A black comedy of sexual manners set around an arranged wedding to occur on the grounds of an elegant ch teau, Walerian Borowczyk's controversial masterpiece gains its infamy from the final scene where the titular beast ravishes an American heiress, Lucy Broadhurst (Lisbeth Hummel), on the eve of her wedding to a French aristocrat. The graphic scenes of the beast's couplings with its human "prey" are blatantly allegorical - emphasising the similarities between human sexuality and animalistic behaviour, and proved to be literally too heavy-handed for the would-be arbiters of "taste and decency", with the complete film only surfacing again now after 25 years. Although the numerous sequences of the beast chasing corseted ladies through the undergrowth invoke the spirit of Benny Hill rather than any more profound social commentary, The Beast still remains one of the most bizarre and surreal experiences on film, a thoroughly entertaining romp unparalleled in the pantheon of perverse arthouse cinema. Approach with caution but enjoy with abandon!!