Kyle Kingson has it all - looks, intelligence, wealth and opportunity - and a wicked cruel streak. Prone to mocking and humiliating "aggressively unattractive" classmates, he zeroes in on Goth classmate Kendra, inviting her to the school's extravagant environmental bash. Kendra accepts, and, true to form, Kyle blows her off in a particularly savage fashion. She retaliates by casting a spell that physically transforms him into everything he despises. Enraged by his horrible and unrecognisable appearance he confronts Kendra and learns that the only solution to the curse is to find someone that will love him as he is - a task he considers impossible...

Beastly is a modern reworking of the classic Beauty and the Beast tale. Composer Marcelo Zarvos brings much to the table. There's a healthy collection of beautiful themes that you won't be able to stop yourself falling in love with. Equally there are a handful of hard, uneasy tracks to listen to (like the haunting two-part track 'The Curse'). And then there are the tracks where the composer has a little fun with the genre (the closing to 'The Finale' leans on a few familiar button).

What's great about the soundtrack release is that Lakeshore Records has shown respect to Zarvos's incredible score by giving it an album all to itself. There is another Beastly album released at the same time which contains songs by various artists. Most record labels would have slapped the whole lot onto one CD (cutting the number of original score tracks in the process). This way you can either purchase Zarvos's beautiful score on its own, or own the two albums should you so wish to listen to a collection of middle of the road songs as well.

This is a mesmerising, beautiful score that encapsulates a lot of feeling that help to lift the movie's emotional side.

9

Darren Rea