The Beast Must Die (1974) User Reviews

Very fun werewolf movie

[Chromium_5 · 7/10 · 17 September 2005]

One of the good things about the AMC channel is the later you watch it, the weirder the movies get. This one came on at about 1:30 in the morning, and as soon as the creepy narration announced "This is a detective story... where YOU are the detective," I knew I was in for something cool. The narration is followed by an offbeat opening where a black guy (dressed in all black) is running through the woods being chased by a bunch of military types, against a jazz soundtrack. Turns out he's testing out his new security system, and sure enough, there's no way to avoid getting caught on these premises.

After the weird opening, the movie settles down into a pretty straightforward plot. It's really a combination of 'The Most Dangerous Game' and 'Ten Little Indians' (the "guess the culprit" gimmick is practically stolen from the latter movie). A wealthy hunter has gathered a group of guests, one of whom is a werewolf, in order to hunt the ultimate game. But finding out who the werewolf is turns out to be trickier than expected...

The cast is actually quite impressive, and odds are you'll be less interested in figuring out who the werewolf is than figuring out where you've seen all these people before (I'm still racking my brain on Anton Diffring). Of course, every movie like this has at least one unintentionally funny part, and in this one it's Peter Cushing's Dr. Lundgren, the Werewolf Expert. Cushing is a fine actor, but he almost becomes a running joke here, because every time someone asks him about werewolves he goes off on this long spiel describing werewolves in scientific detail that must be heard to be believed. Thanks to this movie, I now know that lycanthropy is caused by a defect in the lymphatic system, and that silver can't harm a werewolf unless there's pollen in the air (?), etc.

This a B-movie, for sure, but a pretty good one. It's well done and suspenseful, and it will keep you interested until the very end. Very much worth watching. 8/10 stars.

The Werewolf Break

[bensonmum2 · 6/10 · 29 July 2006]

Tom Newcliffe (Calvin Lockhart) is a man of wealth who has enjoyed hunting just about every animal possible. He has invited a group of friends to his house for a hunting party. But this is no ordinary hunt. Newcliffe has it in his head that one of his friends is a werewolf. He's not sure which friend he will be hunting, but over the three night full moon cycle, he's sure the werewolf will show himself. Unfortunately for Newcliffe and the rest of his party, a werewolf proves to be the most cunning and dangerous game he's faced.

I'll never list The Beast Must Die among my favorite films, but it's certainly enjoyable enough. The concept is original. I can't remember seeing anything similar. Much of the film is presented not so much as a horror movie, but as a mystery. These elements of The Beast Must Die worked for me. I found myself playing along as I tried to decipher the clues to the werewolf's identity. And in the end I was able to pat myself on the back for at least being half right. The Beast Must Die even gives the viewer a chance to stop and thing things over before the identity of the werewolf. William Castle would be proud of the Werewolf Break. Sure, it's gimmicky, but it's a fun, interesting touch.

There are a few things I would have liked to see done differently. I've never been much of a fan of werewolves that are more wolf than man. The werewolf in The Beast Must Die has no human characteristics. It's a wolf (okay, it's really a dog, but you get the idea). Also, I wasn't overly impressed with the lead actor Calvin Lockhart. He's just a little too over-the-top and outrageous to be effective.

Decent werewolf mystery.

[Teknofobe70 · 5/10 · 8 May 2005]

"This is a murder mystery in which you are the detective ... but instead of 'who is the murderer?', the question is 'who is the werewolf?' ..." And so we have an eccentric millionaire who gathers together a group of six people, including his wife, in his mansion and states that one of them is a werewolf. How does he know this? Well, we don't question such things. There is a newly-reunited couple, an ex-United Nations delegate, an eccentric biologist, and an expert on werewolf folklore. Over a period of three terrifying nights, he narrows down the list of suspects to discover who the beast is ...

