The Beast Within

Paul Clemens first came to my attention, with an excellent performance as a teenager with tourettes syndrome in the "Quincy" episode, "Seldom silent, Never heard". When "Fangoria" revealed that he was going to star in this horror film, I got real interested. It was a blast to see at a Tucson drive in, on first release. (probably with a 6-pack of Molson's in the trunk)

The southern setting, (and the presence of Ronny Cox), give this mutant rape saga, a slight touch of "Deliverance". Clemens suffers as necessary, rather convincingly, until the Tom Burman effects take center stage towards the end. This is a very well acted horror film, unusual for this type and time, with some real twists, unlikely as they might be. Burman's effects are top drawer for the pre-digital age. The ending is as perverse, and ludicrous, as one could hope. Take it as you will, this is a longtime favorite, a real change of pace from the interchangeable masked, holiday killers. (you know, "Halloween", "New Year's Evil", "Hell Night", "My Bloody Valentine", "Prom Night", "Friday The 13th", etc...) Your response may change with your mood.

--Judexdot1--

I agree with many points made by fellow commentators. This was one of director Philippe Mora's best efforts: atmospheric, grisly and featuring an extraordinary cast of slumming actors. The makeup transformation effects by the Burman studio are quite well done. BUT...

Why isn't this called The BUG Within? This poor kid doesn't turn into a beast - he turns into a gosh-darn GIANT CICADA! WTF? Where did that come from? There's no explanation in the script, and according to those who've read the source novel, it's completely different from the original story. I remember seeing this at a United Artists screening in Los Angeles back in 1982. My buddy Mike and I were big horror fans, and after the screening let out we kept asking each other, "But why did he turn into a BUG?" Neither of us could come up with an answer then and obviously, even after all these years and with all these discussions on IMDb, no one else has either.

Screenwriter Tom Holland probably could however. Certainly he's proved himself a talent in the horror genre, with his terrific script for the first Psycho sequel and subsequent work on the first Child's Play and his directorial debut, Fright Night.

Philippe Mora has had a more checkered career. A strong visual stylist, he's struggled with poor choice of material such as the infamous sequel Howling III: The Marsupials.

The Bug - sorry, BEAST Within is definitely worth a look for horror buffs, but when you watch the big transformation scene two-thirds of the way through, I guarantee you'll be scratching your head afterwards. The makeup FX are pretty cool though.

Philippe Mora does has made lots of very strange movies in his underrated career, some good, some truly awful. This is one of the better ones. If you analyze the plot too much the holes become big enough to drive a truck through, but just ignore the urge to do that, and you'll find you're watching an near-classic of transformation horror.

A newly-wed (Bibi Besch) is raped by a mysterious beast on her wedding night. Seventeen years later her son (Paul Clemens) is dying of an unknown illness. She and her husband (Ronny Cox) return to the scene of their past trauma to try and get some answers. They find some strange townsfolk who appear to be hiding some mysterious secret. Exactly what it is I won't say. It would not only spoil the movie, but I must admit I'm a trifle confused myself at the "explanation" for the weird events depicted on screen! Like I said, think about it too much and you'll ruin it. Just go with the flow...

'The Beat Within' contains plenty of creepiness and some gruesome murders. An added attraction for film buffs is the interesting supporting cast, which includes Peckinpah veterans R.G. Armstrong ('Predator'), L.Q. Jones ('Casino') and Luke Askew ('Easy Rider'), and character actors Don Gordon ('Out Of The Blue') and Mora semi-regular John Dennis Johnston. ('Flesh & Blood')

'The Beast Within' rarely gets mentioned in discussions of 1980s horror movies, but it should. It may not be up there with the best of Cronenberg, Carpenter, Romero, or Raimi, but it's well made, original, strongly acted, and damn good fun!

The Beast Within tells the story of a woman who is raped in the forest by a mysterious creature. Cut forward 17yrs and her son has developed an ailment that has left doctors baffled.

Based on that alone you've likely just worked out about 50% of the plot, the other 50% is very generic cliched stuff about a conspiracy in small town USA.

With the likes Ronny Cox the movie has some acting heavyweights behind it, they also clearly had a very competent sfx team whose creature effects are above par for this early in the 80's.

Sadly it doesn't flow very well, I found the lead rather obnoxious, the leading lady barely got any screen time and it just feels like they made a lot of real schoolyard errors here.

If you like cheesy 80's creature features you might actually get a kick out of this as it does tick plenty of boxes, it just missed out on a few that are too important to me personally.

The Good:

Ronny Cox and L.Q. Jones

Decent sfx

The Bad:

Lack of flow is noticeable

Paul Clemens

If you enjoyed "The Terror Within" or "Humanoids From the Deep", then this movie is for you. It is a classic early eighties horror film about slimy creatures that rape young women, only to repeat the cycle at the end of the film. Special effects (by today's standards) are pretty thin, but still worth seeing.