El día de la bestia

I have become increasingly dissatisfied with most of Hollywood's output, horror or otherwise. Too many movies are either highly cynical commercial products, aimed at teenagers with no discernment or real love of movies, compromised messes that please no-one, stale rehashes of previous works, or just plain STUPID. 'The Day Of The Beast' is none of these things! I was almost put off by the packaging with it's description of a "horror action comedy", expecting some kind of juvenile 'Army Of Darkness' crap (a movie I have no time for). Surprisingly, it DOES have horror, action and comedy, but blends them in original and exciting ways Hollywood hasn't dreamed of. Just compare this to recent supernatural themed thrillers like the brain-dead 'End Of Days' or 'Stigmata', and you'll see that director Alex de la Iglesia is working on a much more intelligent and provocative level.

'The Day Of The Beast' concerns a naive priest's attempts to summon Satan so that he can try and prevent the birth of the Antichrist and Armageddon. He befriends a hilarious acid-gobbling Metal fan (the wonderful Santiago Segura), and with the reluctant assistance of the host of a TV show dealing with the paranormal, the two comrades bumble through a series of adventures while trying to complete their task. The whacky humour and general silliness is balanced with a genuinely dark vision of Madrid and this is what gives this movie such a unique flavour. It juggles comedy, horror and social criticism marvellously, and never loses sight of it's themes of faith, evil and moral responsibility.

I can't recommend this movie highly enough as the antidote to the onslaught of contemporary asinine horror and fantasy movies. Make sure you track down the original undubbed Spanish version to fully appreciate it. 'The Day Of The Beast' ranks up with Mexico's 'Cronos' and Canada's 'Ginger Snaps' as one of the most imaginative and original horror movies of the last ten years. Don't miss it!

Over a year ago I accidentally bought Day of the Beast off Ebay with no subs. Finally after a long wait I got the chance to check out this flick, and what a damn shame I wasn't more safe when buying it the first time, because this was a really good flick.

El Dia De La Bestia is a comedy/horror/action hybrid that really meshes on a level that few movies have. It's Xmas Eve and a Priest, Metalhead and a TV Host band together to try stop the Anti-Christ from being born. Sounds like the beginning of a joke, but it's the truth and these guys go through some ridiculous stuff trying to accomplish their goal. The acting, cinematography, directing and especially the screen play were all great. The writing was fast, realistic and smart, just like how the movie played out. Day of the Beast has barely has any dull scenes, it's funny, and moves at a pretty fast pace. I suppose it's not gonna be everyone's cup of tea, but hell, for me, there's nothing in it worth complaining about.

I really hope this film gets more popular, because it definitely has the opportunity to have a large fan base. Hopefully someday it will get some more recognition and you'll be seeing it in Best Buys and so on. And the best part is the director has many more flicks that are supposed to be just as good. If you're looking for a plain old good flick, look no further, Day of the Beast is it.

A complete cult film in Spain.

I think Alex is one of the most original talents in nowadays cinema. And not only in Spain, all over the world.

You have to realize what it means to issue such a film, and what a danger you take. How he uses black humour and keeps tension on every scene is incredible. And he has shown that in every one of his films, specially in The perfect crime (a pearl of how to use black humour), 800 bullets and Common Wealth. These are films to take with an open mind, no previous thoughts of what are you going to find. I'm still surprised at each one of his new films.

A masterpiece, but not a film for everybody.

The priest and professor of theology Father Ángel Berriartúa (Alex Angulo) has deciphered a code disclosing that the Antichrist will be born in Madrid on the Christmas day. In order to avoid the destruction of the world, he decides to go to Madrid on the Christmas Eve and commit as many sins as possible to sell his soul to the devil to destroy the Antichrist to save the world. He befriends and teams up with the death metal salesman José María (Santiago Segura) and finds a book written by the Italian Professor Cavan (Armando De Razza), who hosts a TV show on the occult. They kidnap Cavan to learn how to summon the devil and during an acid trip, they see the devil and Cavan decides to help the priest. Is the priest a lunatic or does the Beast indeed exist?

"El día de la bestia", a.k.a. "The Day of the Beast", is a hilarious and full of action black comedy horror film. This is the type of movie that can be seen many times and the viewer will still enjoy it if he is fan of black humor and dark jokes. The cynical Alex Angulo is fantastic in the role of a priest committing many sins to attract the attention of the devil. The bizarre characters, including José Maria and Professor Cavan, are also very funny. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Dia da Besta" ("The Day of the Beast")

On rare occasions, a movie appears that successfully mixes elements of comedy with those of horror without being silly, cheesy or vulgar. Alex De la Iglesia's superb "El Día de la Bestia" is definitely one of those movies.

With an interesting plot, very likable characters, good SFX(considering the low budget) and a great cast, this formidable movie from Spain turns instantly in a cult classic by it's own merits.

Alex Angulo stars as father Angel, a priest who is also a scholar of theology, and that has discovered that John's revelation contains encoded the date and place for the birth of the Antichrist: Christmas Eve of 1995 in Madrid. With that knowledge, he decides to turn himself into a satanist in order to discover the exact place of the birth. With the aid of metal-head Jose Maria(played by Santiago Segura) and the fake psychic Professor Cavas(played superbly by Armando De Razza), he goes on his quest to kill the baby before the anti-Christ's reign begins.

The story is filled with very dark humor as the priest has to sin in order for him to be convincing enough as a satanist. Alex Angulo really carries the film and gives a great performance, but is Armando De Razza who steals the show; Cavas and his girlfriend(played by beautiful Maria Grazia Cucinotta) have a great scene and Maria shines on her small role as the dumb blonde who dates Cavas.

De la Iglesia takes us on the roller-coaster that is this movie, as it never drags and goes on with a fast-paced rhythm. A great camera-work makes the film even better and the bizarre beauty of it's photography, contrasting the colorful Christmas with the dark gritty violence of the streets of Madrid.

Overall a near-perfect film, "El Día de la Bestia" will keep you entertained with it's irreverent(some would say blasphemous) dark humor.

10/10. Very recommended.