The movie opens with Calvin Lockhart running through his estate, being pursued by commandos and monitored by the new high-tech security system which he is testing. That opening sequence goes on and on, and there are many such tedious 'chase' scenes in the movie which make it something of a chore to watch. Ultimately it took me three attempts to finally get through this whole movie, and that's never a good sign. It's a shame, because there are some really great scenes as well ... the climax inparticular is suitably thrilling. We have pretty much an all-star cast in this movie, so if you're a fan of Peter Cushing, Sir Michael Gambon (currently playing Dumbledore), Charles Gray or 'blaxploitation' actors Calvin Lockhart and Marlene Clark, then you'll probably want to see this. Thanks to this casting, the acting is slightly above average for a B-movie, but nothing spectacular. It almost fits into the blaxploitation category itself, thanks to the jazzy, funky soundtrack and the alternative marketing title "Black Werewolf".

As for the 'guess the werewolf' element, as far as I can tell you can only narrow it down to three characters before the 'werewolf break' comes along, and then it's just a case of guessing between them. I guessed wrongly (although the character I chose would have made for a better ending), but as I suspected, the werewolf break was something that was added later by the producers and it wasn't the director's idea. The film wasn't made with this in mind, so it's actually impossible to guess for sure who the werewolf is. In fact, Paul Annett hated the idea of the 'werewolf break'.

Overall this is a fairly entertaining werewolf B-movie, and werewolf enthusiasts will probably enjoy it, but it could have been better.

Entertaining, Enjoyable Schlock!

[BaronBl00d · 22 November 1999]

A millionaire brings an assortment of characters to his heavily secured home and plenty of acreage around it. He then tells each that they were brought for a reason...that one of them is a werewolf. The rest of the story goes through the paces of finding out who the beast is and what must be done with it. I did not have the version with the game on it...my copy was called Black Werewolf(a poor job in renaming the film and it added awful title cards as well). This is the 70s film all around. The outfits, the hairstyles, and that awful-yet-appropriate soundtrack are all signs of the times. The movie is cheesy and yet fun to watch. Calvin Lockhart, as the lead, is like George Jefferson on steroids. The supporting cast is filled with stalwarts from the British stage and screen, amongst them Charles Gray, Anton Diffring, and the ever-affable Peter Cushing as the dispenser of knowledge dealing with lycanthropy. A pleasant diversion to watch!

Interesting take on the werewolf genre.

[Captain_Couth · 3/10 · 22 June 2004]

The Beast must Dies (1974) was an interesting version of the tired werewolf tale. Calvin Lockhart is the main character and for a change he's a wealthy black big game hunter who wants to catch his biggest prize to date, a werewolf. He brings several suspected individuals to his palacial complex and plays Ten Little Indians with the guests. They're an odd lot and anyone of them can be....The Werewolf!!! The movies also an interactive one because at the beginning of the feature, an off screen narrator asks if you can solve the mystery. The great Peter Cushing guest stars and brings some British Horror credibility to the film.

From those lovable people at Amicus. Whilst Hammer Films was in it's death throes as a film company, Amicus for a time picked up the slack. Several key members from the Hammer Studios left the company and eagerly worked for the rivals at Amicus. Famous for their omnibus tales of terror, they tried something different and the result was "The Beast Must Die". Not your typical film about werewolves but it's entertaining despite the low budgeted special effects and bad night time lighting. Other than that, it's a great film.

Recommended.

B

xxx

Had the potential to be better, but still interesting.

[gridoon · 6/10 · 5 April 2001]

This low-budget horror film had an innovative concept, mixing rather successfully a traditional Agatha Christie-type murder mystery with a "gory" werewolf flick; the result does hold your attention but is marred by wooden acting (except for the excellent Peter Cushing) and a few overextended chase scenes. As another reviewer noted, no real clues are given to us to help us figure out the identity of the werewolf, so it's strictly a matter a guessing, but there is some fun in the game... (**1/2)

The beast must die...sigh

[ct_galvin · 5/10 · 8 August 2007]

what a great idea. badly executed. the best big game hunter in the world tries to kill a werewolf. seems to me like he was one of the worst shots, let alone one of the worst hunters in the world. not once did he use his skills, relying on everyone else around him to do the work for him, and he could just walk in for the kill. wheres the honour in killing your foe with a machine gun? i sat and watched as a film i'd wanted to see went plodding along until the end(though the ending was quite good). a weak film with some 'jazzy' music. what would terence fisher have done with it? made it fun at least. for once, a remake might do this idea justice. and make it scary this time, darnit!

