Use code HORRORGEEK50 to get 50% OFF your first Factor box plus 20% off your next month of orders at bit.ly/3wOj5Pk Today's movie has some fantastic practical effects...so why don't more people talk about it? Join me as we tackle The Beast Within! Want to support the channel? www.patreon.com/Horrorgeek ko-fi.com/thehorrorgeek Get Your Horrorgeek Merch! horrorgeek.creator-spring.com/ Join me in Raid: Shadow Legends! pl.go-ga.me/sct2crz8 The referral link gives my viewers the following rewards:Silver 500,000, Rank Up Chicken 4, 1 Skill Tome, Energy 250. Players who reach level 25 will get more awesome rewards: The Epic Champion Juliana, a boss killer, super strong epic, and more goodies! (You can find Juliana on the Champion Index on the Sacred Order (Epic) Purchase The Beast Within here! amzn.to/3Ry6M0F Disclaimer: this is an Amazon affiliate link. By purchasing through this link my channel will earn a referral fee. This will not make the item cost more. Amazon simply pays me for sending business to their site. It's another way you can support the channel. Follow me on social media! Twitter ► twitter.com/horrorgeek Instagram ► instagram.com/geekpocalypse Facebook ► facebook.com/mike.bracken The Horror Geek FB group ► facebook.com/groups/11186... Blue Sky ► @horrorgeek.bsky.social Twitch ► www.twitch.tv/the_horrorgeek
This movie was also called Xtro or XTRO. Why? I don't know. 🤷♂️ There was a book of the Beast Within and it was similar to the horror movie but it was way better because it was much more detailed than the film was. The story was a lot more bizarre and creepy. The monster was even more eerie, strange, and weird than the one shown in the motion picture. The horror novel changed the story around. In the movie, there are two versions of the story. The first version alludes to or heavily implies that it's a fantasy story tied to ancient Native American mythology and that the area has black magic in the woods, causing the spirit of the cicada, a vengeful being, to use a human host body by possessing the person and taking revenge on whoever the possessed person hates. The second version is some science-fiction re-imagining/remake/retelling that has an insect-like, semi-humanoid, hostile alien attack and invade the small town somehow. It changes the story from a dark, adult fantasy about demonic possession to a sci-fi story about a monster from another dimension or planet. Either way, the monster violates women to make more of his own kind, and also even eats people alive, too. They made it seem as if the man who turned into the creature was either bitten by the humanoid insect and transformed that way due to a cursed bite, or bitten and turned into another similar monster due to the otherworldly nature of the alien's DNA. In the novel form of the script and screenplay, the story says that it was some kind of inexplicable "de-evolution effect", turning the human into a sub-humanoid, animal-like creature after eating human flesh and drinking human blood. The details say that it was a werewolf-like state. The man who fed him the human flesh and blood originally gave him fresh dead bodies from the morgue and from the cemetery, but then murdered his wife after she had given birth to his daughter because the girl was the product of the affair. Which is why he was abusive to his daughter. After the man transformed into the beast, he escaped and violated the woman in the forest and she was pregnant with his mutant child because of this. The beast was able to free himself after he was fed living human flesh and blood because the man feeding him became a serial killer. After feeding the beast his dead wife's dismembered body parts, he started secretly murdering other people. Usually homeless people and mostly prostitutes. But the beast got too strong and was now even more powerful. He escaped by breaking free. He wanted to kill his captor, but he couldn't find him. He was eventually caught by the town's sheriff and his deputies, and they all shot him to death. But not after he had already impregnated another woman with his monstrous child. The rest of the story is pretty much basically exactly the same like the movie but the kid is not 18. He is actually 16. His dormant true form starts to activate from its latent state due to him going through puberty. He turns and kills the town sheriff and his deputies, and the man who is girlfriend's father (who is responsible for causing his father to become a beast). And as for the girlfriend, who is 17, she is actually, unknowingly, his older half-sister. He then violates her in his beast form and she becomes pregnant with his beast child. But the kid gets shot to death by State troopers. So that's the main difference between the Beast Within in terms of the book version versus the movie version. The novel is darker, and much more grim and gritty than the movie is.
I remember when I was a young executive for this company. I used to call the Old Man funny names. Iron Butt, Boner... once I even called him azzhole. But there was always respect. I knew where the line was drawn. And you just stepped over it, buddy boy!
@@Nobody18718 I remember the time that I was a cop and a bunch of gangsters blew me to pieces with guns and I woke up and Ronny Cox was my boss. That ended well.
This was the only horror movie that ever creeped me out as a little kid, I remember waking up during the middle of the night turning the tv on an the scene where dude starts changing had just started .
That is pretty much the exact same way that I came to watch this movie in the early 80's and it totally freaked me out but I still watched it every time that I saw that it was on.
Man, R.G. Armstrong and L.Q. Jones! All we need is Chuck Norris and we could have Lone Wolf McQuade 2, Rise of the Cicadas! Also, “the KoolAid man sprung a leak”…brilliant! 😂😂
The emergence of the 13 year and 17 year broods lined up this year where I live, but I didn’t see or hear a single one. Nearby towns got them, but not here. I feel like I missed out. (I’d feel different if I had to clean up the mess, but still.)
