Starring: Peter Cushing, Ron Moody, Hugh Griffith, Lynn Dalby, and David Rintoul
Directed by: Freddie Francis
Written by: Anthony Hinds
Running time: 85 minutes
Rated: None (Suitable for Adult audiences)
Produced by the fledgling and short-lived British studio Tyburn films, Legend of the Werewolf was one of their best efforts. Headed by Kevin Francis, son of cinematographer/director Freddie Francis, Tyburn came into existence in 1974. Tyburn’s goal was to make films that looked as much like rival Hammer films as much as possible. In fact, Tyburn’s history mirrors Hammer film’s mid-70’s fate, almost to the letter. By 1974, British horror was falling out of favor, Hammer films was trying to keep up with the changing times and trying to reinvent their formulas for success to no avail.
One of the final nails in the coffin for British horror cinema was the changes in the genre that were happening overseas in 
America. The release of trailblazing genre films such as George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968), William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973), and especially Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) would forever change the landscape of horror both in the US and internationally. Tyburn was pillaging Hammer for their actors, writers, directors, and composers. By the late 1970’s, Hammer was all but finished, resurrecting itself briefly in the early 80’s for television output.
Tyburn’s fate was nearly identical. By late 1975, the studio’s brief existence had for most accounts, ended. Tyburn came back almost 10 years later with a few television films, but that was it. Tyburn’s cinematic output was meager to say the least, they released only a handful of films, (Persecution 1974, The Ghoul 1975, Legend of the Werewolf 1975) but, those that were released were first-class productions, equaling rival Hammer films quality in every way. Tyburn’s films were a step above other British studio output at the time, Amicus, Tigon, etc.
Much like Hammer’s Curse of the Werewolf (1961), Tyburn’s Legend of the Werewolf was also based on Guy Endore’s 1933 novel, The Werewolf of Paris.
Set in 19th century France, it tells the tale of an infant raised by a pack of wolves that killed his parents. The infant becomes a feral, wolf-boy. The boy Etoile (David Rintoul-The Iron Lady) is found by the curator of a traveling circus sideshow, Maestro Pamponi (Hugh Griffith-The Abominable Dr. Phibes) and spends most of his childhood in exhibition with the sideshow as the “wolf-boy”. Little does anyone know that on the nights of the full moon, Etoile exhibits the characteristics of a wolf if he is driven to the point of enragement. As the years go by, Etoile grows into a strapping young man, and is eventually ousted from the carnival by Maestro Pamponi. Etoile travels to Paris and lands a job as a zookeeper’s assistant due to his mysterious ability to connect with the animals, especially wolves. The head zookeeper (Ron Moody-Oliver!) gives Etoile the low-paying job as his assistant.
Every day, three beautiful young women come to the zoo to eat their lunch. Etoile becomes enamored with one of the beauties, Christine (Lynn Dalby). Unbeknownst to Etoile, Christine is actually a lady-of-the-night who works at a local brothel. One day, Etoile makes an unannounced visit to Christine’s place of work and realizes what she really does for a living. During the nights of the full moon, blinded by his fury and rage upon discovering what his true love really is, he transforms into a blood-thirsty werewolf and violently attacks and murders men who patronize the brothel where Christine works.
The police are baffled by the brutal murders and attribute the killings to an escaped wolf. The police pathologist, Professor Paul (Peter Cushing-The Curse of Frankenstein) is not so sure about the official findings in the case, and conducts his own investigation into the murders, discovering the truth, that the murderer is actually a werewolf.
Legend of the Werewolf was cited as being very similar to Hammer’s Curse of the Werewolf. This is no coincidence because both films were written by John Elder (a pseudonym of Anthony Hinds) and both films are based on The Werewolf of Paris novel.
Director Freddie Francis does a marvelous job with his arresting visual style. The sequences of the Werewolf stalking its 
victims are rather imaginatively handled by imposing the creatures POV with red-tinted shots. Other strikingly visual shots used by Francis are of extreme close-ups of the Werewolf’s fangs with blood dripping from them, which I don’t believe has ever been seen before or since. As for the fully transformed Werewolf make-up, many have also cited a close similarity to Roy Ashton’s design for Oliver Reed in Curse of the Werewolf. Many have mistakenly named Ashton as the make-up designer for Legend, but the make-up designer is actually Jimmy Evans.
This movie really belongs to genre icon Peter Cushing, his performance takes center stage, and rightly so. His starring role as Professor Paul is one of the finer performances of his later years. Cushing is in such fine form here, watching him perform is an absolute delight. The rest of the cast are also suited well to their roles. Ron Moody turns in an excellent part as the zookeeper. Be sure to keep a sharp lookout for popular character actor and Hammer stalwart Michael Ripper who shows up in a short-lived role as one of the Werewolf’s sewer victims.
The film has a wonderful 19th century atmosphere which contributes nicely towards the overall effect. Set designs are equally impressive. The film also offers a good score composed by Harry Robinson who also scored many of Hammer’s films in the 70’s.
Legend of the Werewolf is a wonderful example of British horror filmmaking, that more often-than-not takes a backseat to the more popular Curse of the Werewolf. Each film has its merits, but this little seen film has a better tempo to its more languidly paced half-brother. The film is ultra-rare to find, it has never been released on DVD and is only available on VHS copies, which is what I have in my collection. So if you can find this film, do so, I definitely recommend this one.
Watch a brief clip here,
