El día de la bestia (1995)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Álex de la Iglesia

Writers:

Jorge Guerricaechevarría (writer)
Álex de la Iglesia (writer)

Release Date:

23 December 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

A devilishly dark comedy

Plot:

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...

Plot Keywords:

Devil | Christmas | Priest | Heavy Metal | Christmas Eve

Awards:

15 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

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
Pololo	...	Abuelo terminal
Higinio Barbero	...	Satán

Also Known As:

Il giorno della bestia (Italy)
The Day of the Beast

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

103 min | USA:99 min

Country:

Spain | Italy

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

France:-12 | South Korea:18 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Mexico:C

Filming Locations:

Aránzazu, Euskadi, Spain

Company:

Canal+ España

Goofs:

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

Movie Connections:

References "The Stand" (1994)

Highly recommended mix of chills, thrills and fun.

I have become increasingly dissatisfied with most of Hollywood's output, horror or otherwise. Too many movies are either highly cynical commercial products, aimed at teenagers with no discernment or real love of movies, compromised messes that please no-one, stale rehashes of previous works, or just plain STUPID. 'The Day Of The Beast' is none of these things! I was almost put off by the packaging with it's description of a "horror action comedy", expecting some kind of juvenile 'Army Of Darkness' crap (a movie I have no time for). Surprisingly, it DOES have horror, action and comedy, but blends them in original and exciting ways Hollywood hasn't dreamed of. Just compare this to recent supernatural themed thrillers like the brain-dead 'End Of Days' or 'Stigmata', and you'll see that director Alex de la Iglesia is working on a much more intelligent and provocative level.

'The Day Of The Beast' concerns a naive priest's attempts to summon Satan so that he can try and prevent the birth of the Antichrist and Armageddon. He befriends a hilarious acid-gobbling Metal fan (the wonderful Santiago Segura), and with the reluctant assistance of the host of a TV show dealing with the paranormal, the two comrades bumble through a series of adventures while trying to complete their task. The whacky humour and general silliness is balanced with a genuinely dark vision of Madrid and this is what gives this movie such a unique flavour. It juggles comedy, horror and social criticism marvellously, and never loses sight of it's themes of faith, evil and moral responsibility.

I can't recommend this movie highly enough as the antidote to the onslaught of contemporary asinine horror and fantasy movies. Make sure you track down the original undubbed Spanish version to fully appreciate it. 'The Day Of The Beast' ranks up with Mexico's 'Cronos' and Canada's 'Ginger Snaps' as one of the most imaginative and original horror movies of the last ten years. Don't miss it!