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The Beast Must Die

£195.00

Film

The Beast Must Die

Additional information

Year

1974

Size/Type

UK One Sheet / single sided / (27" x 40"), Printed in Great Britain By Leonard Ripley & Co. Ltd

Country of Origin

UK / British

Condition

Near Mint; originally rolled (as issued)

Director

Paul Annett

Actor/Actress

Peter Cushing, Anton Diffring, Calvin Lockhart, Charles Gray, Ciaran Madden, Marlene Clark, Michael Gambon, Tom Chadbon

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“One of these eight people will turn into a werewolf. Can you guess who it is when we stop the film for the WEREWOLF BREAK? See it … solve it … but don’t tell !”

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From 1974 a truly stunning movie poster from the werewolf horror genre with only the bloodied, dripping fangs and blazing eyes of the werewolf offset against the dark black background. An impressive and clever design usually seen on the UK quad double bill presentation with “Blood Sisters” this standalone British UK one sheet film poster for Amicus’ “The Beast Must Die” is a very exciting find. Most of the British one sheets for this film were printed in extremely low numbers for primary use outside of Britain. Totally unrestored and presented in near perfect rolled (as issued) condition this eye-catching lycanthrope horror poster displays and excellent effect and represents a fantastically gruesome item of extremely desirable and collectible horror movie memorabilia from Amicus Productions which at its peak rivalled the mighty Hammer.

Trivia: The two British horror studios – Hammer and Amicus – produced a number of scary movies involving ghosts, vampires and devils over a period of 20 years. Both of them, however, only ever produced one werewolf movie each. This was Amicus’ effort. Hammer’s was The Curse of the Werewolf (1961), an early starring vehicle for Oliver Reed.

 

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Film Description

The Beast Must Die Movie Poster

“Tom Newcliffe, a rich businessman and expert hunter summons six guests to his huge country estate which he has rigged up with video cameras and a high-tech security system. He tells them and his surprised wife that they are all to stay over a weekend and that all of them will be kept on the estate during that weekend. For each guest, dead bodies have followed in their wake and the way that the dead have been murdered means that one of the guest is a werewolf and Tom has summoned his guests here to discover who it is and to hunt it down… The film has a clip at the beginning asking people in the audience to try to identify the werewolf and near the end there is a 30-second “Werewolf Break” for the audience to think over the evidence.”

“This is a murder mystery in which you are the detective… But instead of “who is the murderer?” the question is “who is the werewolf ?”

So as The Beast Must Die starts, Calvin Lockhart, is being hunted but soon establishes himself as the hunter, by the end of the film expect the hunter to become the hunted again both metaphorically and physically. He’s basically an eccentric big game hunter who’s rigged his mansion grounds up to help track a werewolf, who incidentally is one of the guests him and his wife will be entertaining during a full moon cycle. The guests include an artist, biologist, a musician, and werewolf expert amongst others. The cast is actually really good making this b-movie horror film actually not that bad, Peter Cushing, Tom Chadbon, Michael Gambon and Lockhart all have a bit of experience and class about then. The latter, Calvin Lockhart brings a blaxploitation feel to the film with his own funky soundtrack following him and his undertones of ghetto attitude.

I enjoyed the ‘whodoneit ?’ feel to the film, I guessed who the werewolf was but ended up talking myself out of it while imagining random endings that would have been more creative. The ‘detective’ element of the film was nice to see, I can’t remember the last time I watched an interactive film since the end of the 80’s, however I read that this wasn’t a planned part of the film, it was added after the film had already been printed, as such may not make much sense to modern audiences.

This film is good for a rainy day if you will suspend your disbelief and just go with it, if you are expecting a grizzly werewolf, blood and violence then watch An American Werewolf in London not this B-movie narrative thriller.

Vintage Movie Posters Grading Criteria

Mint
A poster that has never been used or displayed and may show the most minor signs of age and wear. The poster should have no holes or tears.

Near Mint
A generally unused poster with fresh, saturated colors. May have minimal tears at folds. Has no significant holes, no paper loss, may have minor tears along edges, may have fine pin holes.