Well-made werewolf movie deserves to be better known

[Erewhon · 7/10 · 14 March 1999]

Others commenting here seem to have been distracted by the "game" aspect of the movie, which was, of course, a gimmick added after the movie was finished.

Although the story really required a larger budget, this well-cast, intelligent horror thriller is well worth watching. The story is reasonably suspenseful, the direction good enough most of the time, and it is unusual in depicting the central villain as someone who LOVES being a werewolf. It's based on a good novel, which was given reasonably respectful treatment.

Someone Put This Dog Of A Film To Sleep

[Theo Robertson · 4/10 · 9 June 2015]

Some people may have very fond memories of this film and you can perhaps see why . This is the film that's famous - or infamous depending on how you look at it - for "the werewolf break" where the audience are allowed to discuss who they think is the werewolf . First of all can you imagine watching this at the cinema in 1974 and some smart arse shouting out "I saw this last week and it's (Insert character name here ) . Secondly you have to care who the werewolf might be and on first showing I couldn't have cared less . In effect THE BEAST MUST DIE is a whodunit and like every story in that genre there's only any real value in watching this type of story once and that's where this film fails

!!!! SUGGESTIVE SPOILERS !!!!!

In fact the whole is constructed in to constantly pulling the rug out from under the audience . Take the opening scene where Tom Newcliffe is on the run through some remote forest . Played by Calvin Lockhart Tom is black his pursuers are white and being a 1970s film that can mean only one thing - a modern day lynching but don't jump to conclusions because Tom is a multimillionaire playboy big game hunter type and he's invited a group of people who he believes one is a werewolf . Who is it ? You decide at the werewolf break

Another problem is you really don't care about these characters . Lockhart himself is a fairly lousy actor and gives the impression he's playing the role as Peter Wyngarde would while stoned . Peter Cushing sleeps walk through the entire film , Michael Gambon looks like a German porn star and acts accordingly while Tom Chadbon looks like a Swedish gay porn star and acts accordingly while Ciaran Madden doesn't do any acting accordingly or other wise unless it involves screaming . In fact the nest performance comes from the German Shepard dog whose name is probably called Fido and even he can't give a very good performance as a werewolf . Yes that's right the werewolf is actually played bog which is as every bit as unconvincing as the day for night scenes . Who is the werewolf ? Who cares !

Good film about werewolves produced by Amicus and as secondary the great Peter Cushing

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 14 February 2006]

The film concerns on Tom Newcliff (Calvin Lockhart) , a wealthy businessman , great hunter and sportsman living with his wife (M.Clark) and his foreman (Anton Driffing) at a luxurious mansion . He has pursued and hunted all kind species with exception a werewolf . Thus , he invites a group of six men (Peter Cushing , Charles Gray , Michael Gambon..) and women related with weird killings about the eating of human flesh and nobody can leave the location . One of the occupants turns into werewolf at the full moon and stricken a rare pollen flower . Then , he undergoes a dental and hirsute transformation at night and going on a murderous rampage every time the moon is full . Tom investigates the guest who converts in night beast and trying to chase him , increasing his enormous collection at his isolated lodge .