@@CantankerousDave Same here. They're all over my Dad's neighborhood, but not a chirp at my house. One even got a free ride to my place on my back. Didn't know it was there until it crawled up my neck while I was watching the tube. RIP, Cicada-Dude!
Sooo Hollywood Montrose turned straight, moved to the suburbs ,got married, and had a "Kid" you just unlocked some serious Class Act fan fiction, sir!!
I've always said that the 80s was THE decade of RAPE HORROR. Like besides THIS flick there's also Humanoids from the Deep, Galaxy of Terror, The Entity, Inseminoid, Night of the Demon, Xtro, and The Incubus. It was something of a phenomenon of THAT particular decade and something that actually rather distinguished it.
@@DrakeBarrow Thanks. There are probably others I've overlooked. And if you wana go FURTHER BACK (pre-80s) there's also Multiple Maniacs, Demon Seed, Grave of the Vampire, and Night of the Bloody Apes.
I guess you never heard of Last House on the Left? I Spit on your Grave? Deliverance? Are You In the House Alone? Or any of the women in prison exploitation movies from the 1960's and 70's?
Wow. I would have gone the rest of my life not knowing the guy I've seen in 50 movies was the guitar-playing nice guy in Deliverance! I just never would have made that connection.
One I vividly remember seeing on the top shelf of my local VHS hire shop around 1983. The thrill and mystique of that top shelf of horror as a 9 year old has stayed with me! Anyway, I finally saw The Beast Within for the first time about 2 years ago, and really enjoyed it.
(To the tune of “Having my Baby” by Paul Anka and Odia Coates) 🎵 You're havin' my baby What a heinous way of me sayin' how much I love you Havin' my baby What a hideous reminder of what you're thinkin' of me I can see it, it’s face is bloatin I can see it in your horror-filled eyes, I'm happy you know it That you're havin' my baby You're the woman I assaulted and anyone can see what it’s done to ya Havin' my baby You're a woman in stark raving terror and I love that more cuz I’m even crueler The need inside you, I see it showin' Whoa, the demon seed inside ya, baby, do you feel it growin'? Are you happy you know it? That you're havin' my baby I'm a woman without control of my own reproductive rights Havin' my baby I'm a woman tellin you it’s a domain that’s worth all of your fight Didn't have to keep it But a corrupt Supreme Court wants the woman to pay Should be able to sweep it But my rights were taken in a disdain of Roe vs. Wade And you're havin' my hideous baby I'm a woman in hate and I hate what it's doin' to me Havin' my baby I'm a woman in anger and I don’t like being used to clone thee Havin' my baby (havin' my baby) What a grotesque way of me sayin' how much i love ya Havin' my baby (havin' my baby) I'm a woman in trouble and I need that mornin after pill Lord help me 🎵 B-Side: “Papa Get Leashed” by Madonna
Great film. One of the true mandatory rentals from the video store back in the day. A great cast along with a good story. This movie delivered the goods. Nostalgia overload of days long gone. Wish I could go back at!
Watched this movie again on Tubi this morning and just in time too it will be leaving Tubi in 13 days. Ronny Cox is not the bad guy this time and actually plays a sympathetic character it was shocking to see the guy who played Dick Jones in Robocop and Michael Ironside and Sharon Stone's boss in Total Recall play a nice guy for once.
Man, this is truly a hidden gem. IMO it elevates the humble low-budget creature feature in a charmingly (by today's standards) lurid way. Speaking of "Christ I'm Old," I used to show Spinal Tap to my (college) seniors on finals day. I stopped doing that this year. No one got the jokes, no one recognized ANY of the many, many cameos...Christ, I'm old.
I absolutely love this movie. I saw it about 5 times when it came out in 81, along with An American Werewolf in London and the Howling, not to mention Wolfen. It was a special time for these kind of movies. They don't make em like this anymore!
I first watched this film back in 2017 with my Dad and ex before going to a pub for diner with my Auntie and Nan. Absolutely loved it and will be giving it another watch this week. Great review as always Mike!
Fun fact: Meshach Taylor was also in DAMIEN OMEN II. He had the best death scene in it, though the movie took its toll on him, and he's half the man he used to be.
Another excellent review, Mike! And regarding the cast, let’s not forget Bibi Besch who played Dr. Carol Marcus in Star Trek II. She passed away in 1996.
Always liked this flick. If I understand it correctly, the director pumped that head up so much because he wanted to see just how much iy would hold before it blew up...😂 Great job as always Mike👍
This was one of the most schlocky yet unnerving horror movies I've ever seen. The cast was stellar. The two high-school kids were somehow good bad actors. They had an awkward innocence that made their scenes very uncomfortable and added to the tension. Having visited rural Mississippi, this didn't seem too far fetched.
