Directed by Sam Firstenberg |
| The Beast Must Die is a 1973 horror film released by Amicus pictures, the same company that released the classic horror anthologies: Asylum 1972, Tales From The Crypt (1972), The Vault Of Horror (1973), just to name a few. |  |
I initially became a fan of The Beast Must Die, by watching a late night showing of it on television in the mid 1980s. At that point of time the only identifiable actor I was familiar with was Hammer films star Peter Cushing. I knew him from the numerous Hammer films that he starred in as either Van Helsing, or Dr. Victor Frankenstein. I knew at that point that I was in for a treat.
Tom Newcliffe (Calvin Lockhart) is a Big Game Hunter who has enormous wealth and is looking to find the ultimate big game trophy.
Tom has extremely sophisticated security that he has set up to track any movement on the island with multiple cameras and motion sensors all being monitored by his head of security Pavel (Anton Diffring) as we see in the beginning of the film Tom is testing out the system by having his men track him with it, the test is successful.
The film then sets out with a group of 5 guests all arriving as they were all sent invitations to stay at the mansion as guests of honor. None of the invitees know one another or the reason that they were invited. Tom arrives with his Wife the beautiful (Marlene Clark) and explains to the guests why he has invited them. He then tells them that he knows that one of them is a werewolf and explains his reasoning on why he believes it to be so. Too Hunt and Kill a Werewolf.
| The dinner guests laugh it off with it being old wives tales .. and that’s where the film really begins. Can you figure out who will be the Werewolf by the end of the “Werewolf Break”? |  |
I enjoyed this film in its entirety from the beginning of the testing of Toms security system, which in those days was pretty fucking high tech. The suspense kept me going through out the film as I was finding myself trying to solve who it was.
Unfortunately everyone that I had guessed initially ended up getting torn to pieces, which is always a good thing in my opinion. By the time the film reached the end I was surprised to find out who the Werewolf was and the ending is pretty decent also.
I don’t want to reveal too much about this film as I would like to keep many of the spoilers intact. I definitely recommend this film to any Horror fan especially fans of Werewolves and Peter Cushing.
The addition of the aforementioned Werewolf break I thought was a neat 70s gimmick, however that is also part of the charm of this film. Sadly Amicus pictures didn’t last for too many years after Beast was released.
 | Thomas Otterman"Horror Film Fan for LIFE!" |
Directed by Joseph Zito
Written by James Bruner and Chuck Norris
Story by Aaron Norris and James Bruner
Starring Chuck Norris, Richard Lynch, Billy Drago
Invasion USA is an Awesome Action film released from The Cannon films group. It Stars Chuck Norris as Matt Hunter, a retired C.I.A agent, that has to come back to hunt down an army of Cuban, and Russian Terrorists lead by Rostov - Richard Lynch.
The film starts off...
With a group of Cuban Refugees that are trying to make it safely to the coast of Florida. Unfortunately for all the Refugees, Rostov- Richard Lynch Sails up to the boat, disguised as the US coast guard. As soon as the Refugees think that they are being rescued, Rostov kills one point blank, and the rest of Rostov’s crew murder all the other refugees in order to find the hidden stash of Cocaine.
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Rostov then meets up with Arms dealer Billy Drago, where he (Drago) gets double crossed and killed.
**May I note that at this part in the film, there is a great scene where a woman is doing rails of cocaine, only to have her Head smashed down on the table , jamming a steel straw up her nose, before being thrown out a window.**
**May I note that at this part in the film, there is a great scene where a woman is doing rails of cocaine, only to have her Head smashed down on the table , jamming a steel straw up her nose, before being thrown out a window.**
From there, the movie picks up.
As Rostov goes After Matt Hunter , Norris- the only man that knows who he is and has the ability to stop him.
Once Rostov blows up Matt’s house, and kills his friend...
It’s totally FUCKING on!
Once Rostov blows up Matt’s house, and kills his friend...
It’s totally FUCKING on!
 | The rest of the film shows Hunter going after Rostov and his men, culminating in a final trap in which pits Matt and Rostov into a final showdown.  |
I personally like Invasion USA, for me it is one of the finer entries in the Cannon films Library. The action in the film kept me going.
Richard Lynch does an exceptional job as playing Rostov, once again he steals many scenes. His facial expressions are priceless.
Chuck Norris once again is in a role as the only man for the mission, where again he doesn’t disappoint, as this was filmed during the peak of his popularity.
Chuck Norris once again is in a role as the only man for the mission, where again he doesn’t disappoint, as this was filmed during the peak of his popularity.
Tom Savini’s FX are pretty dope, ESPECIALLY the COCAINE scene, made me cringe.
Invasion USA is also a film that has a deep Cold War feel to it, as it’s from the 1980s and a lot of films back then had Cold War undertones.
Invasion USA is also a film that has a deep Cold War feel to it, as it’s from the 1980s and a lot of films back then had Cold War undertones.
I would definitely recommend this film for watching, as it is action filled , and you definitely won’t get bored.
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Thomas Otterman"Horror Film Fan for LIFE!" |
Films...
that are awesome oldies. See 'em if ya haven't.
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