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The only werewolf movie that has a werewolf break to guess who the werewolf is. A rare movie in as much as you cannot get it on download.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
I'm writing this primarily because Ebay keeps emailing me asking for reviews! Since I find it difficult being eloquent about the relative merits of a kettle lead or pack of paper plates, I have until now spared myself (and the reader) that dubious pleasure. But as there is now a DVD in my 'won' box which requests the benefit of my reviewer's prowess, I feel compelled to oblige. 'The Beast Must Die' (1974) is one of the strangest films I've seen in a while. During my preteens I was rather a fan of vintage horror films, usually produced by Hammer and starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, or by Universal Studios featuring the talents of Boris Karlof, Bela Lugosi, and Lon Chaney Jr. But there were one or two unique movies from my childhood that have always stuck in my memory, despite growing up (and developing more sophisticated cinematic tastes). One of them is 'The Beast Must Die' which I first saw when I was about 10. It is meant to be a werewolf film, I think, and yet it doesn't feel like one. The music is straight out of a 1970's porn film - but then, so is the music from most movies made during that era! This helps to ruin any atmosphere that might otherwise lend itself to a few frights. The plot is brilliant - and for this reason I hope they remake it one day, as a properly scary horror film/thriller. Borrowing liberally from an Agatha Christie style whodunnit, a rich protagonist gathers a group of likely suspects to stay at his country estate, where they then proceed to get picked-off one by one as he attempts to unmask the killer. This is a fun premise, and mixes well with the werewolf genre. Added to this is 'The Werewolf Break' where the film is interrupted halfway through and the audience gets to watch a clock tick away 30 seconds of their life while they are instructed to guess who the werewolf is. (An amusing gimmick that fits right in and isn't as awful as it sounds - though I would suggest that they leave it out of the remake!) What truly lets the film down is the werewolf - or lack thereof. There is no transformation scene - crucial in any true werewolf film - and the creature itself (when you finally get to see it) is depicted by a rather dopey-looking black dog with its tongue lolling out in a decidedly un-menacing fashion! It's plain silly, and ultimately ruins the film. However, as a young child I had thoroughly enjoyed it, and that is why I bought it on Ebay. And I don't regret it. My money has been well spent on a film that serves not to scare me, but instead to fill me with amused nostalgia.Read full review
Now, admittedly THE BEAST MUST DIE is not very scary, but it is charmingly oldfashioned and unusual enough to keep you interested. Yes, the "werewolf" is clearly a German shepherd dog with a big attached fur (specifically evident in a scene were the "werewolf" fights our hero's dog), but personally I did not find it unintentionally funny. Wisely the "werewolf" is seldom shown and mostly relegated to the shadows. Don`t expect a horror film, think of it as a kind of Agatha CHRISTIE like murder mystery with a werewolf. There are lots of red herrings, wrong clues and some quite good unexpected plot twists toward the end (don't worry, I will not spoil them). And of course there is the well-known gimmick of this film, the "werewolf break" - it is so well known that I don't regard it as spoiler to mention it (towards the end the picture freezeframes and to the sight of a superimposed ticking clock you got 30 seconds to figure out who of the remaining suspects is the werewolf). A great idea! The cast is great, particularly Peter CUSHING as werewolf expert and Anton DIFFRING as surveillance guy Pavel. Overall it is an entertaining fun film that will appeal to fans of murder mysteries and werewolves alike!Thanks for reading.Read full review
A whodunnit/werewolf crossover. I personally really like this film although most probably won't. The story is quite good, the acting is passable however the production values unfortunately leave a little bit to be desired. This film is noted for it's unique "werewolf break" where you are given 30 seconds to guess who it is. Good old fashioned british horror in the same vein as Hammer, with a twist.
Tom Newcliffe, a rich businessman and expert hunter summons six guests to his huge country estate which he has rigged up with video cameras and a high-tech security system. He tells them and his surprised wife that they are all to stay over a weekend and that all of them will be kept on the estate during that weekend. For each guest, dead bodies have followed in their wake and the way that the dead have been murdered means that one of the guest is a werewolf and Tom has summoned his guests here to discover who it is and to hunt it down... The film has a clip at the beginning asking people in the audience to try to identify the werewolf and near the end there is a 30-second "Werewolf Break" for the audience to think over the evidence... Stars Calvin Lockhart, Peter Cushing, Michael Gambon and Charles Gray. This is the recent Dark Skys release in R1. It comes with director commentary and featurette.Read full review
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