The movie is a detective story in which you are the detective . The question is not ¨who is the murder¨? but ¨Who is the werewolf¨? . After all the clues have been shown we will get a chance to give your answer . The picture is a crossover of Blaxexploitation's protagonists , Agatha Christie whodunit (Ten little Indians) , horror mythic about werewolves and even gimmicks -William Castle type- on its intervening period when give to public some seconds for resolving the strange enigma . The transformation of man into werewolf is simple without special effects . Calvin Lockhart as obstinate and relentless hunter is top-notch ; besides , being surrounded by a highly capable secondary cast . Special mention for Peter Cushing ,as always he is excellent as specialist of knowledge on Lycanthropy . The screenwriter provided a very serviceable and well-knit screenplay with suspense and tension , giving full rein to director Paul Annett's natural talent .

The Hunter Games

[thesar-2 · 5/10 · 2 June 2022]

This movie is OLD, and not because it came out the month after I was born. Peter Cushing actually ran in this movie!

This plot isn't new - as it's been used since in The Incredible Hulk series and most famously in John Carpenter's The Thing, but it's still entertaining. Several guests are invited to a rich hunter's secluded home and almost immediately he springs his motives: One of the guests is a werewolf and the Host intends to make sure, by the third Moonlit night...the Beast Must Die!

But, whodunnit? I'm sorry, I meant, who is it? Don't worry about answering - there's an actual "Werewolf Break" for you to think about your answer. You think I'm joking?

(And, I still totally guessed wrong!)

I saw this as a kid and while I do recall liking it, I haven't seen it since. I placed it in one of my October Lineups one year as I select as rare to me horror movies for each day of October. This WAS available for streaming when I made my October list that year, but by the time October rolled around, it vanished. Recently, one of my favorite YouTubers covered this movie, so I decided to search for it again as it's been probably 40 years since I've seen it and thankfully, it returned!

Well, before I thank the stars, it was just alright. Mercifully, while it feels slow at times and oh-boy that 70s disco soundtrack is annoying, it's only 87 minutes. And I never cared for the werewolf movies where they turn into dogs. The standup, menacing kinds like in The Howling is more my jam.

It has a good premise, I've always loved the poster and it contained some surprisingly decent actors portraying some interesting characters. Plus, it has a wonderful and suspenseful climax. It gets a recommendation out of me.

Now that it's fresh in my head, I'll go watch Fanboy's review of this on YouTube. And sometime soon, I just gotta, ah-hem, track down the other Werewolf movie I recall seeing only as a little kid: The Boy Who Cried Werewolf.

***

Final Thoughts: So, this movie got me thinking and I had to consult my lawyer friend. If this man brings people to his secluded home, makes sure they stay there while he tries to pinpoint the werewolf and the beast starts making everyone else die...isn't that Host an accessory to murder after the fact? And I WAS RIGHT!

Of course, asking a real lawyer such a bizarre question might have lost my credibility for further legal advice, so I may need to keep myself out of trouble for a while.

I actually LIKE this film!

[curemad_jelly_tot · 8/10 · 21 August 2009]

This film is a fun spin on the 'whodunnit' genre of films, rather than working out who committed a crime you're actually playing 'whoisit' and trying to work out who is a werewolf.

It is very cheesy (typical 70s scenes, including the obligatory car chase sequence) and highly amusing in some parts, particularly the camp horror voice overs when the film gives you instructions and later asks you to solve the puzzle in the 'werewolf break'.

The obnoxiousness of the main character, Tom Newcliffe, amused me greatly. The other characters are also entertaining in their own ways, particularly the pompous Arthur Bennington, the eerily peculiar Paul Foote, the educated Dr. Lundgren, and Tom's level-headed wife Caroline.

Expect extreme cheese in terms of the scenes, soundtrack and lines, a bit of fun, small budget, and some over acting and I'm sure you'll find it as entertaining as I did. Great to watch with friends so you can try to guess who the werewolf is. Having watched this film numerous times, I can say there are enough clues to woprk it out, but they are quite subtle.

