Legend Of The Werewolf

This review is for the standard DVD version of 'Legend of the Werewolf' released by Cheezy Movies in October, 2017.I had never seen this movie until this release. There are some problems with it but overall it's a decent movie but not a great one.DVD & EXTRA'S: This movie is not in wide-screen format. It is standard 1.33:1. So don't forget to adjust your TV picture if your TV doesn't do that automatically. When the movie begins there is a written note on the screen about the quality of the picture. Obviously Cheezy Movies, LLC have received complaints in the past. That note explains to you that they are providing the best picture available from the best source they could find and essentially they tell you that sometimes the pictures quality isn't that great. The picture isn't that great but it's not as bad as some other movies I've seen from the same studio. I'd say the picture is passable. If you go in with your expectations low you shouldn't be too disappointed. If you are expecting a nice restoration then you will be greatly disappointed. There aren't any extra's.PLOT/SUMMARY: A woman who is pregnant and her husband are fleeing somewhere in France when the woman has to stop to give birth. The woman dies in childbirth and the husband is killed by wolves. The wolves take the child with them but don't kill it.Years later a tiny travelling carnival which consists of just one carriage discovers the boy in the woods. He is named Etoile. They take him with them and raise him to be part of the carnival and bill him as the Wolf Boy. When the Wolf Boy reaches adulthood, one night during a full moon, he transforms into a Werewolf. He kills one of the group and flees to Paris. Once in Paris he is taken in by a zookeeper.Etoile soon falls in love with a prostitute, Christine, who comes to the zoo every week with a few other girls from the brothel. During evenings with full moons people have begun to be murdered by what the police believe to be a wolf.Professor Paul (Peter Cushing) is a forensic surgeon. He is intrigued by the murders and decides to investigate them by himself despite the protestations of the police. Since most of the murders are taking place around the brothel and involve important people, the police try to keep things low key. Little by little Professor Paul begins to piece together what is going on. Eventually with the help of Christine, he figures out what is going on. Paul and Christine plot to try to both stop and help Etoile.COMMENTS/PRODUCTION: Overall, I thought this was a decent movie. There wan't much original in it but it was entertaining enough. It had a very similar feel to a Hammer Films production, albeit a lower budgeted one. So for me it is essentially a Hammer film at the very end of Hammer Film Productions. This was made right at the time Hammer ended their horror movie productions. For years, the quality had been slowly deteriorating and some of the plots had become repetitious. The overall production itself used a bunch of Hammer veterans.As always, Peter Cushing's presence makes this movie a better movie than it would probably be without him. His acting is top notch as always. Cushing has always been my favorite 'Hammer' actor along with Andre Morell. Yes, I know, most people would say Christopher Lee was second best or maybe even first best. Morell wasn't as closely linked to Hammer but he was in a bunch of their movies. Lee would be my third favorite Hammer actor.Hammer veteran character actor (along with many other movies), Michael Ripper makes a brief appearance as a bum in a sewer.The transformation scenes were rather weak. I have seen far better, even in lower budget movies. I'm not really complaining about it, just pointing it out. After all, those scenes only consist of a few seconds. I don't really need to see the transformation. As far as I'm concerned, unless it's going to look spectacular, kind of like the way some of the werewolf movies that came after this one like American Werewolf in London and The Howling, it doesn't matter a whole lot to me.Anthony Hinds, who was the writer of this movie, also wrote Hammer Films,' 'The Curse of the Werewolf.'I think the werewolf's look was taken directly from Hammer Films, 'The Curse of the Werewolf.' Hammer only ended up doing one Werewolf movie and it was a good one. I haven't seen the movie in awhile and will need to go back and re-watch it. From what I remember they looked pretty similar. The werewolf had white hair. I'm not sure if the truly looked alike or it's just the white hair that is similar.RECOMMENDATIONS: I'm giving this movie 3 stars. The movie itself I'd give a 6/10. At the time of this review on Thanksgiving Day, 2017 the cost was under $9 so it is a decent enough value even with no extra's.Recommended for fans of Peter Cushing, fans of British Horror from the 60's and 70's, fans of Hammer Films and of course fans of werewolf movies.

