The Beast Within Blu-ray Review

 

• Director ‏ : ‎ Alexander J. Farrell
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Kit Harington, Ashleigh Cummings, James Cosmo, Caoilinn Springall
• Language ‏ : ‎ English (DTS 5.1 Surround)
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Well Go Usa
• Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 2.35:1
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ R (Restricted)
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ United Kingdom
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Blu-ray, Subtitled
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 38 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ October 22, 2024

        Horror has a long and rich history of allegorically addressing social and political issues within the confines of entertaining and formulaic narratives. Even the title for the UK horror release, The Beast Within, is a reference to a theory explaining audience’s fascination with the genre, suggesting that it is the recognition of our own potential monstrous nature which entices viewers. And while this theory is particularly interesting when looking at the werewolf sub-genre of horror, The Beast Within makes the fatal mistake of putting the allegory above all else, in particular any sense of enjoyment or fun. The transparency of the social issues being addressed often makes The Beast Within something of a chore to get through.

 

        Capitalizing on his fame from starring in “Game of Thrones,” Kit Harington is the top-billed cast member of The Beast Within, despite his supporting role in the narrative. The film is instead presented from the perspective of a 10-year-old girl named Willow (Caoilinn Springall) who lives in an isolated compound deep in the woods of England. Willow is at the age where she has started to question aspects of her life, including the unusual dynamic between her parents. Her father Noah (Harington) is controlling and possessive of both Willow and her mother, Imogen (Ashleigh Cummings), and routinely disappears in the woods for several days at a time. When the young girl follows her parents during one of these excursions, she is horrified to discover her father’s true monstrous nature.

 

        Although protected by her mother and grandfather Waylon (James Cosmo), Willow begins to question the danger posed by her shapeshifting father, especially after discovering a tragic history in her family’s past. While it would have been enough for The Beast Within to contain clear suggestions of parallels to Noah’s beastly side and the volatile nature of an abusive husband, the film makes the mistake of taking the allegory a step further by suggesting the werewolf storyline is merely a way for Willow to contextualize the way her father treats her mother. What could have been a clever approach to the werewolf narrative instead indicates the possibility that all supernatural phenomena is merely imagined, which fails to follow through on an essential component of the horror genre.

 

        The Blu-ray release for this underwhelming horror film is fittingly sparce. There are no extras to speak of, and only optional subtitles in English and French as special features.

 

Entertainment Value: 4/10

Quality of Filmmaking: 5/10

Historical Significance:  3/10

Special Features: 0/10