The Beast Within

Phillippe Mora
1982

I was initially under the impression that this was your average indie werewolf flick but was immensely pleased to find that it's more of a were-cicada affair. When young Michael MacCleary's illness devolves into violent crime and bizarre visions it's of little surprise to the audience considering the picture's prologue involves a bizarre beast raping his mother during an ill fated pit stop. Michael's strange post-pubescent behavior has got his folks nervous about the real identity of his pater familias, and as they begin poking around the archives of the one-horse-town it's locals become more possessive of their proverbial "dark secrets." Some horror fans may be put off by the slow beginning and build-up, but I found the mystery elements of the first two acts, the hostile natives and the isolated provincial feel, a great potboiler that explodes into a rampage monstrous self-actualization. The highlight setpiece involves the town's loathsome mayor having his head ripped off at the (literal) hands of a vengeful monster.