[HorrorScience] The Beast Must Die (1974)

Amicus Productionswas an English company that tried to excel in the genre of fiction and horror, which had given so much money toHammer Productions, thus creating a rivalry and connection between both companies. This is because it was common for the star actors of one (such as Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing) to also act in the other.

And it was thanks to that connection that I discovered the film that I am going to comment on below, since one of the actors who appear in it is the legendary Peter Cushing (protagonist of Hammer's Frankenstein saga, and also of films likeHorror of Dracula,Dracula's BridesandKung Fu against the 7 golden vampireswhere he plays Professor Van Helsing).

The Beast must dieit's a moviecentered on the myth of the werewolfbut, instead of doing it in a conventional way, heproposes a game to the viewer. In the style of detective series made for television, they try to get the viewer to participate in it to try to guess the culprit, to the point that, shortly before the end of it,The film stops, recaps the suspects and gives 30 seconds for whoever is watching to make a decision.. That's something so funny, as it is unnecessary and strange, but it gives the film an unintentional humorous touch, which doesn't hurt either.

Our protagonist isTom Newcliffe, a man who was born in poverty, but who, thanks to hisunscrupulous, was able to socially climb upbecome a millionaire. We do not know his profession, in the same way that they do not tell us how he amassed his fortune, but we immediately see that he is ahuge fan of hunting and who likes to try to have control over absolutely everything.

Newcliffe has surrounded his mansion and the nearby grounds with an elaborate and exaggerated security system, as there are microphones on the ground, cameras in the trees and sensors everywhere, which can be monitored thanks to a tracking station he has in his own house. In other words,has turned his house and the surrounding area into a place from which it is impossible to leave without being detected.

After checking the security system, Tominvites a series of acquaintances, who at first seem like completely normal people, but he is clear that there is a dark connection between all of them, because at some point they were involved in murders or even tasted human flesh.Apparently, Tom has been narrowing down his information to hunt down the ultimate beast: the werewolf, and those are his suspects..

Who is the werewolf?

The party guests (and werewolf suspects) are as follows.

Bennington: In the past he was a delegate to the United Nations until two members of his entourage mysteriously disappeared. The police investigation could not clarify the case, but he was considered innocent. However, he was expelled from the diplomatic corps. He is currently a television star.

Jan: A former professional pianist, he played all over the world until he was involved in some murders that could not be solved, so his career has suffered enormous ups and downs.

Davina: She is a friend of Tom's wife, but her invitation to this particular party comes from the fact that, at a party where Davina was, guests disappeared and were found half-eaten.

Paul: When he was studying medicine, he and eight other classmates decided to try a piece of human flesh during a dissection. Apparently those events put him in jail temporarily. Nowadays he does not seem to have any qualms about talking about these gruesome facts, which he justifies as the result of curiosity.

Professor Lundgren: Although his profession is being an archaeologist, this man has dedicated his life to studying werewolves. In fact, he seems to know perfectly well what makes a man become one, as well as the conditions necessary to bring about his appearance.

Once the introductions have been made and the formal accusation that Tom believes that one of them is a werewolf, three days of suspense are prepared in which,When the full moon appears, disappearances and murders begin, which increase the tension between the guests and the paranoia of the host.

Due to the nature of the film, which asks the viewer to be involved in guessing who the werewolf is,I am not going to give more details about the plot, since part of the charm of it is entering that game.

As a film, there are two things that will be obvious from the beginning: thebudget(aunque suficiente para permitirse helicópteros,no es especialmente elevado) y lamusic(setentera a más no poder). Con respecto a la banda sonora, es importante aclarar que,aunque pudiese funcionar en una película de detectives, a mí me saca totalmente de ésta, especialmente en las primeras escenas, que son interesantes porque te hacen preguntarte qué está pasando, peroesa banda sonora las convierte casi en una parodia. Afortunadamente, en escenas posteriores (y de cara al final de la película)se añaden partituras que acentúan el suspense y el terror, y que a mi gusto, quedan bastante mejor.

El tema del presupuesto se verá reflejado sobretodo en que el hombre lobo es un “Lobo” o “un perro negro grande”.No esperéis hombres lobos antropomórficos y tampoco que estén en pantalla durante más de 3 segundos. Personalmente,me gusta que no se vea claramente al lobo hasta la parte final y no me molesta en absoluto que se use un animalreal en lugar de un monstruo medio humano medio lobo (que claramente no podían permitirse). En una película de esta premisa, donde se supone que has de adivinar lo que va a pasar,menos es más.

Con respecto al tema de adivinar el sospechoso,nos encontramos con una de cal y una de arena. Por un lado, es cierto que se nos presenta a todos los sospechosos y se nos da la información necesaria para que sospechemos de ellos. Incluso algunos hacen actos extraños de tanto en tanto. Sin embargo, en la práctica, hay que reconocer queno se les da el mismo “nivel de sospecha” a todosy que, aunque los momentos en los cuales hacen “pruebas” para demostrar quién no es un hombre lobo, queda un poco por debajo de lo esperado, especialmente porquehay algunos sospechosos que prácticamente no hacen nada en toda la película y dan la sensación de carecer de personalidad.

Se puede adivinar quién es el hombre lobo, pero perfectamente se podría justificar que hubiese sido otro, pues como digo,hay algunos cabos sueltos que se podrían usar para justificar que el lobo es otra persona. Aunque me gustaría aclarar que la película deja claro quién es el lobo y hasta cierto punto,la parte final de la cinta tiene una carga dramática ligeramente superior a lo esperado, pero que encaja perfectamente con el título de la misma.

He de admitir que, pasada la escena inicial,disfruté de la película bastante, aunque como digo, queda a años luz de cosas parecidas(como por ejemploThe Thingde John Carpenter). Hay cierta torpeza a la hora de tratar los personajes y también hay una falta de lógica brutal en algunos actos de los mismos, pero seamos sinceros,si aplicamos la lógica, pocas películas se salvarían de ser ridículas.

Dicho de otra manera, esta películatiene muchas sombras y unas pocas luces, pero debido a su duración y propuesta, se hace entretenida y tiene cierto encanto setentero. No la juzguéis por sus primeros minutos, dadle una oportunidad y a ver si sois capaces de adivinar quién es el hombre lobo.

Curiosities

• Existe otra película llamadaThe beast must diede 1952, pero no tiene ninguna relación con esta.
• El director odió el corte para preguntar al espectador sobre quién es el sospechoso y, de hecho, existe una versión alternativa de esta película llamadaBlack Werewolf, que quita esa parte.
• Esta película no tiene nada que ver con la novela de Nicholas Blake llamadaThe beast must die, pues en realidad está basada en el relatoNo habrá oscuridadde James Blish
• Un fallo claro de ésta son los errores de continuidad en lo referencia al día y la noche. Podemos ver que los sospechosos se van a dormir, pero luego vemos escenas de exterior y claramente es de día. En ocasiones se intenta disimular esto oscureciendo la imagen, pero sigue notándose que es de día.
• Debido a la popularidad de Peter Cushing, en algunos carteles y portadas se ha usado su imagen agarrando una escopeta de caza para promocionar esta película, pero dicha escena no sucede durante la misma.