Very Fine
A poster with bright colour and crisp overall appearance. It may have very general signs of use including slight fold separation and fold wear. It may have pin holes or very minor tears. This is the highest grade allowed for a poster that has been restored either on linen or on paper.

Fine
A poster with good colors and overall clean appearance. It may have minor tears small paper loss and minor stains. It may have some fold seperation.

Good
An average poster with overall fresh color. May have tears, minor paper loss, minor hazing. Paper may be brittle due to age, may have minor stains. May have a small amount of writing in an unobtrusive place. May have medium or major restoration.

Fair
A poster with faded colors and brittle paper, showing significant signs of use. May have tears and paper loss. May have tape, writing, stains in image area. In need of restoration or had major restoration.

Poor
A poster that is worn, torn, and/or damaged. May have staining, cracking, dry rot, and/or large tears. May be heavily soiled, may have pieces missing. In need of major restoration.

All photographs and images used on our site are photographs of the actual poster/item you are buying, we do not use stock photographs.

Most Popular Poster Types

US Posters

LOBBY CARD
11 x 14″ printed on heavy stock paper. Used as display in theatre lobbies. Originally made in sets of eight. Some sets have a title card, which contains credits and artwork, essentially a mini-poster. The remaining seven cards are coloured photographic credits and poster artwork showing different scenes from the movie.

WINDOW CARD
14 x 22″ printed on heavy stock paper with the top 4-6 inches usually left blank for the local cinema owner to fill in the cinema and the date it was due to play. Largely discontinued during the 1970’s.

HALF SHEET
22 x 28″ printed on heavy stock paper. The image displayed is normally a smaller version of the main poster, although some do have different artworks and sometimes come in two versions.

INSERT
14 x 36″ printed on heavy stock paper. Inserts usually have the same artwork as a one sheet. Popular with collectors since they are smaller and easier to frame. Normally come tri folded or rolled.

STYLE Y/FORTY BY SIXTY
40 x 60″ printed on heavy stock paper. Rare since they were primarily used for major motion pictures only. Designed to be used outside the theatre, on an easel, normally at a drive-in movie theatre.

ONE-SHEET
27 x 41″ printed on paper. This is the most common size of poster, intended to be displayed in a glass “marquee” case. It is the most sought after size by collectors. Since the 1980’s most posters are sent to the theatre rolled and maybe slightly smaller measuring 27″ by 40″ and with the advent of backlit light boxes a growing number of modern movie posters are available double-sided and the more traditional single-sided.

THREE-SHEET
41 x 81″ printed on paper. These were printed on two or three separate sheets designed to overlap, few survive. Used for larger advertising spaces, normally posted on walls, perfect for huge movie theatres the drive-in, where people could see them from a distance. From the 1970’s on, three-sheets were sometimes printed in one piece and issued as “international” versions to be used abroad.

BRITISH Posters

BRITISH QUAD
30 x 40″ Most common poster size used in the UK. British Quads are horizontal and may have different artwork to the US one sheet. Like a US one sheet they normally come in two versions. Like a US one sheet they are usually supplied single-sided or more commonly now as a double sided poster.

BRITISH ONE-SHEET
27 X 40″, printed on paper. Very rarely used size.

ITALIAN Posters

ITALIAN LOCANDINA
13 x 28″ six inches shorter than the US insert, very nice size to frame. Italian poster illustrators are some of the best in the industry.

ITALIAN PHOTOBUSTA
18 x 26″ Glossy, high quality, used as lobby cards in Italy. Size may vary, either vertical or horizontal format. There are also double Photobusta or mini Photobusta.

2-FOGLIO (DUE)
(DUE): 39 x 55″ This is the standard poster size used in Italy. Italian poster illustrators are some of the best in the industry.

4-FOGLIO
(QUATTRO) 55 x 79″ Very large Italian poster printed in two pieces, often contains very beautiful artwork.

FRENCH Posters

FRENCH
47 x 63″ (GRANDE) or 24 x 33″ (PETITE) French movie posters normally come with different artwork to either the US or the UK. Like the Italian’s some of the artwork is extrememly beautiful.