I have to say I am a hard core Peter Cushing fan. I have seen (practically) all of his movies and make it my goal to own all official DVD and Blu Ray releases that feature him. From my understanding, there are only a few movies that haven’t had an official home video release, this movie and “Uncanny”. However, I will focus on the DVD release “Legend of the Werewolf”.The plot is somewhat simple, Professor Paul (Peter Cushing), a skilled forensic surgeon becomes interested in an attack and murder that appears to have been done by a wolf. Professor Paul’s investigating leads him to several places, including a zoo and brothel. It is finally unveiled that more meets the eye and a werewolf might be cause of these attacks.The film was directed by Freddie Francis and with Peter Cushing staring the film has a Hammer feel. However, the budget is much lower and the film seems much “smaller” than anything Hammer would have produced. Nevertheless, Peter Cushing does a wonderful job acting like a discount Van Helsing. When this man speaks about the supernatural he has me completely convinced it is real.As for this “official” release, I have to say I am somewhat disappointed. Cheezy Movies is the studio that produced the release and they note before the film starts they did their best looking for the most presentable print of the movie. In addition Cheezy Movies states that the print might have some limitations. I have to be honest; I first watched this movie on YouTube via my Kindle. This was due to the fact that at the time the movie had no official DVD. I can’t say this print isn’t really much better than the copy I watched on the internet.The image is a bit murky and cloudy, I have seen worse but it is a bit disappointing. The DVD has no subtitles, no trailer for the movie itself but trailers for other movies that Cheezy Movies has released to home video. I am pleased that I didn’t pay more than eight dollars and change for this movie, but would have certainly paid more for a better produced product. However, I will keep it in my collection and watch it when I need to see Peter Cushing do his thing. I would recommend it for hard core fans of old British horror or Peter Cushing nuts (like myself); otherwise….there is nothing for you to see here.

At long last, the Tyburn horror movie from 1975, Legend of the Werewolf is on DVD! A company called Cheezy Films is responsible, which seems either appropriate or insulting, depending. The video and audio quality is that of a nice VHS rip, which is about what you would expect. Entirely serviceable, but by no means great.The movie itself is essentially a re-imagining of Hammer Film's Curse of the Werewolf released in the 60s, which is not only more famous but also all around better.Not to say that Legend doesn't have it's charms. It opens with wolves attacking a family on Christmas, then deciding to raise the family's newborn on their own for no reason. The feral boy is then found years later and adopted into a poor traveling circus and becomes their star attraction. He grows up with the circus people as his new family (the third if we're counting) until one night when he's an adult he tramsforms into a werewolf and kills them. Why didn't he ever transform before this point? Who knows. The film doesn't and doesn't seem to care too much, and honestly neither should the audience. He then runs away to Paris and things continue to go poorly him.Peter Cushing narrates the movie (which is lovely) and plays a character that eventually helps end the werewolf's bloody rampage. Ron Moody and Roy Castle also show up and are just as entertaining. The young actor playing the werewolf does a good job as well, being both intense and naive.If you enjoy werewolves, Peter Cushing, or have watched all the Hammer Horror films and still want more, pick this one up.

The quality of this DVD looks little better than if it had been mastered from VHS. The movie itself has aged badly, but it's always a pleasure to see Peter Cushing at work.

This DVD looks like a dupe from a VHS copy, with very washed out imagery. The film itself is not as classic as Curse of the Werewolf, it is still enjoyable saved mostly by the incomparable Peter Cushing.

5 étoiles pour ce très bon film avec Peter Cushing.Dommage que la source utilisée par Cheezy Movies était de si mauvaise qualité. Difficile à croire que c'était la meilleure source disponible pour ce film de la Tyburn Films Production.

This is a good Peter Cushing movie. Too bad the transfer is so poor. Can someone please put this out on Blu-ray?

This is a brief review of the newly released DVD of the 1975 movie Legend of the Werewolf.First thing to say is this a very poor DVD release for a movie that is crying out for a decent DVD/bluray remaster. If you think this is it - save your money and wait for a proper release. The movie has the video quality of a VHS version and is in harsh 4:3 aspect ratio (expect to squint to watch a square picture with prominent black bars at either side in the middle of your TV) and has a low audio buzz/hum throughout the movie akin to sitting through an old hired VHS cassette.The movie has Region 1 on the back cover but played on my Region 2 DVD/bluray player.My heart sank when I clicked Play and the movie started - the video quality and the background noise is just unacceptable for a new movie release in 2017. I love this movie and hoped this DVD release was the version I'd been waiting on, but no. The wait continues.Hugely disappointing.