Review of The Beast Must Die (1974) by Anthony M — 09 Jan 2010

Thomas Newcliffe is a very influential billionaire. He is also a great hunter. Every creature man has faced, he has faced, defeated, and hung in his trophy room. But he isn't satisfied. On the weekend of a full moon he invites six people to his estate because he believes beyond a shadow of a doubt that one of them is a werewolf. And when the werewolf breaks down, he intends to hunt and kill this most dangerous of predators.

These past few months I have been trying to see as many werewolf movies as possible in anticipation of Universal Studios' new "The Wolfman" remake. And this was on my list, and just happened to be on television at 6 in the morning. On we go.

This film seems to try its best to balance between decent and horrible, as if trying to parody something. The writing is a fine example of this, having a mix of sophisticated wordplay and layman-talk... from the same person. It claims to be a mystery story, even bothering to add an introduction as such and a 'Werewolf Break' where we are given 30 seconds to decide who the werewolf is. But it is a very poorly-plotted story and intentionally doesn't give us enough information to decipher the identity, while blatantly casting focus on only half the cast. The acting from our hero Newcliffe is so over-the-top and cold at the same time that we are unable to really get inside his head and side with him, being both the only real villain in the story as well as the only character we can warm up to. In an attempt to keep the mystery a mystery, the film stays a distance from the suspected werewolves and doesn't let us connect with them, so we really don't care who the werewolf is by the end. The action scenes are decently done with fine tension on their own, but the score is easily the biggest and worst cliché about 70's movies: that upbeat music that simply doesn't fit and is exactly the opposite of the tone the film tries to set. Overall, this is an awful film with a decent idea behind it. Unfortunately it is just done so poorly in nearly every aspect. But probably the worst part about this film is that it's not even bad enough to laugh at. It's just unsettling. I'd like to see a remake.I give "The Beast Must Die!" 2 werewolves-that-are-just-wolves out of 10.