Chuck Bowen of"Slant Magazine" gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, writing, ""The Beast Within" isn't as bad as its reputation suggests (there's some atmosphere to burn and an impressive gallery of supporting character actors), but it's really only for blossoming cinephiles and horror aficionados looking to finish their essays... Everyone else would be well-advised to mine the sentiment expressed on the film's cover art: "Beware"." "Severed Cinema" awarded the film 5/8 stars, stating, "Flawed in places by some bad acting and predictable small-town folks, "The Beast Within" is a tight show with very good production values, and it seriously needs a big release on a good label and not simply double-billed on an MGM DVD". "HorrorNews.net" rated the film a score of 3.5 out of 5, commending the film's atmosphere, acting, and makeup effects, while also noting that the plot made little sense. J.C. Macek III of PopMatters gave the film a mixed 5 out of 10 stars, writing "As it stands, "The Beast Within" is an above-average monster movie with good actors and a sometimes comprehensible plot. All of the answers are there on the screen, even if they are buried. However, horror fan or not, if you’re watching this three or four times to get every snippet of information from the plot, you’ll probably wonder what better uses of your time you might have employed."