The Curse of the Werewolf
1961  NR  HORROR  1h 31min
CAST— Clifford Evans, Oliver Reed, Yvonne Romain, Catherine Feller, Anthony Dawson, Michael Ripper
MUSIC— Benjamin Frankel  DIRECTOR— Terence Fisher  BASED ON— The Werewolf of Paris (novel), by Guy Endore

     Hammer films brings to life another dull, dull tale that confuses itself with its own plot devices. A story of Spaniards (who suspiciously look and sound a lot like Brits) two hundred or so years ago, the tale begins with a beggar being imprisoned by a marquis who then forgets about him. The beggar spends years alone in the dungeon until he's joined by a beautiful girl who spurned the marquis. The beggar immediately rapes her and dies, the girl escapes and eventually finds shelter with a kindly scholar. The scholar's servant worries for the girl, seeing as how she's pregnant and will probably deliver on Christmas day (which is apparently unlucky, or something). When December 25 rolls around a baby boy is born into the household, who subsequently grows up to have a taste for blood. By adulthood his problems seem to be behind him until, for reasons unknown, his lycanthropy comes back to bite him. He finally discovers his true nature and begs to be put down before he kills again. The point? None, really. Apart from being boring the film features a barely seen werewolf who strangles his victims before drinking their blood. He's basically a fuzzy vampire, and as appealing as that may sound this film just isn't worth the time.
OUR RATING— *