The Day of the Beast (1995)
"El día de la bestia" (original title)

A basque priest finds by means of a cabalistic study of the bible that the anti-christ is going to be born on Christmas day in Madrid. Helped by a heavy-metal fan and by the showman of a TV... See full summary »

Director:

Álex de la Iglesia

Writers:

Jorge Guerricaechevarría, Álex de la Iglesia

Stars:

Álex Angulo, Armando De Razza, Santiago Segura

15 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Álex Angulo	...	Cura (as Alex Angulo)
Armando De Razza	...	Cavan
Santiago Segura	...	José María
Terele Pávez	...	Rosario (as Terele Pavez)
Nathalie Seseña	...	Mina
Maria Grazia Cucinotta	...	Susana
Gianni Ippoliti	...	Productor
Jaime Blanch	...	Toyota 1
David Pinilla	...	Toyota 2
Antonio Dechent	...	Toyota 3
Ignacio Carreño	...	Toyota 4
Saturnino García	...	Sacerdote Anciano (as Saturnino Garcia)
El Gran Wyoming	...	Nuevo Cavan (as Gran Wyoming)
Pololo	...	Abuelo Terminal
Higinio Barbero	...	Satán

Storyline

A basque priest finds by means of a cabalistic study of the bible that the anti-christ is going to be born on Christmas day in Madrid. Helped by a heavy-metal fan and by the showman of a TV esoteric program, he will try to invoke the devil to find out the place of birth and kill the baby.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | devil | priest | heavy metal | catholic priest | 

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Taglines:

A devilishly dark comedy

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong brutal violence, language, drug use and brief nudity

Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

23 December 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Day of the Beast

Filming Locations:

Aránzazu, Euskadi, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

€2,100,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$6,479 (USA) (25 December 1998)

Gross:

$15,324 (USA) (1 January 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+ España, Iberoamericana Films Producción, Sociedad General de Televisión (Sogetel)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The neon "Schweppes" sign on which the protagonists are hung from is at number 41 of the Gran Via (Capitol building, formerly known as Carrión building) in the heart of Madrid, Spain.

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Goofs

The last scene takes place nine months after Christmas, but the flowers and trees in the park show that it's early spring.

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Crazy Credits

Jaime Blanch's, David Pinilla's, Antonio Dechent's and Ignacio Carreño's characters are listed as "Toyota". These characters were replaced in later drafts of the scripts as "assailants". In the movie, they are called "Limpia Madrid", but credits still call them "Toyota."

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Connections

Referenced in En prácticas: Instituto RTVE (2010)

User Reviews

Instant Cult Classic!

On rare occasions, a movie appears that successfully mixes elements of comedy with those of horror without being silly, cheesy or vulgar. Alex De la Iglesia's superb "El Día de la Bestia" is definitely one of those movies.

With an interesting plot, very likable characters, good SFX(considering the low budget) and a great cast, this formidable movie from Spain turns instantly in a cult classic by it's own merits.

Alex Angulo stars as father Angel, a priest who is also a scholar of theology, and that has discovered that John's revelation contains encoded the date and place for the birth of the Antichrist: Christmas Eve of 1995 in Madrid. With that knowledge, he decides to turn himself into a satanist in order to discover the exact place of the birth. With the aid of metal-head Jose Maria(played by Santiago Segura) and the fake psychic Professor Cavas(played superbly by Armando De Razza), he goes on his quest to kill the baby before the anti-Christ's reign begins.

The story is filled with very dark humor as the priest has to sin in order for him to be convincing enough as a satanist. Alex Angulo really carries the film and gives a great performance, but is Armando De Razza who steals the show; Cavas and his girlfriend(played by beautiful Maria Grazia Cucinotta) have a great scene and Maria shines on her small role as the dumb blonde who dates Cavas.

De la Iglesia takes us on the roller-coaster that is this movie, as it never drags and goes on with a fast-paced rhythm. A great camera-work makes the film even better and the bizarre beauty of it's photography, contrasting the colorful Christmas with the dark gritty violence of the streets of Madrid.

Overall a near-perfect film, "El Día de la Bestia" will keep you entertained with it's irreverent(some would say blasphemous) dark humor.

10/10. Very recommended.