The Day of the Beast (5 Stars)

Angel Berriartua is a Catholic theology professor. After spending 25 years studying the last book of the Bible, the Apocalypse, he discovers that the Antichrist will be born on 25th December 1995 in Madrid. There are only two problems. First, it's already 23rd December, so he only has two days to intervene. Second, he doesn't have an exact address, and Madrid is a large city.

That's a typical plot for an end of days film, of which dozens have already been made, but this film is directed by Alex de la Iglesia, so we know we can expect something that verges on insanity.

Angel decides that the only way to find the exact address is to speak to the Devil himself. He has to abandon his faith and become a Satanist. On arriving in Madrid Angel makes friends with a death metal fan. Together they kidnap Cavan, the host of  an occult television show, and they demand that he summon the Devil for them. Cavan confesses to being a charlatan who just says what the public expects to hear, but he's persuaded that Angel is genuine, so he offers to help him.

The end of the world has never been so much fun. Despite the absurd comedy, the film avoids being sacrilegious.

"Day of the Beast" was released in America and England on DVD, but is now out of print. The Spanish Blu-ray is available from Amazon.es and contains English subtitles.