1978 - BEAUTY AND THE BEAST aka THE VIRGIN AND THE MONSTER

There have been many versions of Beauty and the Beast with Jean Cocteau's film and the Disney animated feature probably the best known adaptations of this story.  From Czechoslovakia comes this fascinating version.

The emphasis is on horror and is it ever on horror with the love story almost relegated to a next to nothing subplot.  The story is still basically the same with the daughter of a merchant substituting for her father after he violates the home of a mysterious creature living in a creepy rundown castle.   If you are looking for a Beauty and the Beast film with singing dishware you better skip over this one.  An atmosphere of decay and ruin runs through the film.  In fact the Beast is haunted by voices in his head telling him to kill Beauty a nice creepy touch.

 

The film opens with the slaughter of the Merchant's wagon train by some bandits and the killing of a woman by the Beast.  The story then moves to a not very merry medieval village where we get to watch animals being slaughtered for a wedding in a town that is one big muddy disgusting mess.  The cinematography compliments the setting with lots of gloomy and foggy night photography.

 

This version of Beauty and the Beast was directed by Juraj Herz who was associated with the "Czech New Wave." A horror film version of this old narrative war horse was an interesting approach to a frequently adapted story and definitely worth a look.

The film was written by Pavla Marková, the running time is a spooky 91 minutes.