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THE BEAST MUST DIE

A WEREWOLF MYSTERY FOR AGATHA CHRISTIE FANS



★★★☆☆ (Good for One Viewing)

Director: Paul Annett

1974


The Beast Must Die opens with a Black man running for his life through a vast forest. We watch with dread as technology scattered through the woods—cameras, motion sensors, and heat trackers—keeps tabs on him and hinder his escape as helicopters chase him. A truck of armed men get close to his location and corner him in a field where a picnicking group of rich people watch, horrified. This aggressive opener, along with a cackling narrator daring us to guess who the beast might be, makes this film stand out among so many werewolf films. It’s nowhere near the classic An American Werewolf in London, but it’s no Mad at the Moon, either. The Beast Must Die is a murder mystery where the audience must figure out who among these horrible people trapped in a mansion is the toothy suspect. Because the antagonist is the protagonist, and the characters are only one-dimensional, you don’t really connect to anyone, but it’s a puzzle worth checking out if only to watch Peter Cushing creep his way across the screen as the werewolf-enthusiast/archaeologist. The Beast Must Die is a soup made up of The Most Dangerous Game, Predators, and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. In a sea of hairy beast films, you will likely remember this one on account of the unique setup and diverse cast.



Cushing’s character is one of a handful of wealthy people invited to Tom Newcliffe’s (Calvin Lockhart) estate in the middle of nowhere (12 miles from town, as someone points out), but it’s not for the good food and pleasant scenery. Each person is connected to murder or cannibalism, and Tom is determined to keep them trapped in his house until he finds out which one is the werewolf. The lord of the manor is a lunatic from the get-go. Ignoring the objections of his kindly wife Caroline, he has set up an Orwellian, high-tech perimeter on his land that would get nods of approval from Mark Zuckerberg. If someone sneezes, Tom will know about it. When one of his guests tries to escape, he quickly finds them and brings them back.


But it turns out Tom is right. On the very first night, a creature breaks into his house and kills someone in charge of security, causing the now desperate guests to try and get around Tom’s perimeter. Bodies start to pile up in hilarious scenes of bad wolf action, but you don’t watch The Beast Must Die for scares or gore. You stay to see where the movie is going and how far off the deep-end Tom’s going to fall. I’m not sure what lesson we’re supposed to take away from this film aside from the simple “idle hands are the devil’s playground” message. If Tom remained poor, would his zeal for hunting turn to madness? If he wasn’t so rich, would he be this bored? While I loathe remakes, this movie has all the ingredients for improvement by the hands of Jordan Peele or Rian Johnson. The Beast Must Die is a great outline for a story that just needs more flesh.





GENRE: Diverse Characters, Monster/Creature, Psychological


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