MCBASTARD'S MAUSOLEUM: THE BEAST MUST DIE (1974) (Severin Films Blu-ray Review)

THE BEAST MUST DIE (1974)

Label: Severin Films
Region Code: A,B,C
Duration: 92 Minutes
Rating: R
Audio: English DTS-HD MA with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Director: Paul Annett
Cast: Calvin Lockhart, Peter Cushing, Marlene Clark, Anton Diffring, Charles Gray, Michael Gambon, Ciaran Madden, Tom Chadbon

In the Amicus horror swan song The Beast Must Die (1974) a big-game hunter named Tom Newcliffe (Calvin Lockhart, Wild At Heart) invites a group of associates to stay the weekend at his sprawling countryside estate. At night while gathered for dinner he reveals that he has summoned them because he thinks that one of them is a werewolf, and that no one can leave until that beast is exposed! Among the suspects are world-renowned piano player Jan (Michael Gambon, Hagrid from Harry Potter) and his girlfriend Davina (Ciaran Madden, Agatha Christie's Poirot), a Scandinavian archaeologist Professor Christopher Lundgren(Peter Cushing, Corruption), diplomat Arthur Bennington (Charles Gray, The Devil Rides Out) and an artist named Paul (Tom Chadbon, Juggernaut), plus the host's wife Caroline (Marlene Clark, Switchblade Sisters) .

At the start of the film Newcliffe himself is on the run through the woods surrounding his estate, being hunted by an elite security patrol who are being directed by his head of security, a man named Pavel (Anton Diffring, Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye), who monitors Newcliffe's every move from a security room with the aid of the latest state of the art equipment, including a wall of closed circuit TV monitors which are tied to a web of ultra-sensitive microphones, tree mounted surveillance cameras, pressure sensors and air support via an ever present bubble-window helicopter that surveils the area. This is his way of testing the security, to be sure it is ready to help him catch the deadliest prey of his career, a werewolf!

Newcliffe makes for an engaging, charismatic and mysterious host, he is gracious but also quite a taskmaster, putting his guests through the wringer with a series of werewolf tests designed to reveal who among them is the hairy devil-beast. These tests include exposing them to blooming wolfsbane during the full moon, bare-handling a silver candelabra, and even sticking a silver coin in their mouth. Any one of them could be the werewolf, each have been in the vicinity of viscous murders during their travels around the world, and one even seems unnaturally hairy. A few of the guests attempt to escape the estate, but their host is well-prepared for such things. An attempted escape might seem to indicate guilt but it could also be easily explained away the sheer nature of being held captive by a lunatic who thinks you might be a werewolf, so it's not quite an admission of guilt by any means.

The film is probably best remembered for a William Castle-esque gimmick that was foisted on the film by the producer, who thought the film needed to be spruced up, his idea was to add opening voice-over and title cards that read “This film is a detective story in which you are the detective. The question is not "Who is the murderer?" but "Who is the werewolf?" After all the clues have been shown you will get a chance to give you answer.” At a pivotal moment during the film we get the infamous "Werewolf Break", allowing you time to guess who the werewolf is before the final reveal, with an animated ticking clock superimposed over the faces of the could-be culprits, again with voice-over. It's super-schlocky but also quite charming in my opinion, it's what made me love it as a kid watching it on TV.

It's a solidly fun whodunit with the added benefit of a werewolf element, but the the kicker is that the werewolf featured is a bit shit to be honest. We don't get the classic bipedal werewolf like the Wolf Man, nope, we get a big black dog with a shaggy mane, and if you are right now imagining in your mind a gnarly toothed hell hound akin to the beast from An American Werewolf In London you had best cool your jets and lower those lofty expectations, it's a damn dog. The flick is also pretty light on visceral gore, but there's plenty of bloodletting and a few semi-gruesome scene of werewolf carnage, including a corpse that's missing an eye which is probably the strongest bit of gore in the film. The film is not very stylish, it lacks cinematic pizzazz, but that sort of makes sense as it's the only film directed by Paul Annett, who would go on to direct solely for Brit TV with stuff like
Poldark and EastEnders, but it's not an ugly film by any means, just not overly stylized and sharp-looking.