So yesterday was my 60th birthday, just want to thank you, Mike, for all the entertainment you've put out here, many, MANY hilarious memories about the films, and now, your take on them as well. Keep up the great work,and you'll always have at least one follower...me, in case, well, I think you knew, but...👴
Ive been offline for a while..... I was so happy to see that Factor is a sponsor! They're great and I've heard good things about their sponsorship. What a fantastic movie pick!! Haven't seen this movie since the days of the drive in. Good times!!❤😊
YES! Man, this is one of my all time favorite horror films from that era. Because I saw it as a kid and it scared the bejesus outta me for weeks. I had nightmares and for a long time couldn’t watch the film without getting spooked all over again. As an adult I learned about the cicada connection and that catapulted this lovely little gore fest into my top ten. Thanks for giving it the full five and for making me smile all through the review. The Beast Within is all the splatter that matters to me!
Another one I saw on HBO as a kid way back in the day and completely forgot about until you reviewed it. Seriously, that's like half the films you feature!
@@TheHorrorGeek I also see your a wrestling fan, I've actually had the pleasure of working with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper & Jerry "The King" Lawler at The 1994 WWF King Of The Ring P.P.V. I was the Roddy Piper impersonator & in fact that was 30 years ago on Father's Day June 19th
Those are indeed some very impressive practical effects, and despite the cut material, the story isn't terrible either. Almost to 100k, Mike. Keep up the good work.
Formaldehyde and seek. I love it! I've only ever watched this movie once, when it came out, probably at a drive in, then again on tv and vhs. I'm a gorehound but they overdid it with the air-bladders.
Once again a video that recommends a movie, I have never seen and only heard of the title in british or american content. It only had a very limited release here in Germany (under the title "The Angel Face - Three nights of dread" ... because, sure...) Thanks to our main man @the horror geek Mike for bringing this to my attention. P.S. Just now I put two and two together and realized that it was Ronny Cox playing the guitar in Deliverance!
Me and my homeboy met Ronny Cox in an elevator at a convention in the late 80's. Super nice guy. Very patient dude dealing with two kids blathering on about his more obscure movies, like this one...
Awesome episode. My friends and I got into a matinee of this movie and we thought we really pulled one on the ticket girl, but when we got into the cinema we were the only ones there. Of course we were primed by the coverage in Fangoria. The version we saw had a lot of talk about cicadas. Cicada this cicada that. Ever afterward whenever one of us had an outbreak of acne the rest of us would intone in our best Mississsippi accents, it's the cicadas, cicadas! Fun stuff. Maybe it's just because I was young and could enjoy them all so much, but there was a lot of good stuff in the years leading up to and just into the home video boom. Ever see Defcon 4? It's so terrible. You'd love it!
Great as always - and that Brandon Tenold shoutout at 20:40 was a classy touch too. I sometimes wonder how much different horror/B-movie guys check out each other's work on YT.
I went to see this back in the day. My first time getting drunk and throwing up in public, on the sidewalk right outside the theater. I don't really remember the film.
Grew up in a smallish town, but with 12 theaters [9 were in multiplexes], plus one drive-in. Pretty much all the great genre stuff released in the 70s & 80s played on any number but a couple of those houses [two were old-school picture palaces, so in those: Exorcist, Star Wars, Jaws, to Back To The Future, Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, Batman, et al]. That's how I, a genre/horror freak from way back, saw Beast Within on initial release at the cinema - and tons of other stuff most other people only know from streaming or old-school video shops [mainly US stuff, though I did sneak into Suspiria as a young teen]. Anyway, Beast Within is still great. A lot of those never held up in the first place - even if the goof-factor was still enjoyable - but Beast within holds up all these years later, for it's original story, great cinematography, score, acting talent, and [heh...] eye-popping practical f/x.
I met Ronny Cox at Starbase 21 in Tulsa like...God, 15 years ago. He told a story about how people were constantly confusing him with other actors. I then asked him a question meant for another actor, the MC corrected me, I hit myself in the head with the mic (which was loud enough to be heard throughout the entirety of Expo Square. This is a Core Memory, and I don't think I'm ever going to forget it. I didn't get to meet him, but Jeffrey Combs was a regular attendee at the time and he was _very_ cool.
What an odd little monster movie. The setting reminds me of "In the Heat of the Night" and the "song of the cicada" concept seems like it was a possible inspiration for Stephen King's "the Dark Half."
I had no idea this movie existed, until i found a midnite movie madness dvd copy of it, at my local Family Dollar, back in 2014. Needless to say, i loved it, though, i was always confused by the backstory of the boy's origin. Now i know why, cause most of it was cut out! I forget the actor's name, who plays the teen boy/beast, but he was in one of my all time fave episodes of Ray Bradbury theater, called the martian.
The Beast Within was an awesome new take inspired by the werewolf tropes, but leading into the subtext of fear and traumas surrounding blended families. It was brilliantly done. I wouldnt care if it were remade, but I'd never not be a fanboy for the original. Those are some of the best bladder effects, which were reigning supreme in F/X at the time.
