“Father, the bullet. Pepe the watchman has a silver bullet. Get it and use it. Use it on me, father! You must use it -- do you hear? You must use it! You must!” Yes. He heard. Join this episode’s Grue-Crew - Whitney Collazo, Chad Hunt, Jeff Mohr, and listener guest host Alistair Hughes - as they take a trip to the land of Hammer Horror for The Curse of the Werewolf (1961).
Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
Episode 84 – The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
In 18th Century Spain, an adopted boy becomes a werewolf and terrorizes the inhabitants of his town.
IMDb
Director: Terence Fisher Writers: Anthony Hinds (screenplay) (as John Elder), Guy Endore (novel: The Werewolf of Paris, 1933) Makeup-artist: Roy Ashton Music: Benjamin Frankel Cinematography: Arthur Grant (director of photography) Film Editing: Alfred Cox Production Design: Bernard Robinson Cast Clifford Evans as Don Alfredo Corledo Oliver Reed as Leon Corledo Justin Walters as Young Leon Corledo Yvonne Romain as Servant girl Loraine Carvana as Young Servant girl Catherine Feller as Christina Fernando Anthony Dawson as Marques Siniestro Josephine Llewelyn as Marquesa Siniestro Richard Wordsworth as Beggar Hira Talfrey as Teresa John Gabriel as Priest Warren Mitchell as Pepe Valiente Anne Blake as Rosa Valiente George Woodbridge as Dominique the goat herder Michael Ripper as Old Soak Ewen Solon as Don Fernando Peter Sallis as Don Enrique Martin Matthews as Jose Amadayo David Conville as Rico Gomez Denis Shaw as Gaoler Desmond Llewelyn (uncredited) as Marques's footman
The Curse of the Werewolf (1961), directed by Terence Fisher and starring Oliver Reed, is Hammer Film’s one-off werewolf film and a doozy it is! This is Chad’s pick and he describes it as being one of his top five favorite werewolf films, especially liking the role love plays in the story’s werewolf mythos. The werewolf makeup captures Whitney’s attention as she explains how an individual’s skin and hair pigment varies. Jeff is impressed by the effects and acting in the final scene of The Curse of the Werewolf. Al provides several detailed tidbits, one of which regarding Roy Ashton, the creator of the film’s werewolf special makeup effect. Of course, the entire Grue-Crew is enthralled with Oliver Reed’s performance!
At this writing, The Curse of the Werewolf is available for streaming in the US on Peacock. Jeff highly recommends the Scream Factory Blu-ray, also available in the U.S.
Chad, Whitney, and Jeff give a big Grue-Crew thank you to Alistair Hughes for his insightful and informational contributions to this episode! Al is also the author of Infogothic: An Unauthorised Graphic Guide to Hammer Horror. Every fan of Hammer horror films should have a copy and the holidays are just around the bend, so what are you waiting for?
Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. The next episode in their very flexible schedule, chosen by their next super-secret guest host, will be The Phantom Carriage (1921), a Swedish silent scream from director Victor Sjöström. Be sure to join us for that one!
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To each of you from each of us, “Thank you so much for listening!”