The Beast Must Die was a partly unusual werewolf movie

[tavm · 7/10 · 7 July 2018]

Continuing to review werewolf movies in chronological order, we're now at 1974 with The Beast Must Die. A rich man invites his friends over to his home on an island to determine which one of them is the werewolf. I'll stop there and just say while there are some moments that seem illogical, I was mostly entertained through and through. And that "werewolf break" in which the narrator gives us 30 seconds to guess as stills of the characters pass by and a printed clock appears on screen is pure genius though I didn't guess right. Nice performances by lead Calvin Lockhart as well as supporting ones from Charles Gray, Michael Gambon, and horror veteran Peter Cushing, among others. So on that note, The Beast Must Die is worth a look.

Nice formula but it ignores the ‘horror' a bit

[Coventry · 5/10 · 26 February 2004]

Amicus was a neat little production company that specialized itself in creating extremely enjoyable omnibus horror films. Especially in the early seventies, they satisfied a large thrill-seeking audience with terror-anthologies like `Asylum', `The Vault of Horror', From Beyond the Grave' and even the original `Tales from the Crypt' Also, you have to admit that they constantly tried to be imaginative and innovating…and The Beast Must Die is the perfect example to state this. It presents a rather original and new format that involves the viewer. At the beginning and near the end, this film specifically requests the public to join a search. Pretty clever, since this is only a simple method but it does demand the viewer's immediate attention! The particular search is a werewolf-hunt! Six persons – four males and two females – spend the weekend at a huge ranch. The moon is full, all the necessary scenery is present and at the end of the weekend, the werewolf has to be exposed! Personally, I rather enjoyed this formula…it's a nice change and very entertaining nonetheless. Unfortunately, The Beast Must Die lacks a bit of professionalism to be listed among the better horror titles. It's all pretty cheap and especially the make-up and creature effects disappoint. The werewolf isn't the least bit impressive and there are too few shock-sequences to make the film memorable. Actually, aside from the werewolf theme and the presence of horror-regular Cushing, The Beast Must Die has very little to do with horror! It merely is action/adventure with just a tint of mystery and horror. Regarding the cast, it is veteran Peter Cushing who impresses the most as the specialist-professor in the field of ‘Lycanthropes'. The rest of the cast is rather unknown with the exception of Anton Diffring, here in a delightful little role. If you like classic horror and you're not familiar with Anton Diffring, I advise you to run out to the nearest videostore and rent `Circus of Horrors'.

Werewolf whodunit.

[dbdumonteil · 4 February 2006]

It was released with gimmick of murder-minute for the audience to guess killer.This had already been used by George Pollock in his remake of "and then there were none" (Agatha Christie's "ten little Indians" 1965).

This is the only originality of a movie which hesitates between a pure whodunit with clues (which are not particularly obvious except maybe Caroline's bleeding hand) and a watered-down version of "the most dangerous game" (Schoedsack,1932).The characters are not interesting enough to sustain suspense and we do not really care who the werewolf is.

A completely unremarkable film.

[13Funbags · 3/10 · 9 May 2017]

This movie seems like a decent made for TV flick but apparently it wasn't made for TV.Which makes it a below average regular movie.The first thing I noticed is that it's impossible to figure out what country they are in.The cars have the steering wheels on the right side and a few people seem to have British accents so maybe it's England?But they are deep in a forest and the lead guy(who has an accent I can't figure out) keeps saying it's miles to "the village" so then I think it's not England.Oh well.Anyway, it's a very slow moving story and you know from the start that you are supposed to figure out who the werewolf is.All this movie succeeded at was making me even more confused about werewolves.I was going to give it two stars but the narrator from The Rocky Horror Picture Show is in it so I gave it an extra star.

I Wanna Shoot Me A Werewolf

[ShootingShark · 6/10 · 2 May 2005]

An obsessive big-game hunter lures a party of six, one of whom is a werewolf, to his high-tech mansion with the intention of bagging a lycanthrope for his collection.

