The Beast Within (1982)

Nov 10th, 2009 by cm2

Fast Download: The Beast Within (1982)

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The Beast Within is without doubt one of the most underrated Horror films of the 1980s and also probably of all time. I still don’t understand why this film ranks so low on the totem pole with most fans and critics. Some say that the film’s premise is ludicrous but legendary Horror author H.P. Lovecraft used similar ideas of degenerative mutation in his classic story “The Lurking Fear.” Beast features a strong cast with top acting honors going to Ronny Cox and Bibi Besch while excellent support comes from top character actors R.G. Armstrong and L.Q. Jones. Paul Clemens gives a very impressive turn as the title character, at one point a tortured young man, the next a murderous killer. He is really quite good, what happened to this guy? Also good is the cute Kitty Moffat who plays his ill fated girl friend. Director Philippe Mora does an excellent job of capturing the look and feel of an eerie little southern town with a dark secret and he keeps the action moving but never at the expense of the atmospherics. Particularly impressive are the scenes in the swamp after the human remains are found and the part where Clemens checks out the house where his Father was imprisioned. Much is made over the film’s over the top effects work by Tom Burman particuarly the wild transformation scene at the fim’s climax but give them credit for doing something different with the tired transformation sequences that populated 1980′s Horror films. The part were Clemens’ head blows up like a balloon is foreshadowed by a funny moment earlier in the film where Armstrong fiddles with one of those plastic dolls whose heads would expand when you squeze their bodies. And the film has a nice sense of symetry as Clemens, reborn as the monster who raped Besch is in turn killed by her at the film’s end while Moffat who suffered the same fate as Besch is now going to carry the next beast. The Beast Within does not deserve the poor reputation it has and is ripe for rediscovery by discerning Horror buffs. Give it a try.