The Curse of the Werewolf is an odd film from Hammer productions as the main star, Oliver Reed, doesn’t even show up until about halfway through and the titular werewolf until the final 10-minutes. Still, when we do see the werewolf, the make-up effects were pretty impressive.
The Curse of the Werewolf
— Collector’s Edition —
(1961)
Genre(s): Horror, Fantasy
Shout Factory | NR – 93 min. – $29.99 | April 21, 2020
Date Published: 05/22/2020 | Author: The Movieman
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Shout Factory provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3.25/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: This tale of terror stars Oliver Reed as the orphan of a maniacal beggar and a mute girl. From his birth to young manhood, he discovers a horrible secret. Try as he may, the cursed man is unable to deny the dark force within him. When the moon is full, he becomes an uncontrollable, seemingly unstoppable killer incapable of distinguishing between friend and foe. Quick Hit Review: The Curse of the Werewolf, even though only 90-minutes long, does plod along at a slow pace and only goes into high gear for maybe the last 10-15 minutes. That being said, I will say the make-up design wasn’t half bad for the era and Oliver Reed gives a nice, innocent and even sympathetic performance for as little screen time he had to work with. The lovely Catherine Feller makes for a nice love interest, but again, she and Reed don’t get a whole lot of time together. This is an average but passable horror picture from Hammer Films. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.75/5 |
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This release comes with a matted slip cover. The inside cover artwork is reversible. Audio Commentaries:
The Men who Made Hammer: Roy Ashton (19:12) — Profile on make-up artist/designer Roy Ashton and his impact on the industry. Serial Killer: Benjamin Frankel, Serialism and The Curse of the Werewolf (21:52) — Interview with Author David Huckvale on Frankel’s score and themes. The Making of The Curse of the Werewolf (46:11) — Older yet lengthy featurette includes interviews with Actors Catherine Feller and Yvonne Romain, Art Director Don Mingaye and many others. Lycanthropy: The Beast in All of Us (3:28) on the real-life condition of the Lycanthropes, a mental condition of believing they are an animal, usually a wolf, hence the werewolf folklore. Censoring the Werewolf (13:48) — This featurette is on some of the more violent elements that the BBAC classification wanted stripped, and how ultimately the film got released with major cuts. Also included: Trailers from Hell (2:37) analysis on The Curse of the Werewolf trailer by director Terrence Fisher, the Theatrical Trailer (1:51), Radio Spot (0:28) and Still Gallery. |
VIDEO – 4.5/5 |
| Shout Factory has released The Curse of the Werewolf onto Blu-ray presented in its native 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio and given a new 1080p high-definition transfer, culled from a 4K scan of the original negative. The picture here looks quite good; detail on the close-ups especially is fairly sharp before becoming fuzzier for background elements. Otherwise, this is a very respectable transfer from Shout, giving another older film the necessary restoration and preservation. |
AUDIO – 4.25/5 |
| The disc comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track, which sounds rather good. Not only does the dialogue come through with nice clarity, there were no major or noticeable instances of pops, hisses or other ailments that can plague some of these older films. |
OVERALL – 4.0/5 |
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Overall, The Curse of the Werewolf is an odd film from Hammer productions as the main star, Oliver Reed, doesn’t even show up until about halfway through and the titular werewolf until the final 10-minutes. Still, when we do see the werewolf, the make-up effects were pretty impressive, not sure it was entirely worth the wait… This “Collector’s Edition” Blu-ray from Shout is well put together with some nice features to go along with great video and audio transfers. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.