Beauty and the Beast (1978 film)

Beauty and the Beast (Panna a netvor, literally "The Virgin and the Monster") is a 1978 Czechoslovak dark fantasy-horror film directed by Slovak film director Juraj Herz.

The film is a re-telling of the classic tale Beauty and the Beast.

For his direction, Herz received the Medalla Sitges en Oro de Ley at the Sitges Film Festival in 1979.

Plot
Julie is a bankrupt merchant's daughter, who is the only one of the three daughters, chooses to save her father's life. She goes to the Haunted Wood's Castle where she meets the Beast. He has no qualms about killing Julie, but her beauty prevents him from doing so. Although Julie is forbidden to look at the Beast, she starts to fall in love with him and the love rescues the Beast from his curse.

Cast

 * Zdena Studenková as Julie
 * Vlastimil Harapes as The Beast
 * Václav Voska as Father
 * Jana Brejchová as Gábinka
 * Zuzana Kocúriková as Málinka
 * Marta Hrachovinová as The Girl
 * Vít Olmer as Rider
 * Milan Hein as Groom

Reception
David Melville from Senses of Cinema wrote, "Panna a netvor has the capacity to horrify in the best and the worst of ways. Yet like any true fairy tale, it is unlikely ever to leave its audience bored or indifferent".