When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Blistering performances.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Reading the reviews here, I wonder if I watched a different movie. Honestly I think this movie is a waste of time. Yes the protagonist looks hot with a gun but thats about it. This is a B movie and IMO a bad one at that. The story is of course formulaic. Girl out to avenge the murder of her sister by some yakuza pimps and the man who unknowingly saves her then must choose between old friendship or his feelings for her. The starting was good then it went downhill. The subsequent action scenes pales in comparison to the simple opening sequence. The ending felt like they run out of budget, anti-climatic and for an "action" movie there was no action. Not recommended.....

While it is marginally better than the other two entries in the "XX" series I watched recently ("Beautiful Prey" and "Beautiful Weapon"), "Beautiful Beast" is still barely worthy of a recommendation. The usual ingredients are here: lengthy sex scenes, kinkiness, torture (including some acupuncture!), a few gunshots, and of course a violent end for most of the characters involved. The action is limited, the pacing is patience-trying, and the ending is anti-climactic. Kaori Shimamura is beautiful indeed, but the most interesting character in the film is her newfound "boyfriend", who has to choose between his fascination with her and his loyalty to his former Yakuza associates. Girls-with-guns fans looking into the Japanese market will be better served by most "Zero Woman" films. (**)

BEAUTIFUL BEAST is a pretty typical 90s era pinku-style film, relying more on action and gun-play than the sleazy story lines of this genre's predecessors. This film follows much the same template as Masaru Konuma's BEAUTIFUL HUNTER, though the story lines are different...Ran is a hit-woman who goes after a yakuza boss for the death of her sister. Along the way she befriends a bar-owner who turns out to be an ex-yakuza member. Things get hairy when the bar-owner has to choose between his loyalty to his old crew, or the hottie hit-woman...A few good gunfights, a relatively steamy (but over-long) bar-top sex-scene, a little bit of torture - pretty much the same ol' thing for this type of film - but I dig these films a lot, so that's not a bad thing. Nothing extra-noteworthy about this entry, though it's relatively entertaining. Not quite as good in my opinion as the aforementioned BEAUTIFUL HUNTER - but worth a look anyway...7/10

Perverse! Maniac who takes to slicing up nubile young women is pursued by a forensics cop who has a morbid streak of her own; her involvement with the prime suspect recalls but doesn't quite follow the tired Eszterhazian formula which hobbles most similar films this side of the Pacific Rim. Breaks many western thriller conventions (i.e. dispatching a major, sympathetic character at a crucial moment), a creepy and methodical unraveling of plot elements and a ruthlessly economical narrative reflect an approach decidely offbeat to viewers more conditioned to Western formulas of thriller exposition...A gory, somewhat unpleasant ice-fingers-on-the-neck treat. If this your cuppa tea, have a slice, but don't expect "Scream"-style conventions---the take-no-prisoners level of violence and the leading lady's chilly presense keep things disturbingly out-of-kilter despite a silly and moralistic epilogue.Pic more or less works without subtitles, if you're wondering.