SusannahThe Beast Must Die
May 7th 2007 05:04
THE BEAST MUST DIE (1974) (aka BLACK WEREWOLF – USA Title)
Starring: Calvin Lockhart, Peter Cushing, Michael Gambon.
Director: Paul Annett
It is amazing what you can record off late night television. This British film from the 1970’s is one such late night gem. It opens with the proposition, in great letters that fill the screen, “The question is not who is the murderer? But who is the werewolf?”
Then, cut to a black guy (Calvin Lockheart) running through the woods. Men in army uniform are receiving instructions, from a man in a room full of video monitors, regarding where the man is running to, and where they can intercept him. They intercept him, and pretend to fire. Video cameras and microphones track him everywhere. Finally he breaks free of the woods onto the manicured lawn of an English country house, only to be gunned down by the men in army uniform.
Just when you think this film must be sponsored by the Ku Klux Klan, it turns out that he is not dead. In fact he is Tom Newcliffe, master hunter and owner of said mansion. That whole stalking sequence was a test of the efficiency of his new security system, which will help him achieve his greatest hunting triumph. For he has invited six guests to his house, all of whom have been linked to mysterious deaths, which have led him to suspect that one of them is, you guessed it, a werewolf. Catching this werewolf will be his greatest hunting triumph. But what price will he have to pay for his ambition?
This is a typical 70’s movie. It features plenty of random 70’s zooms, Michael Gambon before he was famous (actually he does not look as different as you would think), blaxploitation, and an oddly laconic car chase, because it is scored to a laidback jazz tune, rather than some more tension driving music (no pun intended).
Just when you think you are going to get some budget 70’s werewolf effects, it totally scrimps on that by having an actual wolf. That’s cheating. A real wolf – come-on guys! There isn’t even a transformation sequence from man into the real wolf.
Peter Cushing also looms out of the background to provide all the werewolf history, with the twist that the infection that causes the person to become a werewolf also kills that person. The interesting thing about this film is that the werewolf is not actually portrayed as bad. For one, it is killing out of a compulsion it cannot control, and two, the first killings in the film are out of self defence. Rather, it is Tom Newcliffe who is portrayed as the real villain, because he wants the werewolf dead for his own glory, holding all the guests at his mansion against their will, despite the danger to their lives. Hence the opening question of the film.
About 15 minutes from the film’s end, we stop for a werewolf break. No, really. I kid you not. A clock even appears on screen to count 30 seconds exactly, with each of the remaining suspects appearing behind it in turn: “One of these eight people will turn into a werewolf. Can you guess who it is when we stop the film for the WEREWOLF BREAK? See it ... solve it ... but don't tell!” I guessed, but I got it wrong.
Altogether a random, dated, variably acted, bit of 70’s fun. Can you guess who the werewolf is?
Starring: Calvin Lockhart, Peter Cushing, Michael Gambon.
Director: Paul Annett
It is amazing what you can record off late night television. This British film from the 1970’s is one such late night gem. It opens with the proposition, in great letters that fill the screen, “The question is not who is the murderer? But who is the werewolf?”
Then, cut to a black guy (Calvin Lockheart) running through the woods. Men in army uniform are receiving instructions, from a man in a room full of video monitors, regarding where the man is running to, and where they can intercept him. They intercept him, and pretend to fire. Video cameras and microphones track him everywhere. Finally he breaks free of the woods onto the manicured lawn of an English country house, only to be gunned down by the men in army uniform.
Just when you think this film must be sponsored by the Ku Klux Klan, it turns out that he is not dead. In fact he is Tom Newcliffe, master hunter and owner of said mansion. That whole stalking sequence was a test of the efficiency of his new security system, which will help him achieve his greatest hunting triumph. For he has invited six guests to his house, all of whom have been linked to mysterious deaths, which have led him to suspect that one of them is, you guessed it, a werewolf. Catching this werewolf will be his greatest hunting triumph. But what price will he have to pay for his ambition?
This is a typical 70’s movie. It features plenty of random 70’s zooms, Michael Gambon before he was famous (actually he does not look as different as you would think), blaxploitation, and an oddly laconic car chase, because it is scored to a laidback jazz tune, rather than some more tension driving music (no pun intended).
Just when you think you are going to get some budget 70’s werewolf effects, it totally scrimps on that by having an actual wolf. That’s cheating. A real wolf – come-on guys! There isn’t even a transformation sequence from man into the real wolf.
Peter Cushing also looms out of the background to provide all the werewolf history, with the twist that the infection that causes the person to become a werewolf also kills that person. The interesting thing about this film is that the werewolf is not actually portrayed as bad. For one, it is killing out of a compulsion it cannot control, and two, the first killings in the film are out of self defence. Rather, it is Tom Newcliffe who is portrayed as the real villain, because he wants the werewolf dead for his own glory, holding all the guests at his mansion against their will, despite the danger to their lives. Hence the opening question of the film.
About 15 minutes from the film’s end, we stop for a werewolf break. No, really. I kid you not. A clock even appears on screen to count 30 seconds exactly, with each of the remaining suspects appearing behind it in turn: “One of these eight people will turn into a werewolf. Can you guess who it is when we stop the film for the WEREWOLF BREAK? See it ... solve it ... but don't tell!” I guessed, but I got it wrong.
Altogether a random, dated, variably acted, bit of 70’s fun. Can you guess who the werewolf is?
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Film & TV on DVD