I wanted to but couldn't!

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

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.

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).

In Spain, Leon (Oliver Reed) is born on Christmas day to a mute servant girl (Yvonne Romain) who was legitimately raped by a beggar (Richard Wordsworth). His mother dies giving birth and he is looked after by Don Alfredo Corledo (Clifford Evans).While Hammer made a name for themselves with Christopher Lee's vampire films, they never really were known for doing werewolves. In fact, this was the only werewolf picture they ever made. That gives it a bit of power in itself, as this has to be seen as Hammer's specific view on lycanthropy.You have to love the mythology here about how a werewolf is created (although it comes off a bit confused), and some boundaries were clearly pushed; a few minutes were cut by censors, and it is unclear if they were ever put back in. The movie focuses a lot on Leon as a human, and it builds slowly through his life (spending a fair amount of time on his father). Those who want to see the wolf early and often will not be pleased. But if you like a solid plot, good story structure and a piece of humanity, this film has a lot to offer.Oliver Reed deserves recognition for having a strong breakout performance here, though he was surely not the man in the makeup for all the roof-jumping scenes. Richard Wordsworth (the beggar) is the strongest actor here, and he needs to be singled out. Hammer fans will also know him from "The Revenge of Frankenstein" (1958), also directed by Terence Fisher.Viewers will take notice of Catherine Feller, Leon's love interest, as she has a very distinct look. Feller is something of a mystery, not having a long list of credits to her name; even her birth date seems a mystery. If a decent DVD were to be released of this film, it would be incredible to track her down for an interview or commentary.Bonus: the name Leon means lion, a kind of cat. In this film, however, he transforms into a wolf, a kind of dog. Was this intentional?

I was so afraid of plugging this in. Not of being scared but movies coming from the fifties and sixties aren't my thing. The effects used were laughable. I rather would go for those old Universal flicks or even Nosferatu (1922). But two reason made me buy this flick. Terence Fisher and Hammer Horror. I guess I don't have to introduce both names to the geeks of the genre. Terence really delivered the best Hammer flicks. Strangely, it took awhile before this flick got a proper release and finally in 2012 it got a DVD release. The story reminded me a lot of The Wolf Man (1941) but this is really enjoyable to watch. I was never bored with the story. But it's the way it was directed by Terence and the use of lighting that gave it a creepy atmosphere, I would even say a Gothic feeling. The effects used are very low, it was all done in a way the camera was used. So you really doesn't see the werewolf changing and that's were this still works up to today. The only effects I was surprised by is the way they used the red stuff. it isn't gory of course but when the werewolf is being shot the blood do sputter out of his body.I can't go in on the way the acting went because acting back then was more theatrically then nowadays but one name I looked at closely, Oliver Reed. Oliver played the werewolf and he did great. This was a flick at the beginning of his career (1958) and his first leading role, just look what he did here. He really looked believable and you could care for him. He went further to make classics like for example The Brood (1979). Sadly it went downwards with him due his drinking problems and he past away in 1999 while shooting for The Gladiator. One to surely watch not only for the directing but also for Reed's performance. Classic.Gore 1/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5