The Beast Within is directed by Philippe Mora (The Howling II & III) and written by Tom Holland (Fright Night [1985], Child’s Play), together they deliver the first ever were-cicada movie. The stacked cast includes stars Ronny Cox, Bibi Besch, and Paul Clemens as a young man that goes through more than the usual teenage transformation.
Buy The Beast Within (1982) Blu-ray“Just married” couple, Eli and Caroline (Cox and Besch) miss a turn on a lonely country road and a flat tire leads to Caroline being left alone. On this full moon night, she’s attacked and raped by an unknown monster. Seventeen years later her child, Michael (Clemens), becomes ill and begins to dream of a mysterious location. Upon waking, he has an inner calling pushing him to find that distant place connected to his conception. His parents, in search of answers, have already returned to that terrible place where it all began 17 years ago: the small Southern town of Nioba, Mississippi. The residents there harbor a dark secret and are none too obliging to reveal what they know.
While his parents search for answers, Michael begins a slow metamorphosis other than the ordinary teen-hormone issues. He develops a yearning for human flesh and a powerful desire to avenge an unknown father. Micheal’s physical change is gradual until one night his body can take no more and he goes into a full gory transformation. But he’s no teen wolf; poor Michael is torn apart and transformed into a giant cicada-like creature. Now a horrible insect monster, he hunts down not only those people that tortured and abused his father but their relatives which include a pretty young girl (Katherine Moffat). The beast (or bug, rather) within Michael not only desires to kill but to procreate and pass on this curse that repeats after 17 years.
Director Mora gets the action going from the jump and The Beast Within remains fast paced and fun throughout its 98-minute runtime. Good practical effects and solid acting keep us glued to our seats with eyes secured to the screen. As with any of these types of horror movies, there are plot points that get brushed over or completely lost. One has to actually pay attention to the story to get some sense of clarity. Thankfully, there are three audio tracks on this Kino Lorber Blu-ray release that manage to answer most of the questions. Also interesting to note that both Mora and Holland will go on to expand on the themes they present here: supernatural transformation and curses. Mora with his The Howling movies and Holland with Child’s Play (1991).
The special effects for the transition scene are great and may indeed rival those featured in An American Werewolf in London, though not as intense as the John Landis masterpiece and more comical due to budget restraints and Mora’s insistence on not cutting away soon enough. The final monster is a great piece of costuming but appears rather silly and aside from its jump scare, really manages to look like a bloated alien poop. Mora loads the film with great visuals and some very artistic shots of the South that highlight both the more peaceful places as well as those atmospheric creepy spots that add to the overall appeal of The Beast Within.
The special features include three great audio commentaries featuring director Philippe Mora, actor Paul Clemens, and writer Tom Holland. All three are interesting to listen to as they express their thoughts on The Beast Within as well as other movies they have worked on. We learn that it was bought as an idea for a novel and purchased mostly for its title. Holland says he was given free reign to write what he wanted and only needed to make the transformation spectacular. Holland also found the cicada and its 17-year-incubation cycle a perfect fit and metaphor to his story of a teen boy going through unusual changes while being pulled into a supernatural revenge plot. It’s fascinating to hear Mora and Holland both separately discuss how much of the story’s key elements were cut before filming began or were lost on the cutting room floor, leaving the finished movie filled with questions. It’s entertaining and informative to listen as they speak of their experiences working with a cast of Hollywood staples that included L.Q. Jones, R.G. Armstrong, John Dennis Johnston, and Meshach Taylor.
Special Features Include
- Audio commentary by director Philippe Mora with historian Calum Waddell
- Audio commentary by director Philippe Mora with actor Paul Clements.
- Auto commentary by screenwriter Tom Holland.
- I Was A Teenage Cicada: The Making of The Beast Within (46 minutes)
- Storyboarding The Beast (13 minutes)
- Theatrical trailer
- TV spot
- Radio spots
The Beast Within, known for its iconic poster art, remains a unique monster movie with good special effects, decent gore, solid acting, and amusing kills. A well-done, small-budget picture that holds up when compared to other ’80s horror movies that tried but failed to make a mark in an overcrowded market filled with cheap FX. This one, for sure, deserves its status as a true cult classic.
