The Beast Within

Dr. Spock always said the most difficult but necessary conversation you can have with your children is the one about: “your father is a werewolf.” Unfortunately, it is well past time for Willow’s parents to broach the subject. It has reached the point where their evasions are making things worse. Nevertheless, the truth hurts badly in Alexander J. Farrell’s The Beast Within, which releases this Tuesday on digital VOD.

Willow is not even a pre-teen yet, but she still picks up on her mother Imogen’s deceptive behavior. Of course, she can hardly miss her grandfather Waylon’s hostility towards her father, Noah. The way he disappears some nights further stokes her suspicions. One night, she follows her parents to the deserted ruin near their isolated cottage, where she witnesses her mother chaining up her father—and not in a fetishistic kind of way.

Soon thereafter, Noah reluctantly explains how he inherited his grandfather’s curse—the one that caused him to murder Noah’s grandfather in the prologue. For a while, all their honesty is therapeutic, but Noah remains a ticking lycanthropy bomb.

The Beast Within is definitely a moody, slow-builder, but the tense third act compares favorably with most of the studio-produced horror movies released this year. Farrell and co-screenwriter Greer Ellison also effectively employ a scale-model as a visual motif.

Although he hardly talks until forty minutes have passed, Kit Harington nicely portrays Noah sensitive Jekyll scenes of fathering and the onset of his ferocious Hyde rages. His old Game of Thrones co-star James Cosmo is reliably craggy as Waylon, but he also makes a compellingly protective grandpa. Ashleigh Cummings looks appropriately desperate and exhausted playing poor Imogen (who is also cursed with a dreary name).

Frankly, the final revelation is a let-down, but it speaks well of Farrell’s execution that many viewers might not see it coming. The atmosphere is first-rate and Daniel Katz’s darkly hued cinematography aptly reflects the film’s sinister vibe. Recommended for horror fans despite some reservations, The Beast Within releases this Tuesday (8/13) on digital VOD.