Because I had never actually seen The Beast Must Die, I didn't recognize its clear influence on last year's Werewolves Within (a film a enjoyed a lot). I also didn't know that the film's star was not Peter Cushing, as I had assumed, but Calvin Lockhart, (Cushing's role is much smaller).
That casting helps elevate the movie above its clear Hammer influences and into something a bit more interesting. It's not quite in the realm of Blacksploitation horror - it's a much better movie than something like Blacula - but having a Black couple at the center of the story (Marlene Clark, who was in a film I featured last year, plays Lockhart's wife), makes it a lot more interesting than your standard 70's horror flick.
The film famously features a 30-second "werewolf break" asking you to guess who the werewolf is before the final reveal. I wonder if people actually screamed out their answers in the audience when this movie was originally released?
I watched The Beast Must Die on TCM, but it is available to stream on several platforms, including Tubi.
2 comments:
This is probably the worst movie that I love. I randomly caught it on TCM one night and immediately became obsessed with it. The werewolf break is my favorite thing ever, and we stole it for the last season of the Sam & Max games.
Your fondness for if is the main reason I decided to finally watch it!
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