Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Witchfinder General 666 Regardless of what personal opinion one may have of Walerian Borowczyk grotesque yet beautiful gem "La bête" of 1975, one has to admit that this bizarre gem is an absolutely unique cinematic experience. Borowczyk erotic fairy tale was banned in several countries for a long time, and it is quite obvious why this controversial gem fell victim to stuporous film censors. "La bête" is a fascinating blend of intense and beautiful fairy-tale-like atmosphere, quite explicit eroticism and genuine weirdness that bravely refuses to take any compromise. The fact that beastiality (of sorts) is one of the film's central themes did certainly not help it with the censors, but it made it highly controversial and therefore known to a wider audience.Pierre de l'Esperance (Guy Tréjan), the head of a French aristocratic family, has arranged for his somewhat demented son Mathurin (Pierre Benedetti) to marry Lucy Broadhurst (Lisbeth Hummel), the young and beautiful daughter of a wealthy English family. Due to an old curse, Mathurin's uncle (Marcel Dalió) is strictly against the wedding. When Lucy and her mother arrive at the French estate, Lucy immediately gets fascinated with a portrait of the 18th century ancestor Romilda (Sirpa Lane), and with an old book depicting bizarre drawings. The story soon descends into a bizarre sexual fever-dream... Without giving away too much, I can say that fans of exceptional cinema should not consider missing this film. As bizarre as it is, "La bête" is doubtlessly also stunningly beautiful in style, settings and cinematography. The fever-dream-like atmosphere is present within- and out of dream-sequences. The forest estate and the imposing family mansion are magnificent settings, and the beautiful score and incredible cinematography build an overwhelming atmosphere for this grotesque tale. The very explicit sexuality ranges from erotic (elegant female nudity, ravishing actresses) to seriously demented and even somewhat disgusting (close-ups on horses' genitalia while having intercourse,...); in either case it is not likely to be forgotten. The entire cast of "La bête" is fantastic and all involved deliver great performances in eccentric characters (some of which are seriously demented). The film profits from an exceptionally beautiful cast, be it Lisbeth Hummel in the lead, Finnish actress Sirpa Lane (who sadly died of Aids in 1999) as the ancestor in the dream-sequences, or the relatively unknown but particularly ravishing actress Pascale Rivault, who plays the aristocratic daughter who takes ever opportunity to have sex with a black servant in a cupboard.I am intentionally not giving a full description of the most important parts of the plot as they simply have to be seen to be believed. Some scenes are among the most bizarre ever caught on film, the scenes with the eponymous 'beast' definitely being among them. Certainly not everybody's cup of tea, but very highly recommended to fans of controversial and unusual cinema. A true cult gem!

foreverDSY Wow. Uhm...well...wow! I guess I'll start with the plot. A betrothed woman (Lucy) arrives at the family home of her would be husband (Mathurin) in France, where they are awaiting the arrival of the Bishop or Cardinal or someone in the Catholic Church to marry them (to satisfy a will.) While waiting, young Lucy learns about a legend of a Beast who roamed the grounds centuries before. In bed that night, she begins fantasizing about the Beast and his rape-turned-consensual tryst with the former lady of the house. That's where it gets interesting! The plot is really pretty thin (and it seems to drag on for quite a while in the middle of the flick), but the filmmaker rewards (?) those who stick it out with a shocking and hilarious finale.This movie isn't for everyone. If you're looking for great cinema, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a far-out movie about bestiality (that almost casts a sympathetic glance over the subject) this movie is for you! (If you have a weak stomach, don't be afraid of this one. Outside of some horse-on-horse action at the beginning, the 'deeds' are pretty cartoonish, IMO)

trashgang Those seventies. After watching another banned movie from that era I watched this banned one. The storyline itself isn't that good, seen it before. Girl goes out to be married and having weird dreams about having sex with a beast, the beast. After all , it appears that her husband is the beast. A bit of jekyll and hyde you can say. The appearance of the beast is a bit laughable and it is in between horror, those cheesy ones, and (s)exploitation. But what makes this film banned for years. It is that she is having sex with the beast and it is all shown on an explicit way. A lot of commotion about the scene's were she's using her feet to let the beast cum. And a lot of those cumshots are shown on screen. The fact that it is shown explicit even their private parts the controversy was there that it was a movie showing bestiality. From the start of the movie we see close ups of a horse trying to copulate with another horse. A weird trip this movie. catch up with the Cult Epics edition, it's full uncut

Rapeman The Beast is Polish filmmaker Walerian Borowczyk's most infamous work. Based on the story Lokis by Prosper Mérimée, its combination of anti-bourgeois satire, graphic pornography and heavy beastiality themes make for some shocking viewing.American heiress Lucy Broadhurst and her aunt Virginia have travelled out to the French countryside as Lucy is to be married to Mathurin de l'Esperance, a French aristocrat. As the ladies wait to be introduced to Mathurin (he is in the midst of being baptised) they explore the old château and Lucy comes across some ancient artwork depicting women coupling with animal-like beings. Lucy is soon formally introduced to her groom-to-be and they sit down to dinner.As night falls everyone retires to their respective chambers and Lucy falls into an ongoing erotic dream / fantasy wherein she witnesses a woman in the forest being stalked then raped by a wolf-man-horse hybrid, she awakes aroused and checks in on her husband to be. Finding him dead she panics, wakes her aunt and they disappear into the night.The Beast is either a strangely erotic art-house masterpiece or a sickening display of bestiality worship scantily concealed by it's lofty pretensions. Straight off the mark the opening scenes of graphic horse copulation set the tone. It is also then that we are introduced to the leering Mathurin, who is intently "supervising" his horses mating. When the priest turns up to baptise Mathurin he has two little altar boys with him that are obviously his lovers, yet another of Borowczyk's stabs at organized religion (see Behind Convent Walls).The underlying themes of the human animal and its primal urges are pretty blatant, especially in a scene where Sirpa Lane follows a cute, innocent lamb into the forest only to see it torn to shreds by the "evil" beast before he rapes her.It could definitely be said that the first hour of the film is just a set-up for the notorious beast scenes as it does kinda drag (especially for those who already know what's about to follow) and very little happens aside from Mathurin and Lucy finally meeting and a running gag regarding Mathurin's sister and the black servant constantly being interrupted mid-coitus. Although for those who are bored by the first hour it is definitely worth the wait because once the beast is on the scene it's all go! As mentioned above the beast is some bizarre kinda wolf-man-horse hybrid, the horse part being his gargantuan member with which he attacks Sirpa Lane in the prolonged festishised rape sequence - this scene really has something for everyone: foot fetishists, tit-men, rape-men (hah!), bukkake fans, animal lovers, it's all in there.The Beast is an utterly surreal piece of avant garde film-making that is a must-see for fans of Euro-cult cinema and boundary-pushing foreign films in general.