Review of The Beast Within (1982) by Jesse Z — 07 Dec 2010

Silly horror fun fluff that borrows from HP Lovecraft but isn't based on him. Characters include an undertaker named Dexter Ward and the Curwen family, but aside from names and perhaps a monster vaguely inspired by "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward," this isn't Lovecraftiana.

The story admittedly doesn't make sense on several levels. Why someone who was locked in a basement and force-fed flesh from human corpses should develop the ability to talk to insects and reincarnate in the body of his own offspring is never remotely explained. All we know is that somehow this person, named Billy Conner, turned into a monster, got loose and raped Bibi Besch. Flash forward 17 years and the progeny of this attack is 17 and has some sort of disease... but it isn't a disease. It's his real father taking over his body to get revenge on the members of the family who locked him in the cellar and forced him into cannibalism. Numerous bladders inflate, skin splits, the monster's back and does it again, leaving a very open ending. Some gore and a couple of relatively creative kills in the meanwhile.

"The Beast Within" is quite cheezy and fun if not taken seriously. It will scare no one, but it has enough entertaining moments to be enjoyed by fans of B-grade horror flicks in an MST3K way, at least. The acting ranges from mediocre to laughable; the film is noteworthy, however, for two reasons. First, it was one of the first flicks to use air bladders in horror makeup. Second, it has a cast of supporting actors who also appeared in everything from "Easy Rider" to "Designing Women." On it's own, it's essentially "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" meets "The Bad Seed" meets Roger Corman. Watch and be amazed, amused and get ready to crack wise all over this one!