The Day of the Beast
1998 ‘El día de la bestia’ Directed by Álex de la Iglesia
Synopsis
The story revolves around a Basque Roman Catholic priest dedicated to committing as many sins as possible (Angulo), a death metal salesman from Carabanchel (Segura), and the Italian host of a TV show on the occult (De Razza). These go on a literal "trip" through Christmas-time Madrid to hunt for and prevent the reincarnation of the Antichrist.
Cast
Popular reviews
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My second favorite Alex de la Iglesia film after The Last Circus. Many tense moments here are echoed in The Last Circus, but this is still his early "forming" self. Many of those ideas mature in later films like El Crimen Ferpecto and The Last Circus
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I knew next to nothing of this movie until recently, when a podcast I follow decided to cover it. I love when a great movie lands on my lap from the sky and I have no preconceived ideas about it. I thought it was going to be a horror movie but this is a great comedy that works on all levels. Highly recommended.
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Si fuiste un tardo-adolescente en Madrid en los años 90 y que estaba metido en la escena metalera, esta película era un regalo para ti.
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This movie kicks off with the premise of a devout priest buying metal records and sinning in public so he can go undercover among Satan's minions to prevent the birth of the Antichrist on Christmas. He assembles a delightfully ragtag team and goes demon hunting. It is great, obviously.
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Good-natured black comedy about Father Cura, a priest who thinks he's figured out that the Antichrist is about to be born, on Christmas Eve. He's drawn to Madrid where, with the help of drug-fuelled death metal fan José María and fraudulent TV medium Professor Cavan, he attempts to contact Satan and save the world. The film gets off to a flying start, thanks to Cura's belief that his mission will be easier if he becomes evil... with his "evil" acts confined largely to slapstick antisocial incidents. Santiago Segura is also great fun as the obese José María, frequently seen fannying about in the background while Cura takes things more seriously; priest and metaller make an unlikely but brilliant double-act. Female…
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Creo que junto a La Comunidad y Crimen Ferpecto constituye el culmen de Alex de la Iglesia como director [y guionista junto a Jorge Guerricaechevarría]. Es una película germinal, todas las posteriores a el Día de la Bestia son un destilado de la misma.
Un verdadero 'rollercoaster' con todo un ambiente lúgubre de pesismismo del fin del mundo bien logrado sin perder el humor. En lo único en que la película es seria es precisamente en no tomarse a si misma en serio. Por eso triunfa, porque la finalidad es el divertimento puro.
Recent reviews
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Oh, you know, just your average black comedy about a priest trying to commit enough sins to successfully sell his soul to the devil so he can prevent the birth of the Anti-Christ. The film deftly mixes B-horror with farcical comedy, as the hapless priest tries to execute his incredibly poorly thought out plan and often stumbles into the right direction. While its a nice mix of a variety of genres, and it does each of them well enough, El Dia de la Bestia is at its best when it operates wholly on its own wavelength--in scenes in which the priest, a heavy metal enthusiast, and an occult talk show host take LSD and try to conjure the Devil, or…
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I knew next to nothing of this movie until recently, when a podcast I follow decided to cover it. I love when a great movie lands on my lap from the sky and I have no preconceived ideas about it. I thought it was going to be a horror movie but this is a great comedy that works on all levels. Highly recommended.
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My second favorite Alex de la Iglesia film after The Last Circus. Many tense moments here are echoed in The Last Circus, but this is still his early "forming" self. Many of those ideas mature in later films like El Crimen Ferpecto and The Last Circus
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Me confieso fan del humor negro del cine español y tambien del director Alex de la Iglesia (de quien hace poco vi la muy diferente "The Oxford Murders"). "El Dia de la Bestia" es una comedia muy divertida y ofensiva que sigue la mision de un teologo de hacer un pacto con el diablo y que este le revele la ubicacion del anticristo (al parecer esta es la unica manera de detener el Apocalipsis). La cinta me hizo reir, en especial porque cuenta con la presencia de Santiago Segura (quien es uno de los comediantes mas populares en España despues de su trilogia de Torrente, el policia mas imbecil que hay). Aunque "El Dia de la Bestia" a veces peque de ser un poco larga para su simple historia, es una pelicula española noventera muy divertida.
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Si fuiste un tardo-adolescente en Madrid en los años 90 y que estaba metido en la escena metalera, esta película era un regalo para ti.
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This movie kicks off with the premise of a devout priest buying metal records and sinning in public so he can go undercover among Satan's minions to prevent the birth of the Antichrist on Christmas. He assembles a delightfully ragtag team and goes demon hunting. It is great, obviously.
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Has some funny moments that may or may not be intentional. Takes itself a little too seriously too be good.
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A little too light hearted for my liking given the subject matter, just not my bag.
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Good-natured black comedy about Father Cura, a priest who thinks he's figured out that the Antichrist is about to be born, on Christmas Eve. He's drawn to Madrid where, with the help of drug-fuelled death metal fan José María and fraudulent TV medium Professor Cavan, he attempts to contact Satan and save the world. The film gets off to a flying start, thanks to Cura's belief that his mission will be easier if he becomes evil... with his "evil" acts confined largely to slapstick antisocial incidents. Santiago Segura is also great fun as the obese José María, frequently seen fannying about in the background while Cura takes things more seriously; priest and metaller make an unlikely but brilliant double-act. Female…