“Immoral Tales” was Walerian Borowczyk’s feature that came before “The Beast”. Taking four tales about everything from lesbianism to papal incest and all points between, the master storyteller wanted to create a new kind of erotic film making. The end result was the film getting banned in a ton of countries, while probably being the first mature effort to retell the stories of Bathory and Borgia. But, you probably will remember this film for the second story where a young girl masturbates with zucchini and grinds against a church organ. Those cinema teenagers and the shenanigans that warm our hearts!
The last two stories are loose attempts at retelling the worst in Italian history. Let’s put it this way, the Pope may or may not have banged his daughter. In this film, he did and split the difference with his son. If that wasn’t enough, you also had peasant girls being picked up to be sensually tortured. Good times abound in this one that almost feels like a Pasolini film.
The Blu-Ray comes with the short film that eventually became The Beast. You also get a video essay, archival interviews and a trailer as the special features. The 1080p transfer is revolutionary, as Arrow strikes a reference quality 1080p visual treat again. The LPCM 1.0 mono track is robust as well. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase.
Release Date: 9/15/15