Sunday, August 29, 2021

Sven- The Beast Must Die (1974)

 

Sven showed this again last night, and it's a pretty enjoyable werewolf movie.  It is based on James Blish's story "There Shall be no Darkness" from 1950.  I've read that story as well, and it's a scientific take on the lycanthropy curse.  That's a hard sell, since how would a human turn into a wolf without magic, but it's nice to see that sort of explanation attempted.  Big game hunter Tom Newcliffe invites several people to his English mansion, then tells them one amongst their number is a werewolf and he intends to kill that person.  It's a mystery as to who is the cursed person.  The surprise twist is who is the werewolf.   The end it pretty cliched by now, though.  It didn't surprise me the first time I saw the film.

The werewolf is actual wolf, not a wolfman.  That saves on a lot of time and money one effects, and the wolf looks good.  The actors are all good and the direction is crisp.  The movie runs 92 minutes.  It's always fun to see Peter Cushing in anything.

The "Werewolf Break" is kinda dumb, but it was a hook to make the movie a little different.  The movie would work without it, though.

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