36 Days of Halloween - 1995: Day of the Beast

Shortly before Christmas, a Roman Catholic priest discovers that the antichrist will be born before dawn on Christmas day. He decides the only way to stop the antichrist is by engaging in enough sins that he can sell his soul to the Devil and learn the location of the Antichrist's birth, whereupon he will kill the Antichrist and save humanity. He's helped in this quest by a record store clerk and a television... psychic. I first saw this film probably ten or fifteen years ago, while I was living in Ann Arbor; it was hard to track down a copy, but I'm glad I did; this film is very funny. Director Álex de la Iglesia carefully balances the comedy/horror line here, without ever slipping too far in either direction. The film opens with a glorious scene where the Priest, Angel Berriartúa, confides in the head priest; and is told that they can bear the weight of this cross together. Unfortunately for the head priest, this claim is tested much more literally than he expected, and Angel is left on his own. The scenes of Angel trying to sin his way into the Devil's good graces are quite funny. He steal luggage, harasses street preachers and mimes, and ultimately goes to a record store to purchase "devil music." Angel's attempts to sin his way into the Devil's good graces are hilariously absurd; he's a man who dedicated his life to God, and he thinks the Devil will accept him as his own if he buys a few heavy metal albums and shoplifts from a book. It's not a huge surprise when the Devil does not, in fact, confide in Angel. Despite the almost two hour run-time, this is a fast paced film; there's never a moment where the film feels slow or overly burdened. The director keeps the action moving by pushing Angel into more and more absurd situations in his quest to find the Antichrist. The actors involved deserve a ton of credit for the success, as well; the main cast and most of the supporting cast put in excellent performances, and help create tremendously likable characters. The biggest flaw with this film is the difficulty most people will have finding a copy. This is a thoroughly enjoyable darkly comedic romp. This one easily gets five out of five sides of a pentagram.