The Beast Must Die (La bestia debe morir)

Mystery writer Felix Lane, played by legendary Spanish actor Narciso Ibáñez Menta, suffers a tragic loss; his nine-year-old son is killed in a hit-and-run car accident. Seeking justice, Lane bypasses the authorities, adopts a new identity, and begins looking for clues that will lead him to the culprit. The suspense reaches hair-raising levels as Felix’s vendetta leads him to infiltrate an affluent family rife with its own intrigues. But who among this highly suspect bunch is the killer? And will Felix follow his mission to its bitter end? Based on Cecil Day-Lewis’ influential 1938 novel The Beast Must Die (written as Nicholas Blake), Viñoly Barreto’s film is a stunning adaptation of one of the true landmarks of crime fiction and psychological suspense.

This landmark release, gorgeously restored, was achieved through the dedicated efforts of the Film Noir Foundation and UCLA Film & Television Archive, with special thanks to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Charitable Trust (The HFPA Trust). The superb The Beast Must Die (La bestia debe morir), formally unknown to the canon of classic international noir, is now presented in this world-premiere Blu-ray edition.