I would seriously love a new adaptation that's much closer to the novel, and I would love to see a brand new take on the transformation but make it even more disturbing and close to how a cicada sheds its exoskeleton.
Ronny Cox also voiced Underdog back in the day! "Sanford and Son" was one of the funniest shows I've ever watched in my time, and the crack about "So he might be attracted to potted plants," was a good one. Huh, I never caught the Lovecraft references until you mentioned them but then again, it's been a minute since I watched this movie. I seem to recall that Rob Burman did the effects work?
I was trying to remember the name of this movie the other day, kept thinking it was The Being, thanks now I can look it up and watch it again, last time I saw it was VHS in the 80s. As you say "christ I'm old."
Its not a werewolf its a cicada! That scene of the transformation is the one scene everyone remembers about rhis. Weirdly enough this film terrified my mum and sister for some reason
@@TheHorrorGeek no, but it always used to get lumped in with werewolf movies back in the day. Just because of the effects and because werewolf effects were famous back then
@@neilold7291 I could definitely see that. It's body horror transformation and top of the line special effects of the sort practiced by Rick Baker and Rob Bottin in... werewolf movies.
Yeah, I think you're right, they really needed to keep the cicada story/curse business in the film. The whole 'guy is a monster, and his misbegotten spawn sheds human guise to become something similar when he comes of age' thing really begs for a stronger explanation. A curse, a random backwoods mutant whose monsterhood is inheritable, 'Charles Dexter Ward' summoning a very weak Spawn of Yog-Sothoth... _something_ .
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Today's movie has some fantastic practical effects...so why don't more people talk about it? Join me as we tackle The Beast Within!
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The Beast Within! I recognize that from nightmares I had as a kid after watching it at 6yrs old.
I Saw This On TUBI Back In March And It Was Like Woah!
I like my meals out of a box...churches chicken or white castle.
This movie was also called Xtro or XTRO. Why? I don't know. 🤷♂️ There was a book of the Beast Within and it was similar to the horror movie but it was way better because it was much more detailed than the film was. The story was a lot more bizarre and creepy. The monster was even more eerie, strange, and weird than the one shown in the motion picture. The horror novel changed the story around. In the movie, there are two versions of the story.
The first version alludes to or heavily implies that it's a fantasy story tied to ancient Native American mythology and that the area has black magic in the woods, causing the spirit of the cicada, a vengeful being, to use a human host body by possessing the person and taking revenge on whoever the possessed person hates. The second version is some science-fiction re-imagining/remake/retelling that has an insect-like, semi-humanoid, hostile alien attack and invade the small town somehow.
It changes the story from a dark, adult fantasy about demonic possession to a sci-fi story about a monster from another dimension or planet. Either way, the monster violates women to make more of his own kind, and also even eats people alive, too. They made it seem as if the man who turned into the creature was either bitten by the humanoid insect and transformed that way due to a cursed bite, or bitten and turned into another similar monster due to the otherworldly nature of the alien's DNA.
In the novel form of the script and screenplay, the story says that it was some kind of inexplicable "de-evolution effect", turning the human into a sub-humanoid, animal-like creature after eating human flesh and drinking human blood. The details say that it was a werewolf-like state. The man who fed him the human flesh and blood originally gave him fresh dead bodies from the morgue and from the cemetery, but then murdered his wife after she had given birth to his daughter because the girl was the product of the affair. Which is why he was abusive to his daughter.
After the man transformed into the beast, he escaped and violated the woman in the forest and she was pregnant with his mutant child because of this. The beast was able to free himself after he was fed living human flesh and blood because the man feeding him became a serial killer. After feeding the beast his dead wife's dismembered body parts, he started secretly murdering other people. Usually homeless people and mostly prostitutes. But the beast got too strong and was now even more powerful. He escaped by breaking free. He wanted to kill his captor, but he couldn't find him.
He was eventually caught by the town's sheriff and his deputies, and they all shot him to death. But not after he had already impregnated another woman with his monstrous child. The rest of the story is pretty much basically exactly the same like the movie but the kid is not 18. He is actually 16. His dormant true form starts to activate from its latent state due to him going through puberty. He turns and kills the town sheriff and his deputies, and the man who is girlfriend's father (who is responsible for causing his father to become a beast). And as for the girlfriend, who is 17, she is actually, unknowingly, his older half-sister. He then violates her in his beast form and she becomes pregnant with his beast child. But the kid gets shot to death by State troopers. So that's the main difference between the Beast Within in terms of the book version versus the movie version. The novel is darker, and much more grim and gritty than the movie is.
I saw this back in the Eighties. Go ahead, Mike. Say it.
That picture looks just like me after waking up in the 100 degree weather because I forgot to turn my fan on. 😂
Funny, it reminds me of how I feel after eating a room full of corpses. Too soon?
Lol 🤣😆
I'm redheaded and freckled. I feel your pain! 😂
???Texas is hot also??
Do you live in AZ too?
"You kids even remember 'Sanford & Son'? Christ, I'm old." WELCOME TO MY LIFE.