The Beast Must Die (1974) is an solid whodunit in the tradition of Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Indians', it's got a fun cast of characters that includes horror icon Peter Cushing and Michael Gambon (Harry Potter). Cushing is always a treat, even though his Scandinavian accent is a bit wonky, but he always delivers the goods, and here he is left to theorize the science of werewolves to the group'. He's a bit underused in the film I think, but c'mon, it's Cushing! Calvin Lockhart as Newcliffe has on-screen presence to spare, decked out in a skin-tight black leather outfit from neck to toe. I was thinking that he would have made an awesome 70's blaxploitation version of Marvel's Black Panther, offering an entertaining mix of panache, gravitas and plenty of action.

Audio/Video: The Beast Must Die (1974) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Severin who are taking another bite at the Amicus apple after a sub-par 2017 Blu-ray release that was exclusive to their 4-disc The Amicus Collection set. This new Blu-ray is sourced from 35mm elements newly discovered in France, with the a new 4k restoration done by StudioCanal. Gone are the problematic diffusion, dirt and debris, and heavy grain that plagued the previous Blu-ray. Offering tighter film grain with deeper more natural black levels with improved shadow detail, as well as pleasing depth and clarity. The skin tones are also more natural looking, it's a gorgeous restoration with only a few minor white speckles popping up. The framing is also different, the new Blu-ray presents the film in the original 1.66:1 widescreen, the 2017 was a cropped 1.78:1, with more information on all four sides of the screen. Check out the sixteen screenshot at the bottom of this review to see how this new release stacks up against the 2017 Blu-ray.

Audio on the disc comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with optional English subtitles. Everything sounds clean and crisp throughout, there's a good bit of depth to it, particularly from the fun score by composer Douglas Gamley, who scored a ton of UK horror films including City of the Dead (1960), Asylum (1972), Tales from the Crypt (1972), And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973), The Vault of Horror (1973), From Beyond the Grave (1974), Madhouse (1974), The Land That Time Forgot (1975), and The Monster Club (1980).

Severin's release carries over all the archival extras originally released on the Dark Sky Films DVD release from 2006, including the audio commentary director Paul Annett and Filmmaker Jonathan Sothcott, a trailer for the film and a vintage interview featurette with the director, which was directed by Jonathan Sothcott. Additionally we get the extras from the 2017 Severin Blu-ray, which would be the 19-min 'And Then There Were Werewolves' audio essay by Horror Historian Troy Howarth, a cool extra which gets into the original Agatha Christie source material in all it's incarnations, as well as this adaptation and other unofficial adaptations. New to this set is a 47-min audio interview with Milton Subotsky being interviewed by Philip Nutman, plus a 7-min interview with Producer Max J Rosenberg by Jonathan Sothcott, plus an optional trailer commentary with author/critics Kim Newman & David Flint.

The single-disc release comes housed in a sexy black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the same poster artwork as The Amicus Collection release with slightly alternate title font and coloring. The artworks on the disc are also quite similiar but with alternate fonts and colors as well, but both feature the yellow wolf moon from the original movie poster.

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Director Paul Annett and Filmmaker Jonathan Sothcott
- And Then There Were Werewolves: Audio Essay by Horror Historian Troy Howarth (19 min)
- Directing the Beast: Archival Interview with Director Paul Annett (13 min)
- Audio Interview Excerpt of Milton Subotsky on BEAST MUST DIE – Interviewed by Philip Nutman (47 min)
- Audio Interview with Producer Max J Rosenberg – Interviewed by Jonathan Sothcott (7 min)
- Original Theatrical Trailer with Optional Commentary by Genre Scholars Kim Newman & David Flint (1 min)

I am sure there are certain buyers out here bemoaning the fact that they're gonna be double-dipping for The Beast Must Die (1974) when Severin released it in a box-set just a few years ago, but to Severin's credit I recall that they acknowledged that the only elements available to them at the time were not up to par, so they would not be making it available as a stand alone release as they did the other two films in the set. As someone shelled out for The Amicus Collection set let me tell you that this is a gorgeous 4k restoration that absolutely blows away that previous edition. It is worth the double-dip, and the existing extras and new archival audio interviews with Amicus head-honchos Milton Subotsky and Max J Rosenberg, plus trailer commentary with Kim Newman & David Flint, are nice value-added content.