This is a great silly little film with a wonderful idea - take the premise of Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game, mix it with Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None and throw in a wacky werewolf twist to boot !! Michael Winder's entertaining script also has a goofy guess-the-monster break in the action, complete with a sinister voice-over by Dyall. Plus, it's a fantastic piece of casting to pit mannered, Adonis-physiqued, action-man blaxploitation star Lockhart as a Great Black Hunter against a troupe of sniffling luvvy British thesps like the mincing Chadbon - even if Lockhart is a bit of a psycho you can't help but want him to shoot them !! Diffring and Cushing distinguish themselves with excellent clipped performances and Amicus moguls Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky ensure the film's production values are high - Lockhart's mansion is a terrific sprawl of drawing-rooms, hallways, outhouses and several hectares of Berkshire pine forest. The werewolf itself is a bit of a let down - it's a big German Shepherd with some hair extensions - though it does make a terrific entrance looking down through a skylight in the scene where it kills Diffring. This is a fun film, with scares and scene-chewing aplenty.

Ideas vs execution

[MissSimonetta · 4/10 · 14 August 2022]

Any storyteller knows ideas are cheap. Anyone can come up with a crazy , cool concept for a plot. Everything boils down to the execution. In a movie, this is especially complicated, because not only does the writing need to be solid, but you need inspired direction, camerawork, and acting to pull it all together.

THE BEAST MUST DIE is a classic example of a cool idea mauled by horrible execution. Imagine a cross between THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME and AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, only with werewolves and Peter Cushing. Sounds awesome, right? Unfortunately, no. This movie is a slog, directed like a TV movie and bogged down with wooden acting. There is not a single suspenseful moment. It's not even fun schlock, just a waste of time.

NOT EXACTLY A "HOWLING" GOOD TIME, BUT...

[stusviews · 6/10 · 28 March 2021]

An odd little horror flick-slash-whodunit that is part "Ten Little Indians," part "The Most Dangerous Game," part haunted house thriller, and all low-budget (but supremely entertaining) fun. An eccentric millionaire harboring a fascination for werewolves invites guests to his countryside mansion, where he intends to prove that one of them is, indeed, a werewolf. There are plot holes galore, but the excellent British cast, the William Castle-esque "werewolf break" (during which the audience is asked to guess wolfie's identity), the unexpected triple-whammy (and deeply ironic) ending, and the use of the "Jeopardy" theme (!) make up for it. The "clues" aren't nearly as plentiful or as clear as advertised, and the soundtrack is straight out of a 70s-era action flick, but no matter. A little-known gem that is most definitely worth seeing.

Boring boring boring

[missraziel · 1/10 · 7 September 2020]

Managed to watch it thru and it was so boring, no story, no sense and no fulfilment....avoid this one, it's one of Amicus's lamest movies!

Should have been called "Ten Little Werewolves"

[Prichards12345 · 6/10 · 12 January 2009]

Eccentric millionaires, huh? If they're not hiring Elton John to do a birthday party they're inviting guests to stay at their plush pad in the middle of nowhere on the off chance that one of them is a werewolf. Some of the guests had a few dodgy dealings in the past, you see - including tasting human flesh. The fact that one of them did it as a medical student prank doesn't satisfy our intrepid millionaire hunter one little bit.

That's the premise. Tom Newcliffe (Calvin Lockhart) having obviously watched The Most Dangerous Game at some point, decides to hunt the greatest game of all - Man himself. His guests, played by, amongst others, Peter Cushing, Charles Gray Michael Gambon and a Rick Wakeman look-alike who was obviously chosen for the part because he resembles a Werewolf, treat it as a joke at first; but when the werewolf turns up to spoil the party, they fail to see the funny side.

This is a watchable, very curious film indeed. Riffing on werewolves, funky seventies blaxploitation movies, Agatha Christie and Hammer Films, there really isn't anything like it out there in movie-land. Compelling it may be but it's also unintentionally funny.

Our Hero spends a fortune on a state of the art security system only to see it wrecked in moments because he put a bloody massive window in the surveillance room for the Werewolf to get in by...

