El día de la bestia (1995)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Álex de la Iglesia

Writers:

Jorge Guerricaechevarría (writer)
Álex de la Iglesia (writer)

Release Date:

23 December 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

A devilishly dark comedy

Plot:

A basque priest finds by means of a cabalistic study of the bible that the anti-christ is going to be born on Christmas day in Madrid...

Plot Keywords:

Christmas | Heavy Metal | Devil | Priest | Madrid

Awards:

15 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Álex Angulo	...	Cura (as Alex Angulo)
Armando De Razza	...	Cavan
Santiago Segura	...	José María
Terele Pávez	...	Rosario (as Terele Pavez)
Nathalie Seseña	...	Mina
Maria Grazia Cucinotta	...	Susana
Gianni Ippoliti	...	Productor
Jaime Blanch	...	Toyota 1
David Pinilla	...	Toyota 2
Antonio Dechent	...	Toyota 3
Ignacio Carreño	...	Toyota 4
Saturnino García	...	Sacerdote anciano (as Saturnino Garcia)
El Gran Wyoming	...	Nuevo Cavan
Pololo	...	Abuelo terminal
Higinio Barbero	...	Satán

Also Known As:

Il giorno della bestia (Italy)
The Day of the Beast

MPAA:

Rated R for strong brutal violence, language, drug use and brief nudity.

Runtime:

103 min | USA:99 min

Country:

Spain | Italy

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

France:-12 | South Korea:18 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Mexico:C

Filming Locations:

Aránzazu, Euskadi, Spain

Company:

Canal+ España

Goofs:

Factual errors: The last scene takes place nine months after Christmas, but the flowers and trees in the park show that it's early spring.

Movie Connections:

References "The Stand" (1994)

Instant Cult Classic!

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.