The Beast Must Die (The penultimate shiver from Amicus)

'The Beast Must Die' is a real curio of a horror film produced by Amicus Productions, a one off studio that gave Hammer Productions a run for its money between the 1960’s and 1970’s. Amicus were one of three British production companies (the other is Tigon Productions) to produce predominantly horror product for the masses. Formed by an American horror buff named Milton Subotsky and a American businessman called Max J. Rosenberg Amicus would produce a total of 28 films between 1962 and 1977 and amongst their many successes would bring Doctor Who and the Daleks to the big screen in 1965 with the film ‘Dr. Who and the Daleks’ and a follow up based on the 1964 BBC serial ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’ entitled ‘Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D’ which was released in 1966 both starring legendary Hammer actor Peter Cushing in the lead role. Really not bad for a production company that made all of their films on the cheap! They were however a studio that had a considerable industry reputation for always being able to turn in a profit (rather like the films of Roger Corman in the US) and with Rosenberg as a co-founder of the company working with a keen eye on America, Amicus were able to distribute their productions to a large American audience. Their film ‘Tales from the Crypt’ was the second biggest US grossing film after ‘The Godfather’ upon its release in 1972.

The opening title sequence to 'The Beast Must Die'

The studio’s links with Hammer Horror films were not accidental either.  Subotsky and Rosenberg had, very early in their careers submitted a script to Hammer entitled ‘Frankenstein and the Monster’ which was rejected, only to find a year or so later the studio would have huge success with their film ‘The Curse of Frankenstein’ which starred both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee who was also a stalwart of Hammer and later regular actor with Amicus. This gave Subotsky in particular a deep rivalry with Hammer and whilst both Hammer and Amicus featured a lot of blood in their films, Subotsky disliked the gore of the former and also chose (for creative as well as budgetary reasons) to shoot all of his films in a contemporary setting, unlike the vast majority of Hammer’s output which was based in the past and richly gothic in its presentation. Amicus also carved themselves a niche by releasing ‘portmanteau’ horror films, i.e films that had three or more separate stories throughout its run time.

Calvin Lockhart as millionaire Tom Newcliffe 

Hammer, Amicus and Tigon’s Horror output would ultimately share the same fate as, after some considerable successes in the 1960’s their productions would begin to lose momentum and impetus and seem increasingly old hat as the cinema industry evolved rapidly around them and interest in British horror product (for a while at least) ceased. We join Amicus and ‘The Beast Must Die’ at that very moment. Released in 1974, this was a non-anthology, non ‘portmanteau’ Amicus production at a time when the studio’s output was beginning to lessen. Written by Michael Winder from a short story by noted science fiction writer James Blish, Milton Subotsky hated the film. This would be the last Amicus horror film he had any involvement in and he would ultimately leave the company in 1975 after losing heart in the franchise. Max J. Rosenberg would run the company until its demise two years later.

A young Michael Gambon as Jan Gilmore

Featuring a stellar cast, including the much mentioned Peter Cushing, Charles Gray (of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show', two James Bond films & the Granada Sherlock series), Tom Chadbon, Anton Diffring  and Michael Gambon no less, the film is led by Calvin Lockhart, at the time an actor in residence with the Royal Shakespeare Company who originally came from the Bahamas, cast to cash in on the blaxploitation genre which was capturing imaginations in the US at the time. Without giving too much away, Lockhart portrays a millionaire called Tom Newcliffe in the film, a game hunter planning his biggest kill yet. He invites a group of people (some of them friends) to his English mansion and announces that one of them is a werewolf and that he is determined to kill that person. It’s a wonderful narrative device, blatantly developed from Agatha Christie’s story ‘And Then There Were None’ and the classic 1959 American horror film ‘The House on Haunted Hill’ coincidentally starring Amicus regular and distinguished Horror actor Vincent Price. The twist of course in this story is that rather than trying to work out who the murderer is, Newcliffe (and the viewing audience) must work out who the werewolf is! A laughable inclusion however, which interrupts the pace of the film somewhat but was apparently included on the insistence of producer Milton Subotsky is the ‘Werewolf Break’ sequence, where the viewer is invited to guess who the beast is! Also of note is the rather hilarious appearance of the werewolf, which due to the films very low budget was a German Shepherd given a large fluffy coat to ‘bulk him up’. If it wasn’t for Paul Annett’s excellent direction (which largely hides the unfortunate appearance of the beast with low key lighting and fast editing) any feeling of menace would be totally destroyed. In a couple of shots where the nature of ‘The Beast’ is obvious the dog in his big coat frankly looks adorable! There are some genuine frightening moments however, including Newcliffe hunting in the wood as the werewolf approaches, the death of Pavel (Anton Diffring) Newcliffe’s surveillance specialist who does not believe in Werewolves and ends up with his eye ripped out and the death of Bennington (Charles Gray) is disturbingly realised too as is the sequence when Newcliffe’s dog is attacked by the werewolf (an interesting piece of trivia is that this is the first film ever to feature a fight between a dog and a werewolf!) Another silly (but forgiveable) inclusion is Professor Lundgren's (Peter Cushing) werewolf knowledge, they will apparently be revealed if they are forced to touch silver when the pollen of Wolfsbane is in the air! Really.....well that's typical horror film mumbo jumbo for you! 

