"El Día de la Bestia" is a transcendental movie, maybe that important that it's hard to admit that it started a revolution. To begin with, Spanish Horror cinema is one before and after this movie.

Let's think about the same situation that happened with "Evil Dead". This film is a diabolical mix of black humor, gore, a scary plot, plenty of action, and a look of a comic book.

With the aforementioned description, it seems that the film shouldn't be taken seriously because most of the mentioned elements make a hint to black humor cinema. But the movie doesn't concentrates specifically on any of those aspects; no, it follows an intense pace with the purpose of solving a sinister plot through black humor and horror. It executes those elements as complements without keeping in mind it's objective.

We got scenes of black humor that tend to be cruel, hilarious, and sinister. For example, the giant cross crushing a priest. Or what about the priest chasing Jose Mari's sister and dispatching his mother? The scenes with most tension and terror deal with the satanic ritual where a black goat appears and when the devil makes a terrifying appearance (standing up confronting José Mari and throwing him out of the tower and then confronting the priest) I understand now how "Drag Me To Hell" got inspired in the use of shadows and the talking goat. You saw it first here! ;) The on-screen duo conformed by the priest and José Mari is hilarious and gives you an idea of a very sui-generis friendship based on religious obsession, heavy metal, insane dialogs, and more.

The dialogs have a little for something. For some moments the demonic references may creep you about because most of them are very accurate. Other moments will make you laugh out loud mainly because of the irreverences of the crazed priest and José Mari, or because of their physical humor (it plays an important part).

But those elements couldn't be accomplished without a talented cast. The three principal actors were born for their roles. Álex Angulo delivers a comedic, creepy performance filled with anxiety but conviction to follow his ideals. He is in charge to change the pace of the movie when it reaches levels of surrealism. Armando De Razza is perfect and believable as Professor Cavan, a charlatan in disguise who enjoys making money and success (and hot women) through the ingenuity of the audience. A versatile actor. Santiago Segura becomes an instant favorite of the audience as the loyally obsessed partner of the priest. He delivers the perfect dosis of humor and with his heavy metal knowledge he gives you an idea of how irreverent he is.

Special mention for the extreme hottie María Grazia Ciconotta. Wow, she is very hot, extremely sexy. And those are real ;) The score is great. The movie has an official soundtrack with songs of heavy metal, rap, hip-hop.

The Direction by Alex de la Iglesia is spectacular, great. We got dynamic sequences, other elegant takes that need a high budget, and the movie always looks dynamic, radiant. The world never looked this dark before the Apocalypsis.

The Cinematography and Art Direction is perfect. Just very rich and dark.

This is a prime example of black humor, horror, and quality. Other films like these? I can only think about "Evil Dead", "Drag Me To Hell", and "Mucha Sangre". The word "cool" better describes this movie.

To sum it up, this movie is an entertainment production, it's funny, and rough for any Horror fan. It's a black comedy that should please any fanatic of Horror.