The Day of the Beast

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")

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."

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.

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!

Over a year ago I accidentally bought Day of the Beast off Ebay with no subs. Finally after a long wait I got the chance to check out this flick, and what a damn shame I wasn't more safe when buying it the first time, because this was a really good flick.

El Dia De La Bestia is a comedy/horror/action hybrid that really meshes on a level that few movies have. It's Xmas Eve and a Priest, Metalhead and a TV Host band together to try stop the Anti-Christ from being born. Sounds like the beginning of a joke, but it's the truth and these guys go through some ridiculous stuff trying to accomplish their goal. The acting, cinematography, directing and especially the screen play were all great. The writing was fast, realistic and smart, just like how the movie played out. Day of the Beast has barely has any dull scenes, it's funny, and moves at a pretty fast pace. I suppose it's not gonna be everyone's cup of tea, but hell, for me, there's nothing in it worth complaining about.

I really hope this film gets more popular, because it definitely has the opportunity to have a large fan base. Hopefully someday it will get some more recognition and you'll be seeing it in Best Buys and so on. And the best part is the director has many more flicks that are supposed to be just as good. If you're looking for a plain old good flick, look no further, Day of the Beast is it.