The climax of the film (and forgive me for calling it that) is Lucy going to bed, masturbating with a rose, and having Strange Dreams.Īnd here you come to the heart of the film. Hamhanded hints are given to imply an unsavoriness to the relationship between the priest and his choirboys, but in a rare and surprising bit of reticence, the film doesn't go explicit on that. There is also a priest on hand (Roland Armontel) to officiate at the wedding, who brings with him two angelic looking choirboys. That bedpost gets as much action as Johnny Holmes. The frustrated Clarisse vents her frustration on a handy bedpost.
Mathurin's young, 20ish cousin, Clarisse (Pascale Rivault), is screwing the family's black servant (Hassane Falle) at every opportunity, with the problem that they are continually interrupted by shouts for him as he is needed. They keep her claw-slashed corset on display in the main room of the chateau, but it isn't a family story they care to discuss (Clue: Put the corset somehwere else!) There is some legendary story alluded to, about a great-to-the-whatever-grandmother of the family who was attacked by a beast in the nearby woods. Mathurin is the heir to a dukedom, but there is some Terrible Secret his grandfather and uncle keep referring to that must be kept from his arranged-marriage bride-to-be. They inadvertently turn down the drive to where the horses are fucking, which excites young Lucy so much she jumps from the car and runs over to take a quick Polaroid of the horses before being hustled back into the car by Virginia, to go around to the front of the chateau.įor the next hour, the viewer is treated to a tepid, horrendously acted comedy of manners. Lucy is a wealthy heiress, and she is to be married to the rather brutish Mathurin, the last sprig of an old and impoverished aristocratic family. We cut to a older woman, Virginia (Elizabeth Kaza), and her young niece, Lucy (Lisbeth Hummel), travelling into the French countryside for niece's arranged marriage. Every so often, the camera cuts back to close-ups of the horse genitalia and the scene ends with the cumshot of the stallion. We pull back from that to see Mathurin (Pierre Benedeti), watching, as he is putting a stallion out to stud.
The film begins with two horses mating, complete with gynecological close-ups. The Beast represents the point at which he took the leap off that edge into full-bore pornography. The Beast was made by Walerian Borowczyk, who is most known for arthouse hits much concerned with sex, like Blanche and Immoral Tales, before he fell off the edge into more explicit works, ending up doing such hack work as Emmanuelle V.
I will use vernacular terms like, "fuck," "come," and "dick" rather than prevaricate with vulgarity by using the more staid words, "copulate," "ejaculate," and "penis." Stop reading NOW if either spoilers or adult content bother you. I think it's too late, and it has already gone off.Īs I intend to accurately describe it. USER'S GUIDE TO THIS REVIEW:Īssuming, of course, that it could be spoiled, which I seriously doubt. I was curious enough to rent it with a clear understanding that this one could go either way, and I knew within a minute I was in for a classic car wreck of a film. It is being marketed as a great lost cult film, and one of the "best erotic films" ever. Your brave reviewer has Taken One For The Team on this one-I watched this crap so you wouldn't have to. " UNsexy beast-French arty pretentiousness meets hardcore bestiality porn!"