Waste of time

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Blistering performances.

A priest is convinced that the Antichrist is being born in Madrid and on Christmas Day, so he travels to the city and starts performing evil acts in an effort to get in touch with Satan and find out exactly where the birth will happen. He hooks up with a guy who works in a heavy metal record store and a TV psychic and the three of them try to track down the Antichrist and kill him in his cradle. A delirious horror comedy from severely underrated Spanish genre stylist Alex de la Iglesia.

This movie is definitively awful. I watched it on Easter evening in 2011, hoping to see a good movie, after I had seen films like L'Aldilà of Lucio Fulci, They live of John Carpenter and The Brood of Cronenberg, but all I found is a mix of a comic movie and horror elements. These, however, aren't in the typical style of "Splatters" or "Bad Taste" (by Peter Jackson), made up as comic and horror movies. I think this was a pathetic tentative of the author of making a good horror, after felt in the comicality. The first scene, as I saw in the commercial, showing a big crucifix falls on a priest, made me think about a good movie, but the crescendo was awful: Maria Grazia Cucinotta seems idiot, and the Italian magician is totally pathetic. In a second you can even see a picture of a young Berlusconi. Don't see it.

What a surprisingly brilliant film this is! Surprising if you are one of those who haven't heard of Alex de la Iglesia as I hadn't, and go by just the poster and the name. Brilliant because you shouldn't just go by the name and poster, and Alex de la Iglesia has made a super cool film.The imminent arrival of Antichrist worries a priest to such an extent that he believes the best way to prevent the tragedy is to step into devil's own shoes. Hilarious and edgy by parts, it is perhaps the only horror film which has made me want to watch it again. Apart from the scarily believable performances, it is highly energetic and doesn't slacken one bit.It is not for everyone though. The delicate-hearted might find it too violent. I wonder if religious people would take kindly to it either. For everyone else, it packs a great amount of fun.

As films like "Perdita Durango" prove, Spanish director Álex De La Iglesia is a specialist for macabre humor. One of his earlier films, "El Dia De La Bestia" aka. "The Day Of The Beast" of 1995 is a perfect example for this director's talent, a macabre and hilarious black horror comedy that entertains highly from the beginning to the end. A catholic priest (Álex Angulo) goes to Madrid in order to prevent the birth of the Antichrist, which he believes to take place there on Christmas Day. In order to find the exact place where the Antichrist is to be born, the kind-hearted priest is forced to commit 'Sins', and furthermore associates with the surprisingly friendly Death-Meal lover and Satanist Jose Maria (Santiago Segura)... Angulo and Segura both fit very well in their roles, especially Angulo is very hilarious as the priest. Armando De Razza is furthermore great, and hilarious as Cavan, a hypocritical TV psychic. Director De La Iglesia did a great job making this film a hilarious Horror-comedy and still maintaining a dark and somehow gloomy atmosphere. If you like satirical Horror, make sure not to miss "El Dia De La Bestia", and enjoy 100 minutes of macabre humor and originality. Highly Recommended!