Film
Bristol Black Horror Club: The Beast Must Die
- Director
- Paul Annett
- Certificate
- 15
- Running Time
- 93 mins
The very welcome Bristol Black Horror Club launches with this Cinema Rediscovered screening of the campy, typically cheap’n’cheerful 1974 Amicus werewolf mystery starring Calvin Lockheart as a millionaire who summons a bunch of folks (including Peter Cushing and the young Michael Gambon) to his English country mansion. Here, he reveals that one of them is a werewolf and must be done away with.
In truth, this isn’t a patch on Amicus’s great anthology films, but it does have several points of interest. Lockheart – who was in the UK as an actor-in-residence at the RSC in 1974 – and Marlene Clark (who plays the millionaire’s wife) are cast without any big deal being made out of their race. There’s an incredibly cheesy, William Castle-esque ‘werewolf break’ at the end during which you’re encouraged to guess who’s Mr. (or Ms.) Hairy Palms. The film boasts some of the funniest scenes ever of a dog dressed in a werewolf outfit. And Douglas Gamley‘s score is undeniably funky – but, if you’re being harsh about it, jarringly inappropriate.
The screening will be introduced by programmer, writer, critic and broadcaster, Adam Murray. Go here for tickets.
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