I grew up with re-runs of that show, you dummy 🤣
He died in '91. He and Elizabeth are happy together again.
When Mike says "Do you even remember....", I always do. Hell, I'm older than Mike!
Oh no Lizbeth its the big one....I'm coming
SANFORD & SON IS BASED ON THE BRITCOM STEPTOE & SON!
“I had to kill Bob Morton because he made a mistake. Now it’s time to erase that mistake.” I will always remember Ronny Cox for that line.
I remember when I was a young executive for this company. I used to call the Old Man funny names. Iron Butt, Boner... once I even called him azzhole. But there was always respect. I knew where the line was drawn. And you just stepped over it, buddy boy!
. . . ah yes, I remember that scene @@Nobody18718
@@Nobody18718 I remember the time that I was a cop and a bunch of gangsters blew me to pieces with guns and I woke up and Ronny Cox was my boss. That ended well.
This was the only horror movie that ever creeped me out as a little kid, I remember waking up during the middle of the night turning the tv on an the scene where dude starts changing had just started .
That is pretty much the exact same way that I came to watch this movie in the early 80's and it totally freaked me out but I still watched it every time that I saw that it was on.
Foghorn Leghorn shout out & the Lynda Day George clip.
Tremendous!!!
I saw this as a teenager!
The SFX are AWESOME!
Man, R.G. Armstrong and L.Q. Jones! All we need is Chuck Norris and we could have Lone Wolf McQuade 2, Rise of the Cicadas! Also, “the KoolAid man sprung a leak”…brilliant! 😂😂
Haha!
Mike Bracken dropping this vid at the height of Cicada season. Coincidence?
I think not.
The emergence of the 13 year and 17 year broods lined up this year where I live, but I didn’t see or hear a single one. Nearby towns got them, but not here. I feel like I missed out. (I’d feel different if I had to clean up the mess, but still.)
@@CantankerousDave Same here. They're all over my Dad's neighborhood, but not a chirp at my house. One even got a free ride to my place on my back. Didn't know it was there until it crawled up my neck while I was watching the tube. RIP, Cicada-Dude!
@@dougrobinson8602 YIKES!
Reminds me of the giant cockroaches from my youth in Houston, TX. 😖
Hahaha was thinking the same thinggg
@@CantankerousDave Same here. We must be in the same zone.
Sooo Hollywood Montrose turned straight, moved to the suburbs ,got married, and had a "Kid" you just unlocked some serious Class Act fan fiction, sir!!
Hahaha!
Back in the early 80s, my dad let me watch the transformation scene... Thanks dad 5 year old me wasn't scarred for life by this at all😢
Kids back in the days were made of sterner stuff, whereas kids these days... they see a plastic straw and scream bloody murder...
I've always said that the 80s was THE decade of RAPE HORROR. Like besides THIS flick there's also Humanoids from the Deep, Galaxy of Terror, The Entity, Inseminoid, Night of the Demon, Xtro, and The Incubus. It was something of a phenomenon of THAT particular decade and something that actually rather distinguished it.
Don't forget the raping tree in Evil Dead
Honorable Mention for Evil Dead, although it's violation by plant I think it still counts.
The basic premise of ANOES.
@@DrakeBarrow Thanks. There are probably others I've overlooked. And if you wana go FURTHER BACK (pre-80s) there's also Multiple Maniacs, Demon Seed, Grave of the Vampire, and Night of the Bloody Apes.
I guess you never heard of Last House on the Left? I Spit on your Grave? Deliverance? Are You In the House Alone? Or any of the women in prison exploitation movies from the 1960's and 70's?
Transformation scene is overlooked due to the popular scene in American Werewolf in London . Both iconic
It still haunts my dreams, fer sure!
Wow. I would have gone the rest of my life not knowing the guy I've seen in 50 movies was the guitar-playing nice guy in Deliverance! I just never would have made that connection.
Same - I never would of guessed that!
@16:54 "Insert your best Bill Shatman impersonation" was my exact thought, also! lol 👍
Wow a classic from the VHS days. Jail scene freaked me out!
One I vividly remember seeing on the top shelf of my local VHS hire shop around 1983. The thrill and mystique of that top shelf of horror as a 9 year old has stayed with me! Anyway, I finally saw The Beast Within for the first time about 2 years ago, and really enjoyed it.
I distinctly remember the VHS box cover, but never actually rented it.
(To the tune of “Having my Baby” by Paul Anka and Odia Coates)
🎵
You're havin' my baby
What a heinous way of me sayin' how much I love you
Havin' my baby
What a hideous reminder of what you're thinkin' of me
I can see it, it’s face is bloatin
I can see it in your horror-filled eyes, I'm happy you know it
That you're havin' my baby
You're the woman I assaulted and anyone can see what it’s done to ya
Havin' my baby
You're a woman in stark raving terror and I love that more cuz I’m even crueler
The need inside you, I see it showin'
Whoa, the demon seed inside ya, baby, do you feel it growin'?
Are you happy you know it?
