6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Once upon a time in the 18th century a beast lived in the woods of an aristocratic estate. And this beast, possessed of a giant phallus and an insatiable lust, set upon the beautiful young lady of the house. Two centuries later, the tale of the beast would return in the dreams of an American heiress contracted to carry the male descendant of the same crumbling aristocratic family and their secret.
Starring: Sirpa Lane, Lisbeth Hummel, Elisabeth Kaza, Pierre Benedetti, Guy TréjanForeign | 100% |
Horror | 72% |
Drama | 44% |
Erotic | 27% |
Other | 5% |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.67:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
French: LPCM 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region A, B (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Walerian Borowczyk's "La Bete" a.k.a. "The Beast" (1975) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment Group. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; introduction by film critic Peter Bradshaw; the documentary film "The Making of The Beast" (2014); three commercials created by the Polish director; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring new writing on the film by Daniel Bird and an archive piece by David Thompson, illustrated with original stills. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A/B "locked".
Lucy Broadhurst
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Walerian Borowczyk's The Beast arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment Group.
The release is sourced from exactly the same 2K restoration of the film that was initially introduced on Blu-ray in the UK via Arrow Video. Excluding some extremely light flicker that I noticed in the every beginning, the image is beautifully balanced and pleasingly vibrant. Virtually all of the close-ups boast very good depth, while the outdoor footage has excellent fluidity (including the dream sequences from the original short film. Contrast levels remain stable throughout the entire film. Color reproduction does not disappoint -- there is a good range of beautiful organic colors. There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. Finally, there are no serious stability or transition issues. Also, large debris, cuts, stains, damage marks, and scratches have been removed as best as possible. To sum it all up, this is a wonderful organic presentation of The Beast that will likely remain the film's definition presentation on the home video market. (Note: This is a Region-A/B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A, Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 2.0 (with small portions of English and Italian). Pptional English subtitles for the main feature. They appear only where English isn't spoken.
The film does not have an elaborate soundtrack (only very small portions of pieces composed by Domenico Scarlatti are occasionally heard). There are, however, different nature sounds and noises that effectively enhance the film's unique atmosphere. The dialog is stable, clean, and well balanced. There are no pops, cracks, hiss, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in this review.
The 2K restoration of Walerian Borowczyk's The Beast initially appeared in Arrow Video's Region-B Camera Obscura: The Walerian Borowczyk Collection. The U.S. release reviewed here is sourced from the same restoration, but it has a few additional supplemental features that were included on the remaining discs in the box set. If you decide to see the film, I encourage you to also see the L'Age d'Or Cut of Immoral Tales, which has the original and, in my opinion, much better short that inspired The Beast. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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