DVD Review: The Beast Must Die

[Chris Olson]

http://www.creature-corner.com/?type=reviews&id=3325

[IggytheBorg]

Nice review, Chris. I saw this years ago in its entirety, and recall very litle about it. I think I liked it, but the fact that you thought it was a bit tedious may be why I don't remember much of it. I always kind of thought of it as "Shaft" meets "The Wolfman" or something. You can definitely tell within 2-3 years the date of production just by looking at it, so it comes across as a bit dated, IMO. Worth a look, I think, particularly for werewolf fans, but don't blind buy this.

Edited to add: I f I still could, you'd have reaped a greenie for this.

[Paul McCartney]

I liked this for what it is. For rancid early-70s schlock you watch at 3 a.m., this can't be beat.

However, the "mystery" is a complete crock of shit. While I always appreciate a good "werewolf break" in a movie (JOE SOMEBODY had an especially well-timed werewolf break), there are no clues given as to who the werewolf may be.

In fact, when it shows Cushing handling a silver bullet with a handkerchief, I took that as a fairly good sign that he was the wolf. However, it turns out to be Michael Gambon, whose only clue was that he desperately tries to drive away in a 4WD, which happened in the first 10 minutes and I was pretty sure was meant to be a red herring at the time.

[Chris Olson]

Yeah, like I said, it's not necessarily a bad movie, and I think horror fans would do well to check it out, but man...it was a bit of a chore to make through to the end. At one point, I remember thinking, "Man, I must be like three hours into this movie. Apparently the director wanted to make a movie that would make Greed feel short by comparison." Then I looked at the clock on my DVD player, and realized that only 20 minutes had gone by.

It's a fairly decent slice of 70s cheese, and it's definitely not the worst thing I've ever seen, but it's the epitome of a rental only title.