Our Hero decides to hunt the wolf by helicopter. For such a famed hunter he's a bit rubbish, actually. He not only misses several easy shots he also manages to blow up the helicopter.

His attempts to beat his own security system at the beginning results in total failure. He gets caught about 20 times by what look like the blokes from the old Tetleys Tea adverts.

The car chase sequence, when he pursues a rightly terrified Michael Gambon (our hero must be at least a bit barking after all) is conducted at the speed of 20 miles an hour.

In spite of knowing there's a werewolf killer on the loose, Our hero never locks any doors. He even thinks his own wife might be the werewolf. Marriage guidance Counsellors would have a field day.

The werewolf is actually a rather large dog. He looks very friendly judging by his playing with the helicopter pilot, who is found to have his throat ripped out afterwards. That is when it isn't played by what looks like a piece of carpet.

Saying all that is meant affectionately. This is great fun if you're in the mood and don't take it seriously (how could you possibly - it's a werewolf/Shaft murder mystery!!!) They should really have ended it like Murder on The Orient Express and have everyone a werewolf - including our Hero!

No Great Hunter Here

[imlong54 · 3/10 · 14 January 2021]

The main character, portrayed woodenly by Calvin Lockhart, is supposed to be some great hunter but he cannot seem to hit the broad side of the barn. Nothing really happens for the first 45 minutes and what action does follow is lackluster. A great British cast, including Peter Cushing, Charles Gray, Michael Gambon etc. look bored most of the time. Can't recommend this one.

A refreshingly good werewolf movie

[DPMay · 8/10 · 25 August 2008]

You might think that if you've seen one werewolf movie, you've seen them all. Well, that may be largely true, but "The Beast Must Die" differs from most entries in the genre.

For starters it is not centred around the person who is the werewolf, and so dispenses with the usual associated plot lines such as the angst a person goes through knowing that they'll turn into a killer come the next full moon.

No, this film, as it proudly boasts via an opening narration is a whodunit, or (I quote) "a detective story... in which YOU are the detective". In short you have to guess which of the small ensemble team of characters is the werewolf.

The characters are the somewhat unwilling guests of millionaire playboy Tom Newcliffe (Calvin Lockhart). Newcliffe's favourite hobby is hunting animals and as he knows one of his guests is a werewolf, he thinks it will be fun to hunt and kill the animal. But which of them is it? Although this film doesn't have a great reputation, it's actually quite good. The cast is small but strong, containing such notable names as Charles Gray, Michael Gambon and that assured veteran of British horror films of this era, Peter Cushing. The werewolf itself is well-handled, coming across as a genuine threat, especially as it is portrayed as a real (and rather large) wolf rather than by an actor in several layers of facial fur. It's fast, it's clever and it even breaks into the house to kill people. I won't spoilt them here, but there are some nice plot twists towards the end, leading to a conclusion which really enforces the fact that the beast MUST die...

The story is well-paced and full of incident. However, I find there are places where it occasionally lacks sufficient depth. How does Newcliffe know for certain that one of his guests is a werewolf? Using his logic, that they have all been present in cities where mysterious killings have taken place, they could ALL be werewolves! Also, why were the guests all so willing to turn up at his house? A little more expansion on them would have helped, particularly as we, the audience, is supposed to be playing detective.

Towards the end of the film we get a 30-second "Werewolf Break" when it's time to guess who the werewolf is. A novel idea, but unfortunately "guess" is the operative word here as there are really no proper clues given within the narrative that single one of the suspects out ahead of all the others. Naturally, being a whodunit, they are all made to look suspicious.

In its fashions and music, the film is very much of its time. The direction is slick for the most part, though there's a lengthy car chase early on when Michael Gambon's character tries to escape, and this looks rather undramatic as action sequences go.

But overall this film has lots to commend it. The negative points can easily be overlooked, leaving you with an imaginative, entertaining romp that's probably different to most other horror films you've seen.

