I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Blistering performances.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Excellent Cinematography and Sets. Poor Story, acting first half good, last half poor.Best part of the movie was the first half, without the werewolf. The story of the beggar and the werewolf's mother. The shot of the beggar dead is excellent. The killing of the Marques is excellent. The cinematography and sets were great. However, there was very little atmosphere. Oliver Reed's acting, dialogue and character were weak. The story was weak. The origin of the werewolf was weak. The werewolf effect was good, but not much happened in the 2nd half of the movie except the very end. The fault is not on anyone except the screenwriters.My vote is a C, or 5. It could have been great. I have watched a lot of Hammer productions in the past few years. They are overrated. Again, the cinematography and sets/colors are great, but they usually lack in the screenplay/dialogue/story. The first Dracula movie made by Hammer is the worst. Chris Lee does nothing in that movie. His first word are about cataloguing his Library. Give me a break. What the hell happened to storytelling. This movie, at least the first half had some interesting deaths/killings, much better than Dracula.

Britain's Hammer Films proved to be the training ground for an abundance of future talents; here, it's young Oliver Reed's turn, rather amusedly cast as the cursed son of a mute servant girl who was raped by a beggar when both were imprisoned by a cruel Marquis in Spain. Turgid thriller written by John Elder (a.k.a. Anthony Hinds), from Guy Endore's novel "The Werewolf of Paris", is more than just geographically confused--it never finds an appropriate tone, nor do the actors find a comfortable way around the leaden dialogue. For Reed's fans, impatience may set in early as he doesn't appear for nearly 50 minutes into the movie's running time. *1/2 from ****

CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF is a movie that rocked my world when I first saw it on television more than forty years ago. I was just ten years old, and I'd never seen anyone as beautiful as Yvonne Romaine. She stole my heart as the beautiful, mute servant girl. And when she died, my heart broke. That was when I fell madly, hopelessly in love!So I made myself a promise, at ten years old. A promise that someday I would write a werewolf story where the beautiful, strong-willed Spanish servant girl does not die! Instead she stands up to the werewolf, finds her destiny, and ends up married to the most amazing older man, who by the way is fabulously rich, wise and kind. And who totally worships the ground she walks on! Well, after forty years the wait is over. JULIANA AND THE WOLF by Carol Storm is on sale now at Mystic Books. Or you can just go to the Kindle store on Amazon. But this is not just a book plug. This is me, paying tribute to Yvonne Romaine and all the ways her beauty has inspired generations of film goers. In these short pages you will see the adventures that doomed servant girl might have had. You'll see Juliana grow up, from a chubby little baker's daughter to a desperate runaway to a loving and mature woman with amazing courage. Along the way, you'll meet fun-loving army cadets, sneering evil noblemen, sexy French servant girls, a monk with a secret, a beautiful dying boy, and one dirty old man who gets exactly what he deserves. I really tried to bring the whole colorful panorama of Old Spain to life, AND tell a good old-fashioned werewolf story with a beautiful love story tucked inside.And this time, the servant girl lives happily ever after!

In Spain, Leon (Oliver Reed) is born on Christmas day to a mute servant girl (Yvonne Romain) who was legitimately raped by a beggar (Richard Wordsworth). His mother dies giving birth and he is looked after by Don Alfredo Corledo (Clifford Evans).While Hammer made a name for themselves with Christopher Lee's vampire films, they never really were known for doing werewolves. In fact, this was the only werewolf picture they ever made. That gives it a bit of power in itself, as this has to be seen as Hammer's specific view on lycanthropy.You have to love the mythology here about how a werewolf is created (although it comes off a bit confused), and some boundaries were clearly pushed; a few minutes were cut by censors, and it is unclear if they were ever put back in. The movie focuses a lot on Leon as a human, and it builds slowly through his life (spending a fair amount of time on his father). Those who want to see the wolf early and often will not be pleased. But if you like a solid plot, good story structure and a piece of humanity, this film has a lot to offer.Oliver Reed deserves recognition for having a strong breakout performance here, though he was surely not the man in the makeup for all the roof-jumping scenes. Richard Wordsworth (the beggar) is the strongest actor here, and he needs to be singled out. Hammer fans will also know him from "The Revenge of Frankenstein" (1958), also directed by Terence Fisher.Viewers will take notice of Catherine Feller, Leon's love interest, as she has a very distinct look. Feller is something of a mystery, not having a long list of credits to her name; even her birth date seems a mystery. If a decent DVD were to be released of this film, it would be incredible to track her down for an interview or commentary.Bonus: the name Leon means lion, a kind of cat. In this film, however, he transforms into a wolf, a kind of dog. Was this intentional?