The honest merchant Otec (Václav Voska) goes bankrupt when he loses the cargo of dowry for the wedding of his ambitious and envious older daughters Málinka (Zuzana Kocúriková) and Gábinka (Jana Brejchová) with decadent earls. His only chance to raise money is selling the painting of his former wife and mother of the sweet and pure youngest daughter Julie (Zdena Studenková). He travels through the Haunted Wood during the night, but his horse dies and he seeks shelter in the derelict castle of the Beast (Vlastimil Harapes). He is well received by his host that buys his painting by a fair price. When he is leaving the castle, he takes a rose for Julie from the Beast's rosebush and his host tells that he must pay with his life for the theft of the rose. He asks for permission to return home to give the jewels for his daughters, but he would return to the castle since he is a man of honor. The Beast accepts and tells that his life would be spared whether one of his daughters agrees to come to the castle. When Julie learns the proposal, she travels to the castle to save the life of her father. She is forbidden by the Beast to look at him, but along the lonely days, she falls in love with his voice and kindness.

"Panna a netvor" (1978), a.k.a. "Beauty and the Beast", is a dark version from Czechoslovakia of the classic fairy tale. The plot is flawed, since the curse and the magic of the beast are not explained, and ambiguous, since the conclusion is not sure that is the reality or the beautiful view of the ugliness of Julie. The performances, lighting and shadows are magnificent. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Bela e a Fera" ("The Beauty and the Beast")

It's difficult to get past the opening scenes of close-ups of animal abuse, but at least that sets the tone for this very dark and murky adaption of the famous story. They say the acting life can be very glamorous - it certainly isn't the case here. No CGI safety-net, the performers attached to this story certainly seem to suffer for their art in a variety of uncomfortably cold situations.

It's good when horror films bring some new locations into their stories, but equally, it's always worth it to revisit the vast crumbling lairs of traditional settings, and that is done really effectively here; the story is given the most impressive horror treatment. Creatures hide in shadow - you only know they're there when you see a rolled eyeball or a moving, inhuman talon. There is enough of a fairytale quality to this to appeal to the inner child, and there are moments when the eyes will moisten! It's all accompanied by wonderful, sepulchral music, and directed like a hugely gothic TV film. My score is 8 out of 10.