Prepare for Wolf Man With the Nuttiest Werewolf Movie You’ve Never Seen

With Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man astir to howl its mode into theaters, werewolves are hoping to go the adjacent monster du jour aft Nosferatu closed retired the twelvemonth with specified vampiric heights. Get successful the temper by watching 1 of the strangest werewolf movies ever, which is saying thing for a genre that has immoderate profoundly weird entries: 1974’s The Beast Must Die.

Based connected a 1950 abbreviated communicative with the arsenic alluring rubric “There Shall Be No Darkness,” The Beast Must Die has an Agatha Christie-type set-up, successful which a radical of radical are invited to an isolated state manor nether mendacious pretenses, and recognize they’re successful for a sinister getaway implicit with assemblage count. Calvin Lockhart stars arsenic Tom, a flamboyant millionaire whose hunting obsession has inspired him to prosecute the eventual game: a werewolf. 

Whether oregon not werewolves really beryllium is lone lightly questioned successful the discourse of the movie; Tom is truthful obsessed with the thought he’s invested tons of wealth into an elaborate werewolf-catching system. The grounds astir his mansion are equipped with a high-tech (for 1974) surveillance system, which we spot demonstrated successful an opening series successful which helium tests its capabilities—and the assemblage is led to judge Tom’s immoderate benignant of fugitive being tracked by a antheral barking orders from a power country to gun-toting information forces.

But adjacent earlier Tom terrifies his guests by bursting retired of the wood with a tiny service chasing aft him, we cognize The Beast Must Die is nary mean state caper. That’s due to the fact that the movie opens with immoderate precise circumstantial exposition: “This movie is simply a detective story—in which you are the detective.” 

Ok, cool. Participatory element, intriguing. But then: “The question is not ‘who is the murderer?’—but ‘who is the werewolf?’” Who is the what now? “After each the clues person been shown, you volition get a accidental to springiness your answer… ticker for the werewolf break.”

With the imaginable of a “werewolf break” present percolating successful the viewer’s mind, The Beast Must Die continues precise overmuch similar an Agatha Christie tale, albeit 1 with a groovy, vaguely disco-flavored soundtrack. Tom explains successful large item to Pavel (Anton Diffring)—the skeptical but good-natured information adept Tom’s hired to oversee each that fancy equipment—his information down this unusual gathering, successful a code that includes the phrases “I spell aft what I want,” “I was calved a hunter,” and “this is going to assistance maine hunt the biggest crippled of all.”

His “guests” for this adventure, which is not coincidentally timed astir the afloat moon, see an array of disgraced eccentrics (a creator who admits to a flirtation with cannibalism; a erstwhile UN delegate whose associates conscionable kept mysteriously disappearing), and, arsenic Tom thunderously informs them, “One of you sitting present successful this country is simply a werewolf,” followed by a melodramatic euphony cue. One of you, successful different words, is the beast that’s gonna die. 

Horror fable and aboriginal Star Wars baddie Peter Cushing is second-billed arsenic an archaeologist invited on due to the fact that helium happens to beryllium a werewolf expert. Cushing plays it precise earnestly arsenic helium lectures the different guests astir the oddities of wolfsbane pollen, which Lockhart goes agreeably implicit the apical arsenic helium orders the progressively uncomfortable radical to instrumentality turns grabbing metallic objects passim the movie. The tense build-up pre-dates the humor trial country successful John Carpenter’s The Thing but brings astir a akin result.

We cognize we’re going to larn the werewolf’s individuality eventually—unfortunately, that marvelous CCTV strategy ends up not helping overmuch erstwhile Pavel is the archetypal victim—but arsenic you get swept on with the amusive of the assorted accusations (hmm, that 1 feline definite does person awfully hairy hands!), you mightiness accidentally hide astir the promised “werewolf break.”

Fear not, though: The Beast Must Die, a rubric taken straight from 1 of Tom’s declarations, volition not fto you down. With astir 15 minutes to go, and a fewer suspects removed from the line-up connected relationship of having already been devoured, the narrator returns to archer you “This is the werewolf break,” arsenic a ticking timepiece appears connected the surface and you spot images of each the “suspects.” You person 30 seconds to ponder who the culprit mightiness be—presumably, you’re to sermon your mentation with whoever’s watching the movie with you? Or shriek your champion conjecture into the void?—before The Beast Must Die returns and gives you a mendacious solution earlier the actual snarling origin of each the occupation is revealed.

We won’t spoil it, obviously, but the ending of The Beast Must Die is some astonishing and satisfying. Yeah, it leans into a gimmick to get you to the decorativeness line, but what different movie dares to bring everything to a screeching halt to state a werewolf break?

You tin watercourse The Beast Must Die escaped connected Tubi and a fewer different FAST channels; you tin besides rent it done Prime Video oregon ticker with subscriptions to Shout! Factory TV and Fandor. Severin Films besides released a Blu-ray with peculiar features, including commentary by manager Paul Annett.

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