The Beast Within
| The Beast Within | |
|---|---|
Theatrical Release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Philippe Mora |
| Produced by | |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Based on |
The Beast Within by Edward Levy |
| Starring |
|
| Music by | Les Baxter |
| Cinematography | Jack L. Richards |
| Edited by |
|
| Distributed by | MGM/UA Entertainment Co. |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $7.7 million |
The Beast Within is a 1982 horror film directed by Philippe Mora and starring Ronny Cox, Bibi Besch, Paul Clemens, L. Q. Jones, Don Gordon, R. G. Armstrong, Katherine Moffat, and Meshach Taylor.
The film is a very loose adaptation of Edward Levy's 1981 novel of the same name.
While driving through Mississippi on their honeymoon, Caroline and Eli MacCleary (Bibi Besch and Ronny Cox) are stranded on a deserted road when their car is stuck in the mud. Eli walks several miles to a service station they stopped at earlier to get a tow. Meanwhile, a strange creature, held captive in the cellar of a dark house, breaks its chain and escapes into the forest. As it nears the MacCleary's car Caroline's dog jumps out of the window to confront it. Caroline chases after the animal, but flees in terror when she stumbles across the canine's mutilated corpse. She knocks herself unconscious by running into a tree. The creature tears off her clothes and rapes her. Eli and the service station attendant find her lying alone in the forest. As they all drive off two gunshots are heard from the forest.
Seventeen years later, their son Michael (who was conceived as a result of Caroline's rape) has become gravely ill, and the doctors have no idea why his pituitary gland has gone out of control. Eli and Caroline confront the past and return to the small town of Nioba, Mississippi to discover some information about the man who assaulted her, in case Michael's illness is genetic. The local townspeople are reluctant to help; the town judge, Judge Curwin (Gordon) claims to have no information, while newspaper editor Edwin Curwin (Ramsey), a relative of the judge, is nervous and angry when Caroline finds a newspaper clipping about a man named Lionel Curwin who was killed seventeen years earlier. Eli and Caroline visit police station and ask Sheriff Poole (Jones) for information bout the death of Lionel Curwin for a book which they say they are researching. Poole tells them that Lionel, the town undertaker, had been intensely disliked by almost everyone in town, that his corpse was found partially eaten, that whoever was responsible had tried to burn his house down, and that the culprit was never apprehended.
...
Wikipedia