Bob Strauss July 5, 2021Updated: July 5, 2021, 5:55 pm
Cush Jumbo as Frances Cairnes and Billy Howle as Nigel Strangeways in AMC’s “The Beast Must Die.” Photo: Ludovic Robert / AMC
“The Beast Must Die” is one resilient, nasty piece of work.
Published 83 years ago, the highly entertaining source novel belonged to a series of mystery thrillers written by poet Cecil Day-Lewis, under the pen name Nicholas Blake. It was first adapted to the screen in Argentina in 1952, then in 1968 as an hour-long entry in a U.K. TV anthology series. A year later, the French iteration, released in the U.S. titled “This Man Must Die,” came out and is still revered by film buffs as one of psychological suspense master Claude Chabrol’s finest works.