Beauty and The Beast Season 1 DVD Review

• 31st May 2011

Even now, when supernatural TV shows are ten-a-penny (think True Blood, Supernatural, Fringe etc), it’d be a hard sell. Linda Hamilton (Terminator) is Catherine, a high powered corporate lawyer who’s brutally attacked in a case of mistaken identity. She’s rescued and nursed back to health by Vincent (Ron Perlman), a weird half man-half lion beastie who lives in a subterranean city and enjoys fine art, classical music and literature. Once she’s better he sends her back to the world above, where she finds herself unfulfilled by her work and life in general. Taking a low paid job with the district attorney’s office, she sets about trying to make a difference. But her connection to Vincent is too strong to ignore and the couple find it impossible to stay away from one another as Catherine puts herself in increasingly dangerous situations to elicit Vincent the vigilante’s help.

Those used to the gruff, sweary Ron Perlman of Hellboy, Cronos and Alien Resurrection will be very surprised – his Vincent is gentle and cultured. His room is filled with art deco statues, pictures and sumptuous fabrics and he reads Catherine Great Expectations while she’s recuperating. Yet he has a violent side – yes, he only uses it for good, but he’s a pretty scary hero who attacks the bad guys with claws and teeth (even getting himself a copycat vigilante known as the Subway Slasher). Although he does look like he could’ve been in Bon Jovi in the 80s, the prosthetics he wears are amazing, even now – the make-up walks a fine line between gentle and scary and manages to strike a perfect balance. Vincent is noble and weirdly handsome, whilst also being mighty mean when he’s pissed. One of the women he rescues talks of him as a “terrible angel”. It’s an apt description. And the undercity may be dark and dingy – people communicate by tapping on pipes – but it’s the world above that’s the frightening place. It’s filled with rubbish, danger, muggers and rapists.

Obviously it looks dated, but that’s inevitable (there’s some cheesy one liners, a dodgy voiceover and huge 80s/90s hair). What makes it great is the central relationship between Vincent and Catherine. They start off on an even footing – her attackers have slashed up her face with a razor blade so they both have their facial scars to bear. But while Cathy’s heal, Vincent’s never will, so he thinks himself unworthy of her. And she can’t quite get past his violent predilections to trust him fully. Yet he’s the one who teaches her how to live again after the attack. It’s genuinely lovely whenever they’re reunited and it’s a convincing relationship, whatever their physical differences.

Beauty and The Beast ran from 1987 to 1990. I used to watch it with my mum and my little sister when I was small and I thought revisiting it would probably be like all those other TV shows from my childhood which I’ve rewatched and not really enjoyed (I’ll always be upset about Dungeons & Dragons. Although The Moomins is still really good). But I was pleasantly surprised by how well Beauty and The Beast has stood the test of time. It is, at its heart, an old-school Gothic romance with a tortured hero and strong, independent heroine. And whether you saw it first time around or not, it’s still well worth a look.

Special features are fairly limited but include a documentary.

Emma Wilkin