The Number of the Beast | Through the Shattered Lens

Iron Maiden’s “The Number of the Beast” has always been more than its fire-and-brimstone title suggests — it’s paranoia turned into power. The song’s galloping riffs and Bruce Dickinson’s almost theatrical wail capture the feeling of witnessing something apocalyptic yet beautiful. In the context of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, that sense of awe and fear fits perfectly with the film’s tone. The track mirrors the world’s collapse into ritual madness — humanity trying to reframe its pain through cultish belief, just as Maiden’s lyrics dance between religious imagery and sheer existential panic.

There’s also a rhythm to the song that mirrors how The Bone Temple paces its moments of horror and release. The pounding drums feel like the heartbeat of survivors, racing through collapsed cities while their faith in reason splinters. Just as Iron Maiden’s piece builds to a manic crescendo, the film layers intensity until chaos feels almost sacred. The chorus could easily underscore the movie’s climactic sequences — not as a literal choice, but emotionally, where fascination with evil becomes indistinguishable from fear.

What ties them together most is their shared refusal to moralize the apocalypse. Iron Maiden tells a story about vision and hysteria — not right or wrong — and The Bone Temple does the same, showing how people build new devotions in the ashes of old systems. Both suggest that when we stare into horror long enough, it stares back with rhythm and purpose. In that way, “The Number of the Beast” isn’t just an anthem of terror; it’s a hymn for the end of reason — making it the perfect spiritual soundtrack for this chapter of the 28 Years Later world.

The Number of the Beast

Woe to you, o’er Earth and Sea
For the Devil sends the beast with wrath
Because he knows the time is short
Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast
For it is a human number
Its number is six hundred and sixty six

I left alone, my mind was blank
I needed time to think to get the memories from my mind
What did I see? Can I believe that what I saw
That night was real and not just fantasy?
Just what I saw, in my old dreams, were they
Reflections of my warped mind staring back at me?
Cause in my dreams, it’s always there
The evil face that twists my mind and brings me to despair

Yeah!

The night was black, was no use holding back
Cause I just had to see, was someone watching me?
In the mist, dark figures move and twist
Was all this for real or just some kind of hell?

666 the number of the beast
Hell and fire was spawned to be released

Torches blazed and sacred chants were phrased
As they start to cry, hands held to the sky
In the night, the fires are burning bright
The ritual has begun, Satan’s work is done

666 the number of the beast
Sacrifice is going on tonight

This can’t go on, I must inform the law
Can this still be real, or just some crazy dream?
But I feel drawn towards the chanting hordes
They seem to mesmerize, can’t avoid their eyes

666 the number of the beast
666 the one for you and me

I’m coming back, I will return
And I’ll possess your body and I’ll make you burn
I have the fire, I have the force
I have the power to make my evil take its course

Today’s music video of the day is for the song that convinced an entire generation of parents that heavy metal was Satan’s music. Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris wrote The Number of the Beast after watching the second Omen film and a careful listen to the lyrics will reveal that the song is not meant to be taken seriously. Of course, religious groups across America took it very seriously and spent 1982 protesting Iron Maiden.

It all seems a little silly now.

The video was also controversial, even though it was really just clips of old horror movies mixed with footage of Iron Maiden performing. With Lisa Marie’s help, I think I have correctly identified the source of almost every clip featured in the video:

0:10 — The video starts with a scene from 1944’s The Return of the Vampire. Contrary to popular belief, that is not Vincent Price providing the voice over. Originally, the band wanted Price but, when they discovered they couldn’t afford him, they hired an actor named Barry Clayton instead.

0:30 — The Goatman who first appears here and then reappears throughout the video is taken from 1968’s The Devil Rides Out.

0:36 — This clip is from 1922’s Nosferatu.

0:42 — This is the star of 1957’s I Was A Teenage Frankenstein.

0:50 — The fighting dinosaurs are from 1940’s One Million Years B.C.

1:12 — This is from 1958’s The Screaming Skull.

1:19 — The Godzilla footage is taken from 1964’s Mothra vs. Godzilla.

2:15 — I’m not totally sure but I think this is from 1946’s The Crimson Ghost.

2:19 — The exploding Goatman is, again, from The Devil Rides Out.

2:30 — This is from 1958’s How To Make A Monster, which was a sequel to I Was A Teenage Frankenstein.

2:38 — This is either another clip from How To Make A Monster or a clip from 1957’s I Was A Teenage Werewolf.

2:41 — This scene is from The Crimson Ghost.

3:21 — The scarred giant is from 1958’s War of the Colossal Beast.