Review of The Beast Must Die (1974) by Jason G — 16 Mar 2008

I found the directing as well as the camera work interesting in [b]The Diving Bell and the Butterfly[/b]. The point-of-view shots were especially claustrophobic and an inventive way of putting us in the place of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the French editor of Elle magazine, whose stroke left him paralyzed except for one eyelid. It's a good movie, but I didn't think it was great. To me, the idea of it seems better than the actual film.

[b]Death at a Funeral[/b] is one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. A British comedy that focuses on a family gathering for a funeral, this film has lots of laughs as well as touching moments. My favorite bits involve Alan Tudyk (Wash from "Firefly"). He ends up taking some acid mislabeled as valium before the service, and hijinks ensue. Definitely see this.

To investigate the phenomenon that is Tyler Perry, I checked out [b]Why Did I Get Married?[/b] And wondered why did I bother? Four couples meet once a year for a retreat where they work on their relationships. Two of the men cheat on their wives, the other two don't, but think it's funny. The wives are alternately abrasive harpies or wishy-washy doormats. All of the characters are flat and say the most ludicrous things. Best line, "Get your wife!" uttered quite a bit. In the end, the wives have to change or be subdued by the husbands just do what they want. I was a bit disappointed for all of the praise Perry receives to be given this mess. Maybe his other films are better?

[b].

Young Guns[/b] may have been really cool back in 1988, but I just found it silly now. Emilio Estevez ("Bobby") stars as Billy the Kid and his steely, bug-eyed stare is supposed to pass for intense. Though the cast is a six degrees dream, featuring everyone from Jack Palance ("Back When We Were Grownups") to Dermot Mulroney ("Georgia Rule"), the only believable actor is Kiefer Sutherland ("The Sentinel"). All the deaths are in slow-mo and the music is often inappropriate or just lame. Frankly, I was disappointed.

[b]The Beast Must Die![/b] is a sort of Agatha Christie "And Then There Were None," except set in the 70s and someone is a werewolf instead of just a murderer. A wealthy black man invites several guests to his estate where he traps them for the three days of the full moon. For some very circumstantial reasons, he believes one of them is a werewolf and has installed various types of surveillance equipment to help him hunt the beast. I couldn't really get into this, but my husband thought it was cool.