That you're havin' my baby
I'm a woman without control of my own reproductive rights
Havin' my baby
I'm a woman tellin you it’s a domain that’s worth all of your fight
Didn't have to keep it
But a corrupt Supreme Court wants the woman to pay
Should be able to sweep it
But my rights were taken in a disdain of Roe vs. Wade
And you're havin' my hideous baby
I'm a woman in hate and I hate what it's doin' to me
Havin' my baby
I'm a woman in anger and I don’t like being used to clone thee
Havin' my baby (havin' my baby)
What a grotesque way of me sayin' how much i love ya
Havin' my baby (havin' my baby)
I'm a woman in trouble and I need that mornin after pill Lord help me
🎵
B-Side: “Papa Get Leashed” by Madonna
❤loving this version, had a baby and will never, never, never to be repeated, not all women want to be mothers, I am a fantastic aunt however😂
@@heidikroft3337Thank you very much :) Glad you enjoyed it and its message 😉✌️
I can see why Paul Anka never named any of his six children with a "W".
I thought he actually did scream "Khan!". 😅😂
Great film. One of the true mandatory rentals from the video store back in the day. A great cast along with a good story. This movie delivered the goods. Nostalgia overload of days long gone. Wish I could go back at!
Yeah, I miss the 80s so much.
people slumming for a paycheck was common in the 80's. Everyone needed extra money for blow.
Watched this movie again on Tubi this morning and just in time too it will be leaving Tubi in 13 days. Ronny Cox is not the bad guy this time and actually plays a sympathetic character it was shocking to see the guy who played Dick Jones in Robocop and Michael Ironside and Sharon Stone's boss in Total Recall play a nice guy for once.
Ronny Cox also did an amazing job in Deliverance.
@childofthe80s1981, Ronny Cox also played a nice guy, in Deliverance.
One of my all time classic horror films!!!
Man, this is truly a hidden gem. IMO it elevates the humble low-budget creature feature in a charmingly (by today's standards) lurid way.
Speaking of "Christ I'm Old," I used to show Spinal Tap to my (college) seniors on finals day. I stopped doing that this year. No one got the jokes, no one recognized ANY of the many, many cameos...Christ, I'm old.
I come for the epic countdown music and stay for the puns
Glad you nailed the HPL reference.
There's a movie based directly on Charles Dexter Ward, The Resurrected with Chris Sarandon, pretty good flick.
Yeah I’ve been meaning to cover it.
Oh I love The Beast Within !!! I have it on DVD / Bluray
I first saw it in the early 2000s on TV and loved it
same. Saw it in the early 2000s as well when a friend introduced me to it. That transformation toward the end was CRAZY.
This movie was crazy loved the practical effects
I absolutely love this movie. I saw it about 5 times when it came out in 81, along with An American Werewolf in London and the Howling, not to mention Wolfen. It was a special time for these kind of movies. They don't make em like this anymore!
Oh, boy. This movie is best in a double feature after that other classic, The Incubus...
Well at least the HOUSE is established. Plot? Back story? Continuity? No. House? Yes.
I first watched this film back in 2017 with my Dad and ex before going to a pub for diner with my Auntie and Nan. Absolutely loved it and will be giving it another watch this week. Great review as always Mike!
Glad you enjoyed it! :-)
Fun fact: Meshach Taylor was also in DAMIEN OMEN II. He had the best death scene in it, though the movie took its toll on him, and he's half the man he used to be.
This movie messed me up as a kid. Still scarred by it til this day 😨😨
Great JR! Getting better always makes me laugh
Another excellent review, Mike! And regarding the cast, let’s not forget Bibi Besch who played Dr. Carol Marcus in Star Trek II. She passed away in 1996.
She also did the soaps somerset and the edge of night
You know what I just noticed? I ALWAYS agree with Lance’s assessment of the situation. 😂
He’s never wrong…😂
@@TheHorrorGeek lolol never!!
Always liked this flick. If I understand it correctly, the director pumped that head up so much because he wanted to see just how much iy would hold before it blew up...😂 Great job as always Mike👍
I had totally forgotten this one..thank you for reminding me! Fond memories of weekend VHS bingeathons :D
As soon as I saw the thumbnail, I knew what the movie was this week. This is where it all began for me. The first horror movie I remember seeing.
This was one of the most schlocky yet unnerving horror movies I've ever seen. The cast was stellar. The two high-school kids were somehow good bad actors. They had an awkward innocence that made their scenes very uncomfortable and added to the tension. Having visited rural Mississippi, this didn't seem too far fetched.
So yesterday was my 60th birthday, just want to thank you, Mike, for all the entertainment you've put out here, many, MANY hilarious memories about the films, and now, your take on them as well. Keep up the great work,and you'll always have at least one follower...me, in case, well, I think you knew, but...👴
Happy birthday!
'By the power of Budweiser, what are you doing here, Girl?!' Too the Dad: Budweiser IS his higher power.
