Post by someoldguy on Dec 5, 2019 12:02:02 GMT -5
A rather decent werewolf tale reminiscent of the style of Hammer Films and even featuring Peter Cushing in a key role. One can see elements of Hammer’s Curse of the Werewolf (CotW) here and there, as well as from other movies.
His (apparently Jewish) parents flee persecution in Russia. The mother dies in childbirth on the side of the road at midnight on Christmas Eve. (In CotW, the child is also born on Christmas, with the potential to become a werewolf as a result.) The father is killed by wolves who then adopt and raise the baby. He later gets a more human upbringing. After he grows into a man, he becomes a werewolf under the full moon. As in CotW, there is no connection between his lycanthropy and any prior werewolf. Bloody action ensues in Paris where he ends up after killing someone and running away. The story line is rather sympathetic to the guy, also as in CotW as well as in Chaney’s Talbot portrayal. The creature is revealed rather slowly, but in full sufficiently before the end to get a good look. The appearance is very much like in CotW, white fur on the face and all.
There are nice characterizations in the movie with decent acting and dialog. Production values appear rather good, utilizing the same kind of visual trickery as Hammer in framing much of the action in fancy looking or spooky looking sets. The story line is just complex enough to be interesting without being confusing and is carried forward well. All the elements for moving the plot forward are introduced economically and credibly, as per Hammer style.
Peter Cushing, who gets top billing, plays a ‘police surgeon’, a kind of forensic scientist. His skill in problem solving is established early when he declares a supposed suicide is actually a murder, also deducing that the murderer knew Shakespeare’s Hamlet and played a stringed instrument. I see a clever reference to Cushing’s role as Sherlock Holmes in the quasi-horror Hound of the Baskervilles.
His (apparently Jewish) parents flee persecution in Russia. The mother dies in childbirth on the side of the road at midnight on Christmas Eve. (In CotW, the child is also born on Christmas, with the potential to become a werewolf as a result.) The father is killed by wolves who then adopt and raise the baby. He later gets a more human upbringing. After he grows into a man, he becomes a werewolf under the full moon. As in CotW, there is no connection between his lycanthropy and any prior werewolf. Bloody action ensues in Paris where he ends up after killing someone and running away. The story line is rather sympathetic to the guy, also as in CotW as well as in Chaney’s Talbot portrayal. The creature is revealed rather slowly, but in full sufficiently before the end to get a good look. The appearance is very much like in CotW, white fur on the face and all.
There are nice characterizations in the movie with decent acting and dialog. Production values appear rather good, utilizing the same kind of visual trickery as Hammer in framing much of the action in fancy looking or spooky looking sets. The story line is just complex enough to be interesting without being confusing and is carried forward well. All the elements for moving the plot forward are introduced economically and credibly, as per Hammer style.
Peter Cushing, who gets top billing, plays a ‘police surgeon’, a kind of forensic scientist. His skill in problem solving is established early when he declares a supposed suicide is actually a murder, also deducing that the murderer knew Shakespeare’s Hamlet and played a stringed instrument. I see a clever reference to Cushing’s role as Sherlock Holmes in the quasi-horror Hound of the Baskervilles.
The werewolf murders are not just random. When the young man discovers that the girl he is sweet on is a prostitute, he kills her regular clients when transformed. (Cushing deduces from various clues that they were all coming from a ‘house’ when ambushed.) When the young man is forced by police order to kill his wolf friends in the zoo where he works, he goes on a hairy rampage that night and slaughters people left and right. (Cushing deduces from the locations how the killer is getting around. He had previously realized that a werewolf was involved from a book given to him, a plot device introduced economically and credibly. 
)
In the end the werewolf is killed by a silver bullet made from the silver handle of Cushing’s walking stick. The refers to both CotW and Chaney’s Wolf Man.
) In the end the werewolf is killed by a silver bullet made from the silver handle of Cushing’s walking stick. The refers to both CotW and Chaney’s Wolf Man.
Le Loup-Garou Qui Rit