The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) on Netflix
In eighteenth-century Spain, a cruel marqués jails a beggar in his dungeon. The jailer's mute daughter feeds the prisoner, and her son Leon is raised by Don Alfredo Corledo under a curse.
- Netflix3.1/5
- IMDb6.5/107,918 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes60%
Trailer
Plot summary
A beggar at the wedding feast of the cruel marqués Siniestro is locked in the castle dungeon and forgotten. The jailer's mute daughter brings him food as she grows up. When the marqués makes advances on her and she refuses, he throws her into the beggar's cell; the beggar, long mad and furred like a wolf, rapes her and dies. Freed the next day, she kills the marqués and flees; Don Alfredo Corledo finds her in the forest and takes her to the home he shares with his housekeeper Teresa. She dies after giving birth on Christmas Day, and the two raise the boy, Leon, born cursed by his conception. When goats are found with their throats torn out and the watchman Pepe Valiente shoots at a wolf, Teresa pulls a bullet from Leon, who remembers nothing.
Cast
- Catherine Felleras Cristina
- Josephine Llewellynas The Marquesa
- Hira Talfreyas Teresa
- Justin Waltersas Young Leon
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The Curse of the Werewolf was heavily censored in the UK on its release, and a restored print first aired on the BBC in 1993; a planned BBC2 premiere on 31 October 1992, hosted by Dr. Walpurgis, aired the censored version by mistake.
- Oliver Reed's leading part as the werewolf in The Curse of the Werewolf was the first starring role of his film career.
- Hammer had already made Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy when it turned out The Curse of the Werewolf, the first werewolf film ever shot in Technicolor.
- The film was shot at Bray Studios in Berkshire on sets built for The Rape of Sabena, a proposed 1960 Spanish Inquisition film shelved after the BBFC objected to its script; the story's Paris setting became Madrid so no new Parisian sets were needed.
- Composer Benjamin Frankel's score is notable for its use of twelve-tone serialism, a technique that is rare in film music.
