The Beast Within

R

Released Feb 12, 1982

1 hr. 38 min.

Horror

List

17%

12 Reviews

Tomatometer

33%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Driving near a small Mississippi town in 1964, newlyweds Eli (Ronny Cox) and Caroline (Bibi Besch) experience car trouble. When Eli goes off to look for help, Caroline gets raped and is made pregnant by a horrible creature. Years later the child, now teenager Michael (Paul Clemens), finds himself undergoing an inexplicable physical change that compels him to return to that area in Mississippi. Soon dead bodies start piling up while his desperate parents struggle to understand what's happening.

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Audience Member

I'm extremely surprised at the low rating! This movie is really good! If you like scary, intense, stuff this is it! The music in the beginning of the movie says it all. It has a great story great character, great timing and tempo. Definitely a must see!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

laurent b

Very entertaining horror flick. The casting is outstanding, and the cinematography very well made, especially the photography. The only thing that is weird is the script, which seems to lack some explaining parts. Not a masterpiece, but a nice movie to watch for horror fans.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

robert p

What a terrible cheesy movie this is from the turn of the century. The special effects stink, there is no direct characterization of characters, people act like they do not even want to be in this movie, there were a couple of scenes I wanted to throw up because they were performed badly where did they get these characters to act from a local playhouse somewhere in the U.S.A. thus my horrible rating.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

delysid d

this movie is great. it's an extremely nasty and weird horror movie about a kid's problem where his body gets taken over by the spirit of his dead father because of some kind of cicada voodoo that he was into. the kid's body inflates and comes close to exploding.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/06/22

Full Review

ken k

First off they could have found a better lead character than Paul Clemens! At any acting school they could have done better than him. Then while they were there they could inquire about a writer that could write dialogue that doesn't make the audience laugh in all the wrong places. Next they would need a Director and film editor, But despite all these glaring problems this film is fun to watch. Les Baxter one of the Iconic writers and arrangers did the score ( His last ) and someone convinced him to try to add corny Synthesizer fills to his lush strings and biting horns. The blu ray transfer is amazing both in site and sound. In other words The Beast within could have been a lot better but is still entertaining on a very strange level.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

11/12/16

Full Review

Audience Member

I've always found director Philippe Mora an interesting director. I'm not sure any of his films could be considered classics, but I do think some of his films have absolutely classic moments, such as the found footage scene in "The Howling III" or the alien behind the dresser scene in "Communion." I'd actually never seen this film before, even though it was a VHS tape that sat in the horror section of the video store I worked at for year and features an excellent cast that includes Ronny Cox, Bibi Besch, R.G. Armstrong, R.G. Armstrong, Luke Askew and Meshach Taylor. The story is kind of an update of "I was a Teenage Werwolf" about Paul Clemens finding out he's the offspring of a monster that raped his mother and finds out he's compelled to repeat that cycle. Written by Tom Holland, it was his first feature film credit, but it's nowhere as clever as some of his subsequent films, such as "Child's Play," "Fright Night" or even the underrated "Psycho II." The film does have some credible performances and some fun old fashioned practical special effects (particularly one transformation scene near the end of the film), but that's about the extend of the charm of this film. Overall, I was kind of disappointed with the rather routine and corny nature of this horror film.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

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Philippe Mora

Director

Ronny Cox

Eli MacCleary

Bibi Besch

Caroline MacCleary

Paul Clemens

Michael MacCleary

Don Gordon

Judge Curwin

R. G. Armstrong

Doc Schoonmaker

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The Beast Within: Official Clip - The Beast Emerges

2:36

The Beast Within: Official Clip - A Taste for Blood

2:20

The Beast Within: Official Clip - A Murderer Running Loose

2:11

The Beast Within: Official Clip - The Judge Confesses

2:16

The Beast Within: Official Clip - Kill Me!

1:49

The Beast Within: Official Clip - Fresh Meat

1:52

The Beast Within: Official Clip - I Warned You

1:58

The Beast Within: Official Clip - So Much Blood

1:35

The Beast Within: Official Clip - I Came Back

2:07

The Beast Within: Official Clip - The Dog Finds a Hand

1:55

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Bruce McCabe

Boston Globe

The beast within "The Beast Within" is a busy, riotous and confusing scenario that makes it seem as if the film is taking too long to make its point.

Apr 27, 2018

Full Review

Jason Shawhan

Nashville Scene

One of the most disturbing films made in Mississippi, The Beast Within is a dark fable with all the drama of Tennessee Williams and all the grand guignol cruelties one could hope for.

Sep 10, 2021

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

An unconvincing love story, an unexplained connection to cicadas, and an overwrought musical score can't quite dull the impressiveness of the makeup effects at the climax.

Rated: 5/10

Aug 31, 2020

Full Review

Larry Vitacco

Philadelphia Gay News

The Beast Within is a real loser and not worth mentioning except to say don't waste your money.

Rated: 1/4

May 26, 2020

Full Review

Heather Wixson

Daily Dead

Because Mora doesn't go the usual route for The Beast Within, the film ends up being a bit of an oddball creature feature that often stumbles a bit tonally and suffers from some pacing issues around the midway point.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 8, 2016

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Creative Loafing

Forget the usual Transylvania or London settings: This horror flick has the distinction of being set in scary Mississippi.

Rated: 2/4

Apr 18, 2014

Full Review

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Synopsis

Driving near a small Mississippi town in 1964, newlyweds Eli (Ronny Cox) and Caroline (Bibi Besch) experience car trouble. When Eli goes off to look for help, Caroline gets raped and is made pregnant by a horrible creature. Years later the child, now teenager Michael (Paul Clemens), finds himself undergoing an inexplicable physical change that compels him to return to that area in Mississippi. Soon dead bodies start piling up while his desperate parents struggle to understand what's happening.

Director: Philippe Mora
Screenwriter: Tom Holland
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 12, 1982, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 18, 2016
Sound Mix: Surround

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