Taking its cue from Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians", The Beast Must Die is a movie that never tries to be a straight-ahead horror flick, instead deciding to be a mystery who-done-it? kind of flick. In fact, makers Amicus Productions even went as far as to give the audience what the called a, "Werewolf Break", in order to give viewers a chance to figure out just who the guilty party was with a super-imposed thirty second clock ticking down as pictures of the cast members flashed on screen.

As the movie opens we see a man being chased through the woods by a group of heavily-armed people who are tracking his every movement using cameras placed high-up in the trees and microphones buried in the ground under his feet. It's a pretty cool way to kick it off, especially when we learn that it was all a ruse as it turns out our intended victim, Tom (Calvin Lockhart), was actually just trying out the new security systems he's installed around his mansion.

Seems that Tom is a big-time game hunter and he's decided to invite a group of eight different people to his place for the weekend with the intention of finding out which one amongst them is a werewolf - a suspicion he has as all of them have had people die around them in such ways as having their throats ripped-out and being eaten alive.

Excited to be able to get to hunt one of the most rare games in the world, Tom is soon bullying his guests to do such things as eat bloody meat and hold silver candlesticks in their hands while Wolf's Bane pollen drifts around the room (since our German lycanthrope expert played by legendary Peter Cushing tells that's the only way it will work - during a longwinded speech that fills the people at the house, and us the audience, in on everything you wanted to know about the beasts) hoping that it will reveal the true creature dwelling on his property so he can kill it.

From there Michael Winder's script tosses out multiple red herrings (people hesitate to touch the silver, one guy is hairier than the norm) and a few brief action sequences (sadly, not nearly enough of them) on the way to the film's final revelation of the werewolf - which you've hopefully figured out during the ridiculous "Werewolf Break" (which director Paul Annett despised).

Werewolf movies are rarely done right and The Beast Must Die is no exception. It gets points for trying something new within the sub-genre, but it's just too dull and talky to really get moving. It's much too ho-hum to entertain and Annett doesn't manage to pull off any suspense (not for lack of trying as a scene where the werewolf crashes through a skylight isn't too bad) with things not helped by Lockhart's obsessive and over-the-top turn in the lead or Ciaran Madden's quite awful performance as Davina.

However, Tom Chadbon is quite good as the sarcastic guest Foote and you can't help but chuckle at the silliness on display when they track down the beast (which is really just a big, black dog) in a helicopter before pumping a greenhouse full of bullets and the pilot is leapt on by the dopey looking "monster".

And is it just me or wasn't this idea copied fifteen years later in 1989's Howling V: The Rebirth? I do believe it was. (Chris Hartley, 7/24/06)

Directed By: Paul Annett.
Written By: Michael Winder.

Starring: Calvin Lockhart, Peter Cushing, Charles Gray, Anton Diffring.

Picture Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: Dark Sky continues to breathe life into older genre titles with another fairly clean and good looking transfer here. There are a few moments of specking scattered throughout and one moment with mild pixelation, but this still looks fine for a movie over thirty years old.

Extras: One of three titles under Dark Sky's "Amicus Collection" banner (the others being And Now The Screaming Starts! and Asylum), this disc has a solid amount of extras.

As is standard on most Dark Sky discs there's a photo gallery that mostly consists of poster/sheet ads, a trailer (plus trailers for the other 2 titles mentioned above), and biographies for cast and crew. Also on hand is the 2003 filmed featurette "Directing The Beast" which is a decent interview with director Annett as well as an okay commentary track with Annett that offers enough information to keep you interested despite a fairly montonous tone.

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