Father Angel, a Catholic priest, uses the Bible to calculate the day when the Antichrist will be born on earth. He knows the date, but does not know the place, so he goes all out for the Devil himself to sign a contract with him to buy a soul. The helpers of the holy father are a casual acquaintance from a heavy music store and a popular presenter of an occult TV show.
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Alex de la Iglesia is a very interesting director, one of the few to keep Spanish cinema afloat. His view of cinema is peculiar, sometimes non-standard, sometimes his ability to present a low-budget film as a multi-million dollar blockbuster is simply amazed, which is perfectly reflected in the film ‘Day of the Beast’.
‘Day of the Beast’ is a vivid example of a high-quality black comedy, not veiled by hints of vulgarity, with a simple, but at the same time fascinating, plot, stunning atmosphere, high-quality acting and a dramatic, but at the same time ironically presented, ending. The lightness and ease with which the director literally ‘straightens out’ the obstacles of the main characters; that naivety, and at the same time the ideology of their actions that they perform on the way to solving the task (and this is neither more nor less – prevention of the coming apocalypse); the excitement and smiles with which they go forward – all this is admirable!
The plot of the film is simple, but it seems so only at first glance. Padre Angel deciphered the message contained in the Bible, thereby revealing the date of birth of the Antichrist. Having told their spiritual mentor about this, they together decide to prevent the terrible consequences, but (oh, the hand of the Lord!) A giant cross falls on the mentor and spreads it into a cake. The angel goes to Madrid alone, not knowing the exact time and place where the Antichrist will be born. Padre naively believes that by committing bad deeds, he will be able to attract the attention of the Devil himself, who will show him the place of birth of his son. Thus, Padre Angel, as he claims, renounces eternal life for the benefit of the salvation of the human race. In the course of his adventure, he meets a charismatic long-haired overweight metalhead, whose no less charismatic grandfather is a nudist addict, one of the most memorable characters in the film, although he did not appear on the screen for long. Together with a metalhead with a typical Spanish name, Jos̩ Maria, Angel visits the apartment of Cavanagh, a television prophet and charlatan. Inspired by a common idea, the three of them try to reach out to the Devil and fulfill their mission Рto find the baby Antichrist and prevent an all-encompassing apocalypse.
All of this resulted in a very high-quality black comedy, in which, nevertheless, there is no place for vulgarity and cruelty. No, in some moments there are still scenes of violence and the like, but they are shown so elegantly that you pay attention first of all not to them, but to the surrounding factors that led to these moments. The dramatic side of the film is also quite strong – despite all the irony and seemingly frivolity of what is happening on the screen, the picture still has a deep semantic component, on which the plot rests, which does not give the right to call ‘Day of the Beast’ an ordinary comedy, it’s more than that. And, of course, the received several European cinematographic awards, including for the best director, oblige to treat the film with full seriousness.
Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (58.6 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audio
Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Subtitles
English
