Villian(s)  Werewolf

Actor(s):  Calvin Lockhart, Peter Cushing, Marlene Clark, Charles Gray

Brief Description  The Beast Must Die (1974) is a unique British horror-mystery film produced by Amicus Productions and directed by Paul Annett. It is famously known for blending a traditional werewolf story with an Agatha Christie-style whodunit, featuring a gimmicky audience-participation mechanic known as the "Werewolf Break." The film features a heavy dose of 1970s aesthetics—complete with a funky, blaxploitation-inspired jazz-funk soundtrack, flared trousers, and dramatic camera pans. It has since earned a reputation as a beloved, campy cult classic.

Plot:
The story follows Tom Newcliffe (played by Calvin Lockhart), a wealthy, arrogant big-game hunter who has conquered every dangerous animal on Earth. Seeking the ultimate hunting challenge, he becomes obsessed with tracking down and killing a werewolf. Newcliffe retrofits his massive, remote country estate with state-of-the-art surveillance equipment, motion sensors, and armed guards. He then invites a carefully selected group of six guests for the weekend. Upon their arrival, he locks down the estate and confiscates their silver personal belongings. He reveals a startling truth: he knows one of them is a werewolf based on their pasts, and no one can leave until the beast is exposed and destroyed. As the full moon approaches, Newcliffe subjects his trapped guests to a series of physical tests designed to trigger a werewolf's biological reactions: The Silver Object Test: Forcing guests to handle a solid silver candlestick to see if it burns their flesh. The Wolfsbane Test: Forcing the guests to inhale or ingest wolfsbane, an herb toxic to lycanthropes. The Sound Test: Broadcasting the recorded howling of wild wolves over the estate's loudspeakers to trigger a psychological transformation.

Despite the tests, the werewolf eludes immediate detection and begins picking off the guards and guests one by one during the night. Near the climax of the film, the action abruptly stops, and a ticking clock appears on screen. A narrator addresses the audience directly, stating that all the clues have been laid out. The audience is given 30 seconds to look back at the evidence and guess the identity of the werewolf before the final reveal. As the body count rises, Jan Jarmokowski (Michael Gambon) is ultimately revealed to be the werewolf. During a chaotic final confrontation, Jan transforms and attacks. In the struggle, Tom Newcliffe manages to shoot and kill the beast using a silver bullet, achieving his dream of slaying the ultimate prey. However, the victory is short-lived. Tom realizes that during the scuffle, he was bitten by the werewolf. Rather than face transformation or allow himself to become the prey of someone else, Tom uses his final silver bullet to take his own life. Only Dr. Lundgren and Davina survive the weekend.