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It isn't the only Bigfoot-themed skin flick in existence (believe it or not, there's another called Geek), but if you only catch one in your life, Beauties and the Beast should be it. Sublimely ridiculous and wretched in all the right ways, this is a genuine head-scratcher that defies explanation. There isn't much in the sex department, mostly some desperate groping and perfunctory skinny-dipping, so such expectations should be holstered. Luckily, director Ray Nadeau made sure to rent the cheapest Bigfoot outfit at the costume shop, a ratty old faux-fur zip-up topped off with a fixed plastic caveman mask. After an onscreen narrator (crouching in the forest wearing a pith helmet) lobs out a few "facts" about the Sasquatch mystery, Beauties and the Beast gets right to the point with the abduction of a topless young vixen. Three more lovelies are nabbed by the beast in swift succession, dragged off to imprisonment in the monster's cave. Diabolical, to be sure, but, unfortunately, their fate will never be resolved, since the film switches gears suddenly and never returns to this initial plot development. Instead, Nadeau turns to the story of a group of hippies and graduate students getting back to nature and running afoul of two sinister gold thieves with rape on their minds. For some reason, Bigfoot returns to save the day, even leaving behind a few antique doubloons as a souvenir for the thankful youngsters. The question of why the creature morphs from villain to deus ex machina can only be asked rhetorically, but it doesn't matter. Über-busted sex film legend Uschi Digard is on hand to do what she does best: be topless and read her lines with a thick Scandinavian accent that manages to be lilting and leaden at the same time. Absolutely worthless, and thus indispensable, Beauties and the Beast is good stupid fun for late-night junk cinema viewing.