The Beast Must Die

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 6 May 2007]

Millionaire Tom(Calvin Lockhart struggling in a miscast part), who fancies himself quite the hunter, gathers a collection of various individuals at his palatial, massive estate(with surrounding forest)determined to find the werewolf among them. He has an expert in the knowledge of lycanthropy, Dr. Christopher Lundgren(the great Peter Cushing, my real reason for seeing this flick in the first place besides it's being an Amicus production)among the group. He suspects a hairy Paul(Tom Chadbon, an actor I really liked in this film)to possibly be the werewolf, because of his nose-thumbing and witty insults towards the millionaire. Another possible suspect might be the nervy Jan(a young Sir Michael Gambon). Both Jan and Paul try to leave the estate and fail miserably because Tom always has his eyes peeled for anyone suspicious. Tom even seems pretty suspicious of the sophisticated and terribly irritated Arthur Bennington(the always terrific Charles Gray)who finds the insinuations of his being a werewolf preposterous and insulting. Tom has cameras installed all throughout the woods and on the grounds(along with a massive grid with sensors underground dictating if movement is occurring within the radius of the grounds)with a security room featuring television monitors showing every last movement that occurs in and out of the mansion. His man of security, Pavel(Anton Diffring)thinks this whole werewolf business is rubbish. Despite all the equipment and ways of tracking the beast, Tom finds his quarry quite elusive and intimidating. The werewolf is smart, fast, and deadly. Tom fails many times in catching the werewolf as several characters, including the entire security room and Pavel, are destroyed by it. He must kill the beast before the three days of the Full Moon end.

Neat little werewolf whodunit benefits from a fine professional cast. The werewolf is essentially a wolf covered in extra fur, so somehow director Paul Annett has the difficult task of making him believable scary. Annett, had to include a gimmicky "werewolf break"(producer Max Rosenberg, who said he hated this flick, insisted that Annett include it to "save it")with William Castle-inspired 30 second clock so that we, the viewer, could decide who the werewolf was among the cast. I enjoyed the aspect where the prey outsmarts the smug hunter, who doesn't understand defeat.

Enjoyable high camp werewolf mystery....

[The_Void · 5/10 · 23 January 2006]

Amicus are a studio most famous for putting out horror anthologies; but they did a couple of feature length horror films, mostly with mixed results. The Beast Must Die could easily be described as a mixed result all by itself. On the one hand, it's based on a fun premise, which does a great job of getting the audience involved in the film; yet it doesn't quite work. The werewolf sub-genre is full of failures, but this film can't quite be considered such because it's not really a werewolf film. The werewolf plot is only in the film to tie it to the horror genre, which Amicus had so much success with; and the real point of the film is the mystery. In the style of the great William Castle film, 'The Tingler' - The Beast Must Die talks to it's audience, and actively involves them in the search for the wolf. The plot follows a hunter who invites six guests to his country mansion on the basis that one of them is a werewolf. The full moon cycle lasts for three days, and our hero vows to find out which one is the werewolf, and kill that person, before the three days are up...

The Beast Must Die profits from its cast. Headed by Peter Cushing (who dons a very silly accent), The Beast Must Die benefits from a stellar English cast including Anton Diffring, Michael Gambon and Calvin Lockhart (who's actually from the Bahamas) in the lead role. The film is high camp throughout, and director Paul Annett does a good job of ensuring that The Beast Must Die never becomes too serious. The mystery itself takes the lead over the horror element, but that's not a problem because going into this film, you really should be expecting a mystery thriller, not essentially a horror flick. The film is a long way from being a perfect piece of camp, however, as it gets a little too boring at times; and the fact that there isn't a lot of wolf will no doubt annoy certain viewers. The mystery isn't exactly brilliant either, but by the end - it really could have been anyone, making the 'guess the werewolf' game fun; but a bit pointless, as the rest of the film hasn't narrowed it down. I enjoyed this film a lot; but wouldn't recommend going out of one's way to find it.