Britain's Hammer Films proved to be the training ground for an abundance of future talents; here, it's young Oliver Reed's turn, rather amusedly cast as the cursed son of a mute servant girl who was raped by a beggar when both were imprisoned by a cruel Marquis in Spain. Turgid thriller written by John Elder (a.k.a. Anthony Hinds), from Guy Endore's novel "The Werewolf of Paris", is more than just geographically confused--it never finds an appropriate tone, nor do the actors find a comfortable way around the leaden dialogue. For Reed's fans, impatience may set in early as he doesn't appear for nearly 50 minutes into the movie's running time. *1/2 from ****

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).

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.

CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF is a movie that rocked my world when I first saw it on television more than forty years ago. I was just ten years old, and I'd never seen anyone as beautiful as Yvonne Romaine. She stole my heart as the beautiful, mute servant girl. And when she died, my heart broke. That was when I fell madly, hopelessly in love!So I made myself a promise, at ten years old. A promise that someday I would write a werewolf story where the beautiful, strong-willed Spanish servant girl does not die! Instead she stands up to the werewolf, finds her destiny, and ends up married to the most amazing older man, who by the way is fabulously rich, wise and kind. And who totally worships the ground she walks on! Well, after forty years the wait is over. JULIANA AND THE WOLF by Carol Storm is on sale now at Mystic Books. Or you can just go to the Kindle store on Amazon. But this is not just a book plug. This is me, paying tribute to Yvonne Romaine and all the ways her beauty has inspired generations of film goers. In these short pages you will see the adventures that doomed servant girl might have had. You'll see Juliana grow up, from a chubby little baker's daughter to a desperate runaway to a loving and mature woman with amazing courage. Along the way, you'll meet fun-loving army cadets, sneering evil noblemen, sexy French servant girls, a monk with a secret, a beautiful dying boy, and one dirty old man who gets exactly what he deserves. I really tried to bring the whole colorful panorama of Old Spain to life, AND tell a good old-fashioned werewolf story with a beautiful love story tucked inside.And this time, the servant girl lives happily ever after!