October 20, 1995: 'The Day of the Beast' hits Spanish cinemas
On October 20, 1995, 'The Day of the Beast' premiered in Spain. The death of a priest under a fallen cross rekindles the annual prophecy: nothing verifiable.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
On October 20, 1995, 'The Day of the Beast' premiered, and someone is waiting for the sign
A priest dies in Madrid when the cross on a billboard collapses onto his head, according to a message circulating on a forum. The scene is far too reminiscent of the one Alex de la Iglesia filmed three decades ago: a falling cross, an announced apocalypse, and a date, October 20, that comes around every year. The coincidence has been enough for half a dozen skeptics to eye the calendar with a frown.
The premiere of The Day of the Beast in Spain is dated October 20, 1995. The film turned that date into a running joke: the Antichrist is born in Madrid, Father Berriartúa looks for signs in the traffic lights, and the city braces for the end. Thirty years later, the joke still works. The death of a priest from the impact of a cross — a church sign, according to the accounts circulating — has reactivated the annual ritual of finding patterns where there is only statistics.
The falling cross and the weight of the sign
The detail that comes up most in the conversation is the weight. Can a cardboard cross kill? The short answer is yes, if the sign is one of those anchored with iron and the impact lands at exactly the right spot. The long answer is that nobody has measured the object. What is known: the deceased was a priest named Patricio Sánchez, and the incident peine three days ago, according to the message that started it all.
From there, the leap to prophecy is a free one. Some people add up dates: the seven years since Franco's exhumation, October 24, 2019, fall four days from the anniversary of the premiere. The cabalistic arithmetic never fails because it is never checked. It is the same mechanism that turns any number into a message: if the result doesn't fit, you change the starting point.
What is expected on October 20, 2025
Nothing verifiable. The date appears on no official calendar, there is no gathering, no statement. The only thing that happens every October 20 is that the film has its anniversary and someone remembers it. This year, it also coincides with the hangover from the scare.
The economic side of the matter is the usual one: markets don't react to prophecies, they react to interest rates, inflation and earnings. If bitcoin rises or plunges tomorrow, it won't be because of the Beast. It will be the usual reason, which nobody knows exactly what it is. The coincidence, though, will end up in the file of retroactive hits.
The script that got lost along the way
The film has aged unevenly. The opening is a perfect machine of black comedy, and the ending frays into CGI that looked revolutionary in 1995 and looks like plasticine today. Some claim the original script was by another writer and that the final version was cooked up slowly. The legend is unconfirmed, but it feeds the thesis that Spanish cinema always has a dispute behind it.
What remains is the scene: the cross, the priest, the sign. And the date. On October 20, 1995, a film about the end of the world premiered. Thirty years later, the world is still here and the cross is still falling. The difference is that now some people call it a sign.
A priest dies in Madrid when the cross on a billboard collapses onto his head, according to a message circulating on a forum. The scene is far too reminiscent of the one Alex de la Iglesia filmed three decades ago: a falling cross, an announced apocalypse, and a date, October 20, that comes around every year. The coincidence has been enough for half a dozen skeptics to eye the calendar with a frown.
The premiere of The Day of the Beast in Spain is dated October 20, 1995. The film turned that date into a running joke: the Antichrist is born in Madrid, Father Berriartúa looks for signs in the traffic lights, and the city braces for the end. Thirty years later, the joke still works. The death of a priest from the impact of a cross — a church sign, according to the accounts circulating — has reactivated the annual ritual of finding patterns where there is only statistics.
The falling cross and the weight of the sign
The detail that comes up most in the conversation is the weight. Can a cardboard cross kill? The short answer is yes, if the sign is one of those anchored with iron and the impact lands at exactly the right spot. The long answer is that nobody has measured the object. What is known: the deceased was a priest named Patricio Sánchez, and the incident peine three days ago, according to the message that started it all.
From there, the leap to prophecy is a free one. Some people add up dates: the seven years since Franco's exhumation, October 24, 2019, fall four days from the anniversary of the premiere. The cabalistic arithmetic never fails because it is never checked. It is the same mechanism that turns any number into a message: if the result doesn't fit, you change the starting point.
What is expected on October 20, 2025
Nothing verifiable. The date appears on no official calendar, there is no gathering, no statement. The only thing that happens every October 20 is that the film has its anniversary and someone remembers it. This year, it also coincides with the hangover from the scare.
The economic side of the matter is the usual one: markets don't react to prophecies, they react to interest rates, inflation and earnings. If bitcoin rises or plunges tomorrow, it won't be because of the Beast. It will be the usual reason, which nobody knows exactly what it is. The coincidence, though, will end up in the file of retroactive hits.
The script that got lost along the way
The film has aged unevenly. The opening is a perfect machine of black comedy, and the ending frays into CGI that looked revolutionary in 1995 and looks like plasticine today. Some claim the original script was by another writer and that the final version was cooked up slowly. The legend is unconfirmed, but it feeds the thesis that Spanish cinema always has a dispute behind it.
What remains is the scene: the cross, the priest, the sign. And the date. On October 20, 1995, a film about the end of the world premiered. Thirty years later, the world is still here and the cross is still falling. The difference is that now some people call it a sign.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (15 replies).
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