The Beast Must Die (1974)
Director:
Paul Annett
Starring: Calvin Lockhart, Peter Cushing
Run Time: 88 mins
Certificate: 15
Plot Outline: Tom Newcliffe is a millionaire game hunter who has hunted almost everything and
now wants the ultimate sport - to hunt a werewolf. He invites 6 guests to his
huge country estate, all with previous links to cannibalism of some kind, and
has rigged up a high-tech security and surveillance system to keep track of
everyone. With the full moon approaching, someone is going to turn into a
werewolf. But who?
The Review: First of all let me clear up something - this is not a Hammer film despite some
of the names involved. This film and numerous others around the time (including
I, Monster were produced by Amicus, a rival company set up to cash in on
the horror craze. Amicus' films were never as good as Hammer's and this is a
perfect example. The Agatha Christie style of guessing who the werewolf
is was a great idea - but this is completely underplayed. We're hardly given any
clues as to who the werewolf is and there is one guy who is given so much screen
time that it's so obvious he isn't the werewolf! The film opens with a
voice stating the nature of what is going to happen and tells you in advance to
look for clues carefully. Then towards the end of the film, it freezes and a
voice comes on asking the viewer who they think the werewolf is. It quickly runs
down the suspects and a little clock comes on giving you 30 seconds to decide
who it is. This is a little cheesy and would have worked better had there been
more clues (and more suspects) but it's still a nice little touch which could
have been done better. The film then moves on to the finale which is really
reminiscent of the blood test scene from The Thing as each suspect takes
it in turns to put a silver bullet in their mouth (remember silver kills
werewolves). The actual werewolf is a rather poorly made-up dog which looks
really unconvincing, especially when it licks it's mouth and wags its tails at
it's victims as if it wants to play! The cast is alright but not enough of them
are given anything worthwhile to do. Cushing, Gray and Gambon are all wasted -
had this been a Hammer film then at least they'd have had bigger parts. But like
the cast, the film seems to be based on a decent premise but just doesn't
deliver the goods. It's fairly suspenseful at times but there is a lot of
talking and a lot of accusations flying around.
Final Verdict: The Beast Must Die isn't a bad film. It's got a great idea but doesn't
capitalise fully on it. Something like this would make a great remake, complete
with the cheesy "Guess who" moment.
Rating: