Sign of the Beast

{{short description|1981 film}}

{{use dmy dates|date=December 2014}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Sign of the Beast

| image = Sign of the beast.jpg

| caption = Original Finnish film poster

| director = Jaakko Pakkasvirta

| producer = Jaakko Pakkasvirta

| writer = Jaakko Pakkasvirta
Timo Humaloja
Arvo Salo

| based_on = A Gloomy Soliloquy by Olavi Paavolainen

| starring = Esko Salminen

| music = Henrik Otto Donner

| cinematography = Esa Vuorinen

| editing =

| distributor =

| released = {{Film date|1981|9|25|df=yes}}

| runtime = 120 minutes

| country = Finland

| language = Finnish

}}

Sign of the Beast ({{langx|fi|Pedon merkki}}) is a 1981 Finnish drama film co-written and directed by Jaakko Pakkasvirta.{{cite web |url=http://www.elonet.fi/title/ek2iza/tekija |title=Pedon merkki (1981) |accessdate=2013-10-11 |work=elonet}} It is based on the 1946 book A Gloomy Soliloquy ({{langx|fi|Synkkä yksinpuhelu}}) by Olavi Paavolainen, based on his war diaries written during the Winter War and the Continuation War.{{cite web|url=https://375humanistia.helsinki.fi/en/humanists/olavi-paavolainen|title=Olavi Paavolainen|work=375 Humanists|publisher=University of Helsinki Faculty of Arts|date=29 September 2015|accessdate=22 January 2019}} The film was selected as the Finnish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 54th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences