Legend of the Werewolf (1975)

A travelling circus in 19th century France adopts and showcases a feral "wolf boy", who grows into adulthood only to kill the one-man band. He runs off to Paris, where he develops a jealous... See full summary »

Director:

Freddie Francis

Writer:

Anthony Hinds (as John Elder)

Stars:

Peter Cushing, Ron Moody, Hugh Griffith

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Cushing	...	Professor Paul
Ron Moody	...	Zoo Keeper
Hugh Griffith	...	Maestro Pamponi
Roy Castle	...	Photographer
David Rintoul	...	Etoile
Stefan Gryff	...	Max Gerard
Lynn Dalby	...	Christine
Renee Houston	...	Chou-Chou (as Renée Houston)
Marjorie Yates	...	Madame Tellier
Norman Mitchell	...	Tiny
Mark Weavers	...	Young Etoile
David Bailie	...	Boulon
Hilary Farr	...	Zoe (as Hilary Labow)
Elaine Baillie	...	Annabelle
Michael Ripper	...	Sewerman

Storyline

A travelling circus in 19th century France adopts and showcases a feral "wolf boy", who grows into adulthood only to kill the one-man band. He runs off to Paris, where he develops a jealous, overprotective crush on a prostitute, leading him to attack her client, incurring a pursuit by a determined police surgeon.

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Plot Keywords:

zoo | france | circus | supernatural power | paris france | 

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Taglines:

A Tyburn Tale of Terror

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Genres:

Horror

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 March 1978 (Turkey)

Also Known As:

Plague of the Werewolves

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tyburn Film Productions Limited

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The characters of Prof. Paul (Peter Cushing) and the photographer (Roy Castle) do not feature in the first draft of the storyline.

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Goofs

At c. 23 minutes the freshly opened champagne has negligible fizz when it is poured.

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Quotes

Prof. Paul: He's all right; he won't harm you, but you musn't reject him!

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Connections

Referenced in The Howling (1981)

User Reviews

for werewolf and Hammer freaks only

I fall into the first category: anything with lycanthropy, I'm THERE! Peter Cushing is fantastic in this film. My particular favorite line he does as a throwaway, looking at a fresh corpse, "Oh, yes, that is VERY nasty." The red lens was a great idea, used effectively in its first scene, then poorly in every scene following. You don't really get a good look at the werewolf til two-thirds into the film and that's for the best. The time- lapse transformation scene starts out great, the next to last shot looks menacing and feral and you wish it'd stop there, then finishes with this silvery-white helmet head look that is nothing short of ludicrous looking in this, the revelatory scene.

The film is not without pathos, however. As an animal lover, I couldn't help but feel pity for Etoil as he was forced to beat one of the wolves in his zoo to death. And, you Hammer elitists out there, you cannot deny that the final sequence with Etoil and Christine is moving and poignantly tragic. Crawling through the sewers weezing "Christine...Christine...".

I confess: I own this on VHS, '87 Interglobal release. I got it when I was 8 and obsessed with werewolves, and I watched it constantly. Every other year or so, I pop it in and I'm not terribly disappointed. Not good, but better than a few Hammer films. So there.