Ive been offline for a while..... I was so happy to see that Factor is a sponsor! They're great and I've heard good things about their sponsorship. What a fantastic movie pick!! Haven't seen this movie since the days of the drive in. Good times!!❤😊
Factors stuff is surprisingly tasty.
the movie that changed how I look at raw ground beef
When i was younger, i gave this movie ZERO out of 4 stars just for that disgusting scene alone.
AS always amazing video, truly one of the best channels on YT, keep it coming Mike and Team!
Thanks Roc!
YES! Man, this is one of my all time favorite horror films from that era. Because I saw it as a kid and it scared the bejesus outta me for weeks. I had nightmares and for a long time couldn’t watch the film without getting spooked all over again. As an adult I learned about the cicada connection and that catapulted this lovely little gore fest into my top ten. Thanks for giving it the full five and for making me smile all through the review. The Beast Within is all the splatter that matters to me!
Nice handy, Mike. This movie and this episode are classics. Thanks!
THE MORE YOU KNOW MOMENT-Meshach also played in the Omen 2 . The elevator scene.
Another one I saw on HBO as a kid way back in the day and completely forgot about until you reviewed it. Seriously, that's like half the films you feature!
Let's not forget Ronny Cox in Deliverance 👍
I saw this as a 12 year old and it freaked me out! Linda and Lance never disappoint! Thanks!!!!
I remember this film when it first came out and went to the drive in to see it, always loved this one.
Another fine turn. Consistency. The mark of a true professional. Kudos sir.
I haven't seen this movie in years, such a great underrated gem. Thanks for posting!
Glad you enjoyed it
@@TheHorrorGeek I also see your a wrestling fan, I've actually had the pleasure of working with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper & Jerry "The King" Lawler at The 1994 WWF King Of The Ring P.P.V. I was the Roddy Piper impersonator & in fact that was 30 years ago on Father's Day June 19th
The best part about the transformation is that everyone in the room is fine with it happening cuz it looks neat.
Yeah no one even tried to help him.
There’s a pretty good gooey, air bladder-centric transformation in the movie The Kindred (1987) with Rod Steiger, Kim Hunter, and Amanda Pays.
Those are indeed some very impressive practical effects, and despite the cut material, the story isn't terrible either.
Almost to 100k, Mike. Keep up the good work.
Oh man, I’m so glad you’re featuring this one! I saw this far too young in the 80’s and have always wondered if it was as horrid as I remembered.
Aw you put the "Beast Within" in this play list God I love you Mike!!! Thank you.
Formaldehyde and seek. I love it!
I've only ever watched this movie once, when it came out, probably at a drive in, then again on tv and vhs. I'm a gorehound but they overdid it with the air-bladders.
@14:23. Just brilliant!
Once again a video that recommends a movie, I have never seen and only heard of the title in british or american content.
It only had a very limited release here in Germany (under the title "The Angel Face - Three nights of dread" ... because, sure...)
Thanks to our main man @the horror geek Mike for bringing this to my attention.
P.S. Just now I put two and two together and realized that it was Ronny Cox playing the guitar in Deliverance!
Me and my homeboy met Ronny Cox in an elevator at a convention in the late 80's. Super nice guy. Very patient dude dealing with two kids blathering on about his more obscure movies, like this one...
5:11 "Peeping out from behind the shroud of darkness" moon establishing shot!
And the tree-mendous pun was exceptional! Quality dad joke, sir!
Awesome episode. My friends and I got into a matinee of this movie and we thought we really pulled one on the ticket girl, but when we got into the cinema we were the only ones there. Of course we were primed by the coverage in Fangoria. The version we saw had a lot of talk about cicadas. Cicada this cicada that. Ever afterward whenever one of us had an outbreak of acne the rest of us would intone in our best Mississsippi accents, it's the cicadas, cicadas! Fun stuff.
Maybe it's just because I was young and could enjoy them all so much, but there was a lot of good stuff in the years leading up to and just into the home video boom. Ever see Defcon 4? It's so terrible. You'd love it!
I dont think I've seen Defcon 4...
@@TheHorrorGeekIt was Canadian. The same guys who made The Siege. Not quite up to that quality though. 😄
Can’t wait to watch when I get home!
Great as always - and that Brandon Tenold shoutout at 20:40 was a classy touch too. I sometimes wonder how much different horror/B-movie guys check out each other's work on YT.
Haha! I try to watch all of my colleagues in this space. Big fan of Brandon! :-)
14:29 Hey that's the hitchhiker from Easy Rider! The more you know
I went to see this back in the day. My first time getting drunk and throwing up in public, on the sidewalk right outside the theater. I don't really remember the film.
Grew up in a smallish town, but with 12 theaters [9 were in multiplexes], plus one drive-in. Pretty much all the great genre stuff released in the 70s & 80s played on any number but a couple of those houses [two were old-school picture palaces, so in those: Exorcist, Star Wars, Jaws, to Back To The Future, Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, Batman, et al]. That's how I, a genre/horror freak from way back, saw Beast Within on initial release at the cinema - and tons of other stuff most other people only know from streaming or old-school video shops [mainly US stuff, though I did sneak into Suspiria as a young teen]. Anyway, Beast Within is still great. A lot of those never held up in the first place - even if the goof-factor was still enjoyable - but Beast within holds up all these years later, for it's original story, great cinematography, score, acting talent, and [heh...] eye-popping practical f/x.
