The Day of the Beast

R

Released Dec 23, 1998

1h 43m

Horror

Comedy

List

77%

Tomatometer

13 Reviews

85%

Audience Score

5,000+ Ratings

A heavy-metal fan (Santiago Segura) and a psychic (Armando De Razza) help a priest (Alex Angulo) seek the infant Antichrist in Madrid at Christmas.

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J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

A streak of social commentary that ultimately collides with the story’s religiosity in bitterly ironic fashion...

Jun 29, 2022

Full Review

Anne Billson

Daily Telegraph (UK)

This second feature by naughty Spanish director Alex de la Iglesia turns out to be a splendidly blasphemous horror-comedy about nothing less than the birth of the Antichrist.

Nov 27, 2017

Full Review

Adam Mars-Jones

Independent (UK)

At two hours, the gore is thick but the fun is spread thin. Gallows humour is the order of the day, though nobody seems to have realised that black comedy is still required to be funny.

Nov 14, 2017

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

It's de la Iglesia's wicked sense of humor that proves to be the picture's greatest strength.

Rated: 3/4

Apr 3, 2021

Full Review

Adam Lippe

Examiner.com

The film is aware that the plot points are absurd, and de la Iglesia visually tells the story as if it were a mean spirited comic book, but it all plays straight, with no irritating winking.

May 1, 2011

Full Review

Daniel Eagan

Film Journal International

Its mildly blasphemous subject matter, weak special effects, and at times murky storyline make it a tough sell to mainstream audiences anywhere.

Jan 10, 2007

Full Review

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Leo P

This is the greatest Spanish thing since Don Quixote.We learn what is the Devil's mark and hotline number to Hell. Apártate,Satanás!Esto no es un juego.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

04/16/24

Full Review

Ivan B

Sinceramente es la mejor pelicula que he visto en mi vida, uno pensaría que a un religoso como yo le va a enfadar mucho el contenido de la pelicula, como la aparicion del anticristo, pero todo lo contrario,de hecho es la unica pelicula que me ha gustado tanto como para verla mas de 10 veces(nota personal: 100/10 y GOD)

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/08/24

Full Review

Nawt W

With a splendid opening scene that perfectly showcases its premise, this black comedy unfortunately falls short of being truly amazing. Mostly because the plot just settles into the pattern of Cura inferring something as a sign for his bizarre conviction and following it, then the violence ensues as he further spirals into self-fulfilling, snowballing madness.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Me encanta completamente como puede intercalar de la comedia a algo horrendo en cuestión de nada, incluyendo personajes, solo en la primera hora ya te puedes encariñar con todos para verlos con desprecio escenas después, muy bien trabajada.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Why did I wait so long to watch this?! A devout theology professor/Basque priest attempts to cause as much sin as possible in order to contact Satan to prevent the end of days. He constantly steals, curses, self-harms, reads occult books, lies, maims, does drugs, etc etc. His trek around town leads him to a heavy metal record shop where he picks the split album "Live Death" (Malevolent Creation, Exhorder, et al), to listen to (I bought that on CD the same year this movie was released)! He befriends the acidhead/metalhead shopkeep in order to learn how to properly sell his soul to the Devil. The pair then team up with an unwilling TV psychic. The priest attends a death metal show (I noticed a fans wearing Emperor and Impaled Nazarene shirts - pretty impressive reach for 1995!) Believe it or not, this movie is even better than it sounds, in fact its absolutely fantastic!!! Immediately one of my all-time favourites because nearly every aspect of the film was perfect; from dialogue, to lighting, to suspense, to comedic timing, to casting, to cinematography, to wardrobe, to the black goat, etc they hit it out of the park! And it's a Christmas movie! Feliz Navidad! Muy perfecto! (Oh, it's in Spanish, btw)

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Amazing pitch black comedy about the end of days approaching and a trio of misfits attempting to stop it. It's wild, choatic, and just an all around blast!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/16/21

Full Review

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Alex de la Iglesia

Director

Álex Angulo

Cura

Armando De Razza

Profesor Cavan

Santiago Segura

José María

Terele Pavez

Rosario

Nathalie Seseña

Mina

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Synopsis

A heavy-metal fan (Santiago Segura) and a psychic (Armando De Razza) help a priest (Alex Angulo) seek the infant Antichrist in Madrid at Christmas.

Director: Alex de la Iglesia
Producer: Claudio Gaeta, Andrés Vicente Gómez, Antonio Saura
Screenwriter: Jorge Guerricaechevarría, Alex de la Iglesia
Distributor: Trimark Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Original Language: Spanish (Spain)
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 23, 1998, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 21, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA): $8.1K
Runtime: 1h 43m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby

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