Pavel (Anton Diffring) after a Werewolf attack in 'The Beast Must Die' 

'The Beast Must Die' makes great use of the Surrey countryside near Shepperton Studios (where the film was made) and also the River Ash footbridge in Littleton, Middlesex (a location which featured in countless Amicus films, including Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D) all of which is very effective, particularly during the deliberately confusing opening sequence which features Newcliffe being hunted, which the audience later learns is his warm up for the Werewolf hunt, working out exactly what routes the creature can take through his country estate with assistance from Pavel and his entourage. Even his house guests are shocked and stunned when Newcliffe is gunned down in front of them at the conclusion of the sequence, only to find out it is all a training exercise. Much of the location footage was recorded day for night which adds much to the atmosphere of the picture and is coupled with a funky score from composer Douglas Gamley, no doubt trying to replicate a blaxploitation feel in his music. It’s a brilliant score which really puts the film in period but it can be a little too jovial in its tone, against the horrific images on screen it sometimes feels incongruous! 

Calvin Lockhart's Newcliffe becomes distrustful of Paul Foote (Tom Chadbon) 

The performances are pretty solid, with a convincing turn from the late Calvin Lockhart who becomes more and more irate as he fails to catch the Werewolf, Donald Gray’s performance is at his restrained best as the diplomat Bennington, whereas Peter Cushing struggles to maintain his European? Accent, but it doesn’t matter because he’s Peter Cushing! Tom Chadbon is brilliant as Paul Foote, an early werewolf suspect who admits to having eaten a piece of human flesh in his past. He plays the role like an arrogant post-graduate and looks very 1970's! Michael Gambon’s role as Jan Gilmore is ultimately quite limited in dialogue, his role and that of his wife’s (played by Ciaran Madden) are quite understated, a deliberate move on the directors part. Anton Diffring is superb as the short lived, slightly sinister and analytical Pavel. Another star turn is from American actress Marlene Clark (hired at the suggestion of Calvin Lockhart when Shirley Bassey proved unavailable) playing Newcliffe’s wife Caroline,  who has to display the biggest emotional range as she grapples with fear of not just the werewolf but her husband’s increasingly unstable state. The conclusion is nicely executed if inevitable, curiously followed by the full on funk of Gamley’s closing title music.

Audience participation is required on Milton Subotsky's orders! 

In summary, ‘The Beast Must Die’ is a wonderfully entertaining slice of 1970’s British cinema produced by one of my favourite film companies. It has all the hallmarks of a non-portmanteau Amicus picture and of traditional 1970’s horror but succeeds with its admirable twist of the ‘several strangers trapped in a house, one is a murderer’ story. An entertaining and familiar cast makes the experience more enjoyable even where the films budget and other limitations cause problems and in my honest opinion I think many of the later Horror efforts from Amicus were actually better than Hammers. This film is no exception, so sit back, relax, prepare for a few mild chills but ultimately just enjoy the moment, don’t take it too seriously (if was never intended that way) and immerse yourself in the British-ness. ‘They don’t make em’ like this anymore!’

The cute and cuddly Beast of 'The Beast Must Die' 

NOTE: All production stills and photographs used in this review are copyrighted to Amicus and Studiocanal. The next review will focus on the third series of the classic BBC science fiction series 'Blake's 7'.