Review by Peter Syslo
Man, this was a strange week for horror films. I feel that this is the week for mediocrity – not just in my writing, but in the films themselves. QUARANTINE was “not bad” and THE BEAST WITHIN (1983) landed a couple of notches below that. Maybe its the time of year that is starting to wear on me – I don't know. March is pretty much a mediocre month and there is really nothing to look forward to, culture-wise until May (May Day, Memorial Day, etc.). But, I will pick myself up by my bootstraps look to other things for inspiration. Maybe I'll go see the new FRIDAY THE 13th tomorrow on Friday, March 13th (two Friday the 13ths in a row – a cool occurrence). Anyway, THE BEAST WITHIN was kind of a tough movie to get through. It wasn't terrible, but I really had a tough time getting involved in the film.
THE BEAST WITHIN is directed by Philippe Mora and is written by Tom Holland and Edward Levy. The film stars Ronny Cox, Bibi Besch, Paul Clemens, Don Gordon, and Katherine Moffat.
The film focuses on a teenage boy (Clemens) whose parents have kind of a turbid past. You see, the mother (Besch) and the father (Cox) were on a date, years ago, and the mother was raped by some kind of beast in the forest. Put two and two together and you see that the boy is the product of that rape. Okay, enough background. The boy is having medical trouble – something to the effect that his body can't get enough protein – and hence, he is kept in the hospital for observation. However, some strange urge compels the boy to sneak out of the hospital and he winds up killing a man. The boy's strange bloodlust continues as he sneaks out of the hospital each night and the killing continues. To make matters worse, the boy also fancies a teenage girl – this kid has a lot on his plate. Soon enough, the boy learns of his origins and becomes living evidence of the statement, “like father, like son”. It all culminates in a mystery wrapped up in a monster movie wrapped up in a “history-is-doomed-to-repeat-itself” tale.
Yeah, the movie is just as confusing as my synopsis. It's not that I didn't like the film at all (it does have a certain charm to it), it's just the fact that it was very difficult to follow. I did like the beginning; it was set up well and I liked the premise of a beast-child realizing his beast-like nature. But, the film seemed to fall apart from there. The boy's first night of escape and his first kill was very satisfying but then you learn that the kills are some sort of revenge on those who “wronged” his father. Also, you have the parents thrown in there but they are severely underused. I mean, their kid is turning into a monster and they don't seem too upset – wouldn't they be completely devastated? I would have liked to have seen more drama and misery from the parents' perspective. Also, the side story, with his like of the teenage girl is unnecessary. It plays into the ending of the film, but the “courtship” is a little out of place. I think that the basic problem with the film is that there is way too much going on. If it focused on one simple aspect - the kid becoming a monster and how he and his parents deal with it - it would have been a much better film.
Gnawing through the flesh: THE BEAST WITHIN isn't terrible, but it is a bit unfocused. The overall acting was decent (you do have some good actors in it), but certain actors like Besch and Cox were underused. The effects were one highlight of the film and I thought that they were quite daring for the time-period. The effects, as he was turning into a beast, were very imaginative (bubbling skin), although the completed creature look was a little anti-climatic. There was a fair amount of blood and the kill scenes were pretty fulfilling. My favorites were a manual decapitation and a man kicking a lump of ground beef as he is bitten to death; the film did have that bit of FRIDAY THE 13th in it, where each kill scene had its own separate identity. All in all, though, THE BEAST WITHIN was a little too scattered and I felt my attention wavering, several times. Also, I found the musical score to be a little annoying; it had shades of a “made for TV” movie in it and it reminded me of a soap opera. I don't know exactly why it didn't work, but for some reason it just didn't fit. But, if you like more obscure films from the 1980s or if you like man-turning-to-beast films, you may want to check it out for nostalgia's sake. I give THE BEAST WITHIN a 4/10.