tavm 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.

SnoopyStyle Tom Newcliffe is a rich hunter who has invited specific people to his big estate. He believes one of them is a werewolf, and has set up a vast network of security system. He intends to find out who it is, and hunt it down.The movie invites audience participation to guess which character is a werewolf. There is a Werewolf Break near the end for the audience to decide.This is definitely a slightly different movie experience. Sure the audience usually makes these deductions anyways, but rarely would a movie demand it so forthrightly. It concentrates the mind, but on the other hand, it highlights it's artificialness.I wish the writing and acting wouldn't be so cheesy. Peter Cushing is probably the most recognizable name. Even he couldn't deliver these over written lines with complete effect. The worst has to be Calvin Lockhart who delivers his lines trying desperately the accentuate the horror. All it does is to sound like a bad count Dracula.

Red-Barracuda The Beast Must Die is an unusual film in more ways than one. The studio who made it - Amicus - were well known almost solely for their portmanteau movies, i.e. films with a selection of short horror stories connected by a spooky framing narrative. The Beast Must Die is not one of those types of films, instead it's story encompasses a full length feature. But it's hardly a typical horror film. Instead it really works as an Agatha Christie style murder-mystery that happens to have a werewolf angle. There was a cycle of successful Agatha Christie adaptations back in the early to mid 70's such as Murder on the Orient Express and it's certainly possible that Amicus thought combining this idea with their horror speciality was a sure-fire winner. Add to the mix a character very similar to the then popular blaxploitation icon John Shaft and Amicus had covered quite a lot of contemporary cinematic bases from the time. It would be wrong to say that they fully succeeded here but, while the result is mixed, it's different for sure and it is entertaining.The central premise has a wealthy hunter invite a selection of people to stay at his remote mansion. The idea of it is that he knows one of them is a werewolf and he intends to find out and kill them - the ultimate hunter's trophy.Like all Amicus productions this one has another stellar cast - Peter Cushing, Michael Gambon, Charles Grey and Anton Diffring in particular. While Calvin Lockhart looks pretty cool in his leather outfit roaming around the grounds of his estate looking for the werewolf. He is complemented too with a funky 70's score, which of course adds to the period feel. The setting is pretty cool too with the modern mansion complete with surveillance cameras and detectors. The movie also adds the famed 'Werewolf Break' where the action freezes and a timer ticks down and we are asked to guess who we think the werewolf is. It's a fun gimmick and gives the film a bizarre angle that ensures that it's memorable. Unfortunately, the werewolf itself is extremely unthreatening, seeing as it seems to be a dog sprayed grey - this is a shame and the film has to lose marks for this. But other than this, The Beast Must Die is a fun and somewhat unusual, horror-mystery.

Sean Kaye I don't know why all the positive reviews but it's basically 70's garbage. Perhaps it's 'hip' now to try and admire 1970's films but I grew up in that era and there were some decent movies like perhaps 'Jaws' (the 1st one, not the others) but this is just garbage. I'm not going to say don't watch it but you would have much more fun watching 50's sci-fi movies than to watch this. Yes, there are some campy moments but not enough.They want me to ad more info. hmmm, I like Vincent Price movies, like Dr. Phibes was great. I wear black socks, dress in mounties clothing and hang around in bars. Is that enough yet?