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| Jim Dembkoski's Horror Review #4 - The Beast Must Die (1974) |
 A rich business man and sports hunter has six guests come join he and his wife at their huge estate so he can hunt them, because one of them is a werewolf. Just like the game Clue, the viewer is asked to figure out which guest is the werewolf during a clip at the beginning. Near the end, there is a 30 second 'Werewolf Break' where you have one last pause in the film to figure out which person is the werewolf. Since this came out in 1974, and the major star is African-American, this film falls under the 'blaxploitation' genre in some circles, and even has an alternate title 'Black Werewolf'. While the filming is definitely 70's in flavor and feel, the mystery twist on the werewolf legend is a nice touch. While the acting isn't the greatest, it's not too horrible, and Peter Cushing lends this film some needed horror credibility. The film is based on the novel, 'There Shall Be No Darkness', by James Blish, which is a great werewolf story. If you've read it though, then you already know who the werewolf is. Not a great movie, but it's moderately entertaining to werewolf fans.
The Good: Peter Cushing is great, as always, and the plot is a nice change of pace from the normal werewolf story. Has some decent tension in places.
The Bad: The 70's mod is rampant throughout, and the production values are only slightly higher than I had when I was in film school. The 'night' shots look like they were done in the middle of the day with some poorly used camera filters.
The Ugly: The special effects are non-existent, and the werewolf is just a dog with an extra pelt on.
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Rating:  ...out of 5 Silver Bullets. |
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