THE BEAST MUST DIE (1974): Starring- Calvin Lockhart, Peter Cushing, Marlene Clark, Ciaran Madden, Tom Chadbon, Micheal Gambon, Charles Gray, and Anton Diffring.
Directed by- Paul Annet
Well, welcome to the Crypt once again. Boy do I have a weird one for you today. It's a werewolf movie, a murder mystery, a blaxploitation movie, and a gimmick movie, all rolled into one. Yes, THE BEAST MUST DIE is one of a kind, and maybe that's a good thing.
The movie centers around near-psychotic millionaire and game-hunter, Tom Newcliffe. Tom prides himself on having killed one of every animal on the face of the earth, and has now invited several guests to his private island.
Dr. Christopher Lungdren (Cushing), Davina Gilmore (Madden), Paul Foote (Chadbon), Jan Jarmokowski (Gambon), and Arthur Bennington (Gray), all arrive at Newcliffe's mansion, hoping to spend a peaceful weekend with him and his wife, Caroline (Clark). But there's something that Caroline and the guests don't know. Tom has installed a massive security system all over the island and in the mansion. This is all overseen by Tom's security technician, Pavel (Diffring).
And before you can say "Most Dangerous Game", the guests find themselves trapped on the island as Tom reveals his true intentions. Each of the guests was a suspect in a murder where the victim was partially eaten. This leads Tom to believe one of them is the one type of animal that he's never hunted before: a werewolf.
.... Wait. What? How did he come to that conclusion? I would've just assumed they were murderers or cannibals. Plus, even if that assumption made sense, isn't it possible that all of them are werewolves? In which case he's effectively committed suicide.
Okay, so this plot point isn't exactly well thought out, but anyway, the guests and Caroline believe Tom is merely joking at first. But, as night falls, a beast is on the prowl. Tom tries to hunt the creature down, but by the end of the night, Pavel and Bennington are both dead.
In the morning, Tom is intent on finding and killing the beast, even if that means murder.....
So, THE BEAST MUST DIE, is certainly unique, but there's one part that's even stranger about it. The movie actually includes- and I'm not kidding here- a "Werewolf Break", where the audience is invited to guess who the werewolf is. Words fail me.
Also interesting is the cast. We all know Peter Cushing as one of the gods of classic horror movies, but he has one of his more atypical roles here, as a German, complete with over-the-top accent. You also might recognize Calvin Lockhart as King Willie from PREDATOR 2.... or you might not. Also included are former Bond villain and future ROCKY HORROR cast member Charles Gray, and British character actor, Anton Diffring, whose presence is somewhat wasted, though he does make his virtual cameo fairly memorable. The movie probably wouldn't be nearly as entertaining without them.
So, there you have it. A fairly entertaining, fairly different werewolf movie with a somewhat weak plot, supported by a great cast. Also, the werewolf break is a pretty entertaining idea.
And that's all I have to say on this one.
My rating- * * 1/2 out of * * * *
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