13 Nights of Shocktober: Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 12: Werewolf Party Night/Hammer Horror Night 

I’m not sure that’s how you make a werewolf…

Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

I’m glad to have come across Hammer Films’ werewolf movie entry to their series of loose remakes of the Universal Monsters films from the 1930's and 40's. Hammer Films is the British film studio that is most famous for their atmospheric and often campy horror movies made from the 1950’s through the 70’s. The most famous of these films are the Dracula and Frankenstein movies and their many sequels, usually starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. The best of these films were directed by Terence Fisher, who directs Curse of the Werewolf. Cushing and Lee are absent from this film, however, Curse of the Werewolf still ranks in the top tier of Hammer horror.

Curse of the Werewolf is based on the novel The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore, so naturally the film is set in Spain. Perhaps the most memorable thing about this movie is its unconventional and convoluted method of creating a werewolf. The film begins with a beggar wandering into a Spanish village and happening upon the wedding banquette of a cruel and evil Marques. The Marques pays the beggar to act like a pet and humiliates the beggar before having him thrown in a dungeon where he is quickly forgotten. The beggar becomes more and more beastlike the longer he is imprisoned and attacks and rapes the jailer’s daughter. Then, she attacks and kills the now decrepitly old Marques. She runs away to the forest and is found by Aldredo (Clifford Evans) who takes her into his home where she gives birth to a son on Christmas Day. Alfredo’s maid believes it is an insult for an unwanted child to be born on the same day as the Lord. Alfredo raises the child, Leon, as if he were his own, but when Leon is a young boy the village is plague by wolf attacks at night. Yong Leon has terrible nightmares, thinks that blood tastes sweet, and has fur growing on his hands and arms.

A priest tells Alfredo about evil spirits that leap into bodies and battle with the soul for control of the body. Leon has a werewolf in him and “only love” can cure the inner wolf. Alfredo and his maid raise Leon well, giving him much love and keeping the inner wolf at bay. More time passes and Leon, now a young man (Oliver Reed), leaves home to make his own way in the world. He falls in love with Christina Fernando, the daughter of a wealthy vineyard owner, who is already engaged to someone else. She falls in love with Leon but knows her father would never allow their marriage. Then vicious wolf attacks begin on the nights of the full moon.

Curse of the Werewolf isn’t actually a remake of the Universal Studios’ film The Wolf Man (1941), but the design of the werewolf is, like all Hammer monster designs, close to the look of the Universal monsters, but distinct enough to be fresh and memorable. This werewolf is a classic wolf-man monster, not just a man that turns into a wolf. Those familiar with The Monster Squad will see a strong similarity between that film’s wolf-man and the wolf-man in Curse of the Werewolf. There aren’t many werewolf scenes, this is a low budget movie after all, but the costumes, sets, performances, and score make up for that and keep the film moody and atmospheric.

All of the elements of a top notch Hammer horror film are in Curse of the Werewolf. This film is set some time in the past but no specific date is given. If I had to guess I would say it is set sometime in the 19^th century, but a specific time period isn’t necessary. This is a folktale fantasy like a campfire story that lets you fill in the details. The sets manage to look fake and convincing at the same time and only add to the atmosphere of the movie. The costumes look great with vibrant, bold colors that are synonymous with Hammer horror. Blood in this movie is a bright almost orange-red color. The cast is as tan as British people can be made to look without being offensive. All of this adds up to a movie that is a lot of fun. The climax goes on just a bit too long without anything really happening but that is a small hiccup in an otherwise well-paced, entertaining film. 

It’s hard to go wrong with Hammer for entertaining atmospheric horror. Curse of the Werewolf is a great not-so-scary horror movie for people that want a Shocktober movie that isn’t excessively violent, or gory, or disturbing.