remember. So it goes with Hammer Studios' rich, meaty tale, an adaptation of Guy Endores' novel "The Werewolf of Paris". Reset in Spain, it touches upon subjects such as the power of love, the cruelty of fate, and the nature of human beings at both their best and their worst. Much like many good werewolf fables, it's an utter tragedy, and it's populated with characters about whom you *do* care and for whom you *do* root.As elaborately fashioned as anything in the studios' repertoire, it begins as a beggar (Richard Wordsworth) is mocked and abused by a nasty and heartless Marques (Anthony Dawson). The beggar is locked up in the dungeon & forgotten, and once reduced to an animal like state, he rapes a mute servant girl (Yvonne Romain). She gives birth to a boy, Leon (played as a child by Justin Walters, and as an adult by Oliver Reed), who, according to superstition, is utterly doomed by being an unwanted child born on Christmas Day.If you are able to get past the idea of these supposed Spaniards having British accents, you'll find that the performances are sublime. Everybody gets an A+ for their efforts. Reed has one of the most sympathetic parts of his career, and he knocks it out of the park. Clifford Evans (playing Don Alfredo) and Hira Talfrey (playing Teresa) are endearing as the two people who give Leon the best care and attention that they can during his formative years. Catherine Feller is sweet and charming as Cristina, the woman whom Leon loves. Dawson is deliciously evil as the depraved Marques, and there are some great bits by the likes of Michael Ripper (a recurring player in the Hammer filmography), Warren Mitchell, John Gabriel, George Woodbridge, Ewen Solon, and Peter Sallis.Touching, suspenseful, sometimes gory, and beautifully filmed, this is fine entertainment indeed. Director Terence Fisher holds off on showing off the werewolf makeup / transformation until the final 10 minutes. The fact that co-star Reed doesn't show up until the film is half over is indicative of how expansive the story is. The music by Benjamin Frankel is wonderful.After revisiting this one tonight, this viewer will be sure to put "The Curse of the Werewolf" on his list of the top productions in this sub genre.Eight out of 10.

Theo Robertson On the surface this could easily be dismissed as just another hammy Hammer horror film and to a degree does contain many of the trademarks . Let's see now Monster - check Most foreigners are dangerous scum - check Inherited wealth and social standing equals cruel sadism - checkMost young woman have big boobs - check You can't help thinking if Benny Hill was a communist he'd be making Hammer horrors as propaganda films and despite as insane as it sounds this is exactly how much of THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF plays out and yet the film does it brilliantly . Class division and a slightly conscious mild xenophobia are in evidence and yet that is what makes this film one of the studio's finest productions . It might be tame today but there's more to it than Oliver Reed putting on a furry mask and false teeth The story is probably best in the first third set in 18th Century Spain where a begger arrives at the wedding reception of the local Marques who after publicly humiliating the begger has him thrown in to the dungeon below the castle . Years pass and the jailer's daughter is imprisoned and becomes a rape victim of the begger . This section illustrates very well a running theme of Hammer horrors where the European locale is hostile to outsiders and positively cruel towards any sort of underclass , and you think perhaps this film might be a firm favourite with Marx . Lenin and Orwell . The cast are very good in these scenes especially Richard Wordsworth as the begger and Anthony Dawson as the Marques who plays the role with shades of Franco If there's a problem with any of this it is that the rest of the film pales in comparison and a film that has Werewolf in the title we don't see much werewolf action . Oliver Reed is .... well no prizes for guessing the first thing you think off when the late legend is mentioned and it is amusing that his character Leon is sent away to work in a vineyard and in some scenes it looks like Reed might have been sampling the goods a bit too much . That said he does have presence and brings a pathos to Leon that is always needed in a character who is cursed by lycanthropy This is a very good film from the Hammer Studios , a company that high brow critics often scoff at but whose output was very popular with the British public , possibly because the films appeal to the working class " little Englander " mentality and it's probably this post war Briton world view that makes the film so enjoyable