Have to agree with you, Mike.
This film suffered from very poor editing.
9,000,322nd time the Horror Geek has made me laugh out loud: “Here’s me every time they play a Toby Keith song.” 😆
I met Ronny Cox at Starbase 21 in Tulsa like...God, 15 years ago. He told a story about how people were constantly confusing him with other actors. I then asked him a question meant for another actor, the MC corrected me, I hit myself in the head with the mic (which was loud enough to be heard throughout the entirety of Expo Square.
This is a Core Memory, and I don't think I'm ever going to forget it.
I didn't get to meet him, but Jeffrey Combs was a regular attendee at the time and he was _very_ cool.
What an odd little monster movie. The setting reminds me of "In the Heat of the Night" and the "song of the cicada" concept seems like it was a possible inspiration for Stephen King's "the Dark Half."
I had no idea this movie existed, until i found a midnite movie madness dvd copy of it, at my local Family Dollar, back in 2014. Needless to say, i loved it, though, i was always confused by the backstory of the boy's origin. Now i know why, cause most of it was cut out! I forget the actor's name, who plays the teen boy/beast, but he was in one of my all time fave episodes of Ray Bradbury theater, called the martian.
Great video as always Mike! 👍🏻
The Beast Within was an awesome new take inspired by the werewolf tropes, but leading into the subtext of fear and traumas surrounding blended families. It was brilliantly done. I wouldnt care if it were remade, but I'd never not be a fanboy for the original. Those are some of the best bladder effects, which were reigning supreme in F/X at the time.
I would seriously love a new adaptation that's much closer to the novel, and I would love to see a brand new take on the transformation but make it even more disturbing and close to how a cicada sheds its exoskeleton.
Some of us also remember Cox as the President in Captain America. Hail to the Chief.
Good stuff as always, Mike!
I like this one a lot. I discovered it only a couple of years ago. Its time for a rewatch.
Love The Beast Within. So underrated and the end transformation is fantastic! Rented this bad boy a ton back in the day.
A cult horror classic from 1982. Underrated for the most part especially the SFX. The last 20 + minutes is bat 💩 crazy fun. Long live horror movies!
I’ll always remember RG Armstrong from Warlock: The Armageddon. Stacked cast in this one
I didn't know Bibo Besch was in this, the first Carol Marcus!
Ronny Cox also voiced Underdog back in the day! "Sanford and Son" was one of the funniest shows I've ever watched in my time, and the crack about "So he might be attracted to potted plants," was a good one. Huh, I never caught the Lovecraft references until you mentioned them but then again, it's been a minute since I watched this movie. I seem to recall that Rob Burman did the effects work?
I believe it was Wally Cox who voiced "Underdog". 🤔
@@ericwandless7966 Whoops! I checked it out and you are correct. Thanks for the correction!
What a film… criminally underrated!
"I barely bathe", L.Q. Jones' parentage, projecting in an 8 head. The Mrs. had quite a selection of hats.
I was trying to remember the name of this movie the other day, kept thinking it was The Being, thanks now I can look it up and watch it again, last time I saw it was VHS in the 80s. As you say "christ I'm old."
the "Female foghorn leghorn" quip had me in stitches 😅
Was just watching The Beast Within 2 nights ago.
Classic 80s horror movie.
Also thanks for the MST3K joke. That is my favorite TV show(the old show, not the new one.)of all time!
Its not a werewolf its a cicada! That scene of the transformation is the one scene everyone remembers about rhis. Weirdly enough this film terrified my mum and sister for some reason
No one said it was a werewolf... :p
@@TheHorrorGeek no, but it always used to get lumped in with werewolf movies back in the day. Just because of the effects and because werewolf effects were famous back then
@@neilold7291 I could definitely see that. It's body horror transformation and top of the line special effects of the sort practiced by Rick Baker and Rob Bottin in... werewolf movies.
There is a new A Beast Within movie that the trailor is on UA-cam now that looks like it is a werewolf movie.
I liked the Brandon Tenold decapitation reference, he's got a great channel. Top show as usual mate.
I went too Mississippi for maneuvers when I was in the military. I can see why a monster would live there.
Yeah, I think you're right, they really needed to keep the cicada story/curse business in the film. The whole 'guy is a monster, and his misbegotten spawn sheds human guise to become something similar when he comes of age' thing really begs for a stronger explanation. A curse, a random backwoods mutant whose monsterhood is inheritable, 'Charles Dexter Ward' summoning a very weak Spawn of Yog-Sothoth... _something_ .
They blew the budget on a talent heavy cast and that gruesome transformation.
No shot at an Oscar but weird, gross fun.
I remember this movie, one of my favorite era's,
! Love it
Saw this in the theaters. Christ I'm old!