The Day of the Beast (1995)

While El Dia De La Bestia had some logic errors, such as easily finding a virgin at her late 20's, it was a good film overall. It's designed as a thriller-comedy so you can't expect everything to be perfectly logical anyway. The only film I've seen with a similar plot was The Devil's Advocate, and I have to say this one was a few million times better. It's time dear Americans see it takes not only expensive FX but also and more importantly soul to make a good film. Probably 99.9% of the spectators of the film didn't pay attention, but Maria Grazia Cuccinotta shines in the bimbo role more than any other part of the cast does. But the general cast is quite flawless too. I have to say there's some good music in the film also :) I don't care if it's associated with satan, it's still good to hear metal in films like this one. If you've watched and liked The Devil's Advocate, and just like me, you think the film seems to have everything necessary to be a good film but something's terribly missing, you'll see that missing thing is right in its place in El Dia De La Bestia. Brilliant comedy, brilliant thriller, absolutely unique. 9/10.

Fmovies: Holy schmoley! How did this movie ever escape me? - I couldn't believe that it was made 17 years ago, and I've never even heard of it. Thank goodness for Pirate Bay or I never would have. What a great blend of story, characters, humor, and of course being on "a mission from God!" I'm buying this one. I wonder why it hasn't been picked up yet by American producers. You know, like they did with "The Grudge", "Dark Water", and a host of others. I'm kinda glad they didn't. They would probably screw it up. - Along with the priest the fabulous sidekick Jose Maria. - I'd love to see these two together again. - Anyway, it you haven't seen this yet, hunt it down and enjoy. If you don't it might just be the "end of the world."

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")

The Day of the Beast fmovies. 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!

A devilishly dark comedy/horror movie about a priest who moves to a big city where happens fantastic as well as horrifying deeds . Frightening and twisted film by the king of black comedy , Alex De La Iglesia . Outrageous movie with odd characters , touches of amusing humor , surreal imagery and thrilling plot . Alex De la Iglesia is an excellent and outlandish Spanish director , he had much success as "Accion Mutante" , " La Comunidad" , "Perlita Durango" , ¨Crimen Ferpecto¨ , among others . Here deals with a Basque reverend (Alex Angulo who gives an engagingly subtlety to his strange role) finds by means of a Cabalistic study of the bible that the anti-Christ is going to be born on Christmas day in Madrid . The priest searches for clues among the lyrics of 'death metal' and the city's human detritus . There the reverend , a theological inspired madman , befriends a heavy-rocker young (Santiago Segura brings funny acting as a record-shop assistant and HM fan) and both of them confront numerous terrifying adventures . They kidnap a famous TV psychologist (Armando De Razza) and then caught up in an impeding cataclysm . Meantime , somewhere out there , El Diablo is waiting to be born .

This is a full-on surreal terror movie that blends thrills , a lot of fun , suspense , tension as well as an intriguing script full of underlying seriousness , horror , comedy and embarrassing situations . Packed with scenes of fantastic nature , robust humor , this story is a exciting as well as frightening , as we follow the strange situations of a peculiar couple whose destination is dictated by terrible events . Good acting by the starring couple , Alex Angulo and Santiago Segura , who will soon discover that the Antichrist will be born on Christmas Day and then forced to face dangerous happenings . The narration is so filled with quirk characters , crazy violence mixed with diabolic elements and an underlying sense of horror , and it is so excessive and plenty of surprises, one can't help but keep watching, much as it is over the top in many an occasion . Alex De La Iglesia has created a good picture here that in all honesty is very difficult to categorize in terms of genre , as there's a little bit of gruesomeness , quite a lot of horror , a good deal of suspense and a host of amusement ; but it does not fit into any one genre very well at all, in truth this is one of the things that makes it nice . Álex De la Iglesia claims the story's origin was the image of a apparently harmless man doing horrible things . De La Iglesia reigns in his style this time around and gives an utterly watchable takedown of horror/comedy that certainly delivers a few madly inspired moments . During shoot, crew and specifically Álex De la Iglesia received various death threats from so-called satanist groups . Acting personnel all do excellent work in bizarre roles , but special notice needs to be made for Alex Angulo giving an enjoyable acting along with Terele Pavez as an unsettling landlady . Excellent plethora of secondaries as Jaime Blanch , Maria Gracia Cuzinotta , Saturnino Segura , Natalie Seseña , Antonio Dechent and De La Iglesia usual's : Antonio De La Torre , Enrique Villen , Manuel Tafalle and El Gran Wyoming as Nuevo Cavan , among others . Interesting screenplay Alex De La Iglesia and Javier Guerricaechevarria who usually work united . Excellent special effects by Reyes Abades and great production design , including the neon "Schweppes" sign on which the protagonists are hung fr

As films like "Perdita Durango" prove, Spanish director Álex De La Iglesia is a specialist for macabre humor. One of his earlier films, "El Dia De La Bestia" aka. "The Day Of The Beast" of 1995 is a perfect example for this director's talent, a macabre and hilarious black horror comedy that entertains highly from the beginning to the end. A catholic priest (Álex Angulo) goes to Madrid in order to prevent the birth of the Antichrist, which he believes to take place there on Christmas Day. In order to find the exact place where the Antichrist is to be born, the kind-hearted priest is forced to commit 'Sins', and furthermore associates with the surprisingly friendly Death-Meal lover and Satanist Jose Maria (Santiago Segura)... Angulo and Segura both fit very well in their roles, especially Angulo is very hilarious as the priest. Armando De Razza is furthermore great, and hilarious as Cavan, a hypocritical TV psychic. Director De La Iglesia did a great job making this film a hilarious Horror-comedy and still maintaining a dark and somehow gloomy atmosphere. If you like satirical Horror, make sure not to miss "El Dia De La Bestia", and enjoy 100 minutes of macabre humor and originality. Highly Recommended!