With Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man about to howl its way into theaters, werewolves are hoping to become the next monster du jour after Nosferatu closed out the year with such vampiric heights. Get in the mood by watching one of the strangest werewolf movies ever, which is saying something for a genre that has some deeply weird entries: 1974’s The Beast Must Die.
Based on a 1950 short story with the equally alluring title “There Shall Be No Darkness,” The Beast Must Die has an Agatha Christie-type set-up, in which a group of people are invited to an isolated country manor under false pretenses, and realize they’re in for a sinister getaway complete with body count. Calvin Lockhart stars as Tom, a flamboyant millionaire whose hunting obsession has inspired him to pursue the ultimate game: a werewolf.
Whether or not werewolves actually exist is only lightly questioned in the context of the movie; Tom is so obsessed with the idea he’s invested tons of money into an elaborate werewolf-catching system. The grounds around his mansion are equipped with a high-tech (for 1974) surveillance system, which we see demonstrated in an opening sequence in which he tests its capabilities—and the audience is led to believe Tom’s some kind of fugitive being tracked by a man barking orders from a control room to gun-toting security forces.
But even before Tom terrifies his guests by bursting out of the forest with a small army chasing after him, we know The Beast Must Die is no ordinary country caper. That’s because the movie opens with some very specific exposition: “This film is a detective story—in which you are the detective.”
Ok, cool. Participatory element, intriguing. But then: “The question is not ‘who is the murderer?’—but ‘who is the werewolf?’” Who is the what now? “After all the clues have been shown, you will get a chance to give your answer… watch for the werewolf break.”
With the prospect of a “werewolf break” now percolating in the viewer’s mind, The Beast Must Die continues very much like an Agatha Christie tale, albeit one with a groovy, vaguely disco-flavored soundtrack. Tom explains in great detail to Pavel (Anton Diffring)—the skeptical but good-natured security expert Tom’s hired to oversee all that fancy equipment—his motivation behind this odd gathering, in a speech that includes the phrases “I go after what I want,” “I was born a hunter,” and “this is going to help me hunt the biggest game of all.”
His “guests” for this adventure, which is not coincidentally timed around the full moon, include an array of disgraced eccentrics (a painter who admits to a flirtation with cannibalism; a former UN delegate whose associates just kept mysteriously disappearing), and, as Tom thunderously informs them, “One of you sitting here in this room is a werewolf,” followed by a dramatic music cue. One of you, in other words, is the beast that’s gonna die.
Horror legend and future Star Wars baddie Peter Cushing is second-billed as an archaeologist invited along because he happens to be a werewolf expert. Cushing plays it very seriously as he lectures the other guests about the oddities of wolfsbane pollen, which Lockhart goes agreeably over the top as he orders the increasingly uncomfortable group to take turns grabbing silver objects throughout the movie. The tense build-up pre-dates the blood test scene in John Carpenter’s The Thing but brings about a similar result.
We know we’re going to learn the werewolf’s identity eventually—unfortunately, that marvelous CCTV system ends up not helping much when Pavel is the first victim—but as you get swept along with the fun of the various accusations (hmm, that one guy sure does have awfully hairy hands!), you might accidentally forget about the promised “werewolf break.”
Fear not, though: The Beast Must Die, a title taken directly from one of Tom’s declarations, will not let you down. With about 15 minutes to go, and a few suspects removed from the line-up on account of having already been devoured, the narrator returns to tell you “This is the werewolf break,” as a ticking clock appears on the screen and you see images of all the “suspects.” You have 30 seconds to ponder who the culprit might be—presumably, you’re to discuss your theory with whoever’s watching the movie with you? Or scream your best guess into the void?—before The Beast Must Die returns and gives you a false solution before the actual snarling cause of all the trouble is revealed.
We won’t spoil it, obviously, but the ending of The Beast Must Die is both surprising and satisfying. Yeah, it leans into a gimmick to get you to the finish line, but what other movie dares to bring everything to a screeching halt to declare a werewolf break?
You can stream The Beast Must Die free on Tubi and a few other FAST channels; you can also rent it through Prime Video or watch with subscriptions to Shout! Factory TV and Fandor. Severin Films also released a Blu-ray with special features, including commentary by director Paul Annett.
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