 Hammer's 1960 film "Curse of the Werewolf" could have been called "In the Name of the Father". Oliver Reed plays the son of a beggar who was brutally raped by a syphilitic and insane prisoner. Reed pays for his birth and the sins of his 'father' when he becomes a young man - saddled with a psychosexual hang-up called lycanthropy (werewolfism). In other words, Reed, when faced with any sexual opportunity, loses control of his humanity and becomes a wolf. A blond haired wolf at that. When I first saw this film back in the '70's on Saturday night's horror show "Freaky Films", I thought Reed's werewolf was actually pretty cool. He had pointy ears, and wild eyes. His hair was perfect. Since the movie takes place in 18th century Spain (where all the inhabitants speak with english accents), the clothes were stylin' too. Reed wears billowy pirate style shirts, that get torn when he becomes wolfie. He has shin high boots and sports a hairy paunch. Reed's acting style is so over the top that it spins wildly out of control. But then again Reed has never been accused of understatement(although, as Bill Sikes in "Oliver!", Reed towed the line pretty good). There were a couple of things that impressed me about this film when I was a kid. One was the amount of blood shown. As in almost all of Hammer Studio's films, blood flowed pretty freely - which, back in the late '50's into the late '60's, just wasn't shown - especially in American studio releases. The second was the bevy of bodice ripping women that caused Reed to go into a lycanthropic freak out. There was more cleavage in this film than any of your updated Jane Austin flicks. And the women in the film ranged from sweet innocents to earthy, aggressive sex junkies. Both archetypal cliches to be sure but a concept new to anybody growing up in the sixties not exposed to today's bump and grind of MTV. You can tell the film was shot on a cheesy soundstage, it only changes locations a half a dozen times or so. But the interiors are dingy, gothic - especially the pokey scenes where Reed's mother is raped and the pub scenes where the residents get soused and spout out hack werewolf lore. The sets ooze atmosphere and add to the effect of the film. There's very little intentional humor in the movie - all of its unintentional. Reed trips and falls a number of times while running through some soundstage woods - and the editor left these flubs intact. The werewolf gnashes his pointy teeth and clenches his hands like a madman. Reed climbs buildings with the grace of a village idiot and almost falls while jumping from roof to roof. But Reed is nowhere as stiff as Lon Chaney, Jr., who made the wolfman his own back in the '40's. You gotta hand it to Hammer though. They raided the Universal Studio tombs of horror with such balls out attitude - gorifying not only the werewolf legend, but Dracula, Frankenstein and the Mummy as well. They revamped all of those ancient '40's flicks and put a bloody spin on them, giving the kids of the '60's and '70's something to live for. "Curse of the Werewolf", though dated today, appeals to the base adolescent sexualis that boils out occasionally as an adult. Which, hopefully, most grown-ups can control - unlike our friend the werewolf. About the author: Send comments about my reviews to Llewbar@aol.com You may read another review, submit your own, or return home. |
