The Day of the Beast (1998)

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

I'd only heard good things about this Spanish film " Instant classic etc " and went in to it knowing that it wasn't a full blown horror film . I'm guessing that most of the poor reviews on this page were by people who expected a full blown horror film and were disappointed by THE DAY OF THE BEAST being something it patently isn't ? However after seeing the movie I too was feeling some what let down too . Not by what the film wasn't but by what it is - a black comedy that ran out of steam The first third is excellent . Catholic priest Father Angel Berriartua decides if he commits enough sinful acts then he will meet the anti-Christ who will be born on Christmas Day in Madrid . In effect it's an anti redemption plot and there is much amusement to be had as he conducts a one man misanthropic war against passer bys . This sets up the introduction of two more characters Jose Maria a death metal salesman and Professor Cavan a TV host on the occult and at this point you think you'll be enjoying a sort of Spanish Catholic version of MONTY PYTHON as all sorts of anarchic tasteless anti establishment gags come to the fore as a sort of La Vida El Brian The bad news is that the plotting and story telling does indeed become anarchic but is also a bit too screwball . The tasteless biting black humour of the first third of the film disappears and we're subjected to more and more over the top humour . You can believe the situations of Father Angel taking place earlier in the film but when more and more characters take place the credibility disappears . Tight corners such as a shoot out with the police are resolved by very lazy scripting and perhaps the greatest sin the film commits is that it does become a film about redemption at the end

This is an awesomely funny take on the concept of the birth of the Anti Christ. A priest comes to know 2 days before Christmas that the Anti Christ will be born on the Christmas Day. It is the story of the two days when he searches for the devil on the streets of Madrid. Aiding him in this endeavor are a heavy metal fan and a fake clairvoyant who hosts TV show about the future. There are many ironic sequences like the search for the blood of a virgin. The scenes involving the family of the heavy metal fan are unbelievably hilarious. One of the few movies which I have seen recently where I was genuinely unhappy that the movie had to end because the experience was too freakin great. 4 out of 5 for this comic masterpiece from Spain. a must watch for the movie lovers who enjoy their foreign cinema.

This movie is definitively awful. I watched it on Easter evening in 2011, hoping to see a good movie, after I had seen films like L'Aldilà of Lucio Fulci, They live of John Carpenter and The Brood of Cronenberg, but all I found is a mix of a comic movie and horror elements. These, however, aren't in the typical style of "Splatters" or "Bad Taste" (by Peter Jackson), made up as comic and horror movies. I think this was a pathetic tentative of the author of making a good horror, after felt in the comicality. The first scene, as I saw in the commercial, showing a big crucifix falls on a priest, made me think about a good movie, but the crescendo was awful: Maria Grazia Cucinotta seems idiot, and the Italian magician is totally pathetic. In a second you can even see a picture of a young Berlusconi. Don't see it.

This is the film from De la Iglesia I hold in the highest regard. I don't know if it's his best, but I certainly love it the most.Basically, the plot centers around a Spanish priest who thinks he has decoded a message from the Book of Revelation foretelling the date the Antichrist will be born: December the 25th, 1995. And so, during Christmas eve, knowing his Enemy is powerful, he embarks on a mission to prevent it... During the course of the night he most prominently meets a fat, irreverent and dirty heavy-metal fan on the one hand and the host of a TV program centered on the paranormal (who is of course a farce) on the other.The movie first and foremost is riddled with dark humor (right from the very first scene), all the while, we will be treated to several scenes so well crafted that they will have you on the edge of the seat either gripping your nerves or scaring you to hell.Acting (the protagonist trio is excellent), plot (the ending will leave you thinking!), pacing (some will argue it drags a little towards the ending), characters (a priest, a heavy metal fan and a charlatan teaming up!), the heavy-metal soundtrack... everything is perfect.I think we can safely say that if you like Raimi's/Jackson's horror days, - minus the slapstick and absurdist gore - you will love this one. Or, for example, 'Shaun of the Dead' has an scene which is essentially the same to one in this superb film. Horror fans simply have to see it.