Director: Juraj Herz
Release date: 1979
Contains spoilers
Despite being in the All the Haunts be Ours vol 2, Folk Horror boxset, this Czech film actually has more of a fairytale/fantasy feel. Yet, despite that, there is a rather unusual form of vampirism that I’ll dub alchemical vampirism. It actually reminded me, just a tad, of the earlier German film Blood Demon (AKA The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism) in a way that I’ll explain later.
It starts with a travelling carnival in town and we mostly concentrate on a puppet show that tells a political tale that is too close to home with regards what is happening with the daughter, Adriena (Julie Juristová), of the archduke (Premysl Kocí) and is not going down well with the authorities. The film also watches Martin (Ondrej Pavelka), a rougish looking young man – revealed as a penniless student – who wanders the fair. He takes a rose and throws it into a carriage with Adriena in it but approaches the daughter, Toncka (Anna Malová), of the puppeteer (Josef Kemr).
He invites Toncka to the inn and she accepts – on behalf of the whole carnival. The innkeeper (Václav Lohniský) is going to refuse them entry – they didn’t exactly pay on their last visit – but relents when Martin suggests they are his guests and insinuates a full coin purse. In the inn Martin also ingratiates himself with a barrel organ player and we discover that the Archduke is looking for a brave person who can save Adriena, offering her hand in marriage no mater the hero’s station in life.
When it comes to pay, Martin cannot. Guards come and the barrel organ player gives Martin a cloak before he is arrested. The cloak is magic and grants invisibility. He nearly escapes the jail through the use of the cloak, but is caught as can’t resist playing tricks. He then does escape but gives himself up when the law threatens all the carnival folk (especially Toncka, with whom he has become romantically involved and who has given him a protective heart shaped charm). To escape jail he offers to be the ninth hero to try and cure Adriena from the strange malady that has left her listless and unresponsive (we later discover she is permanently under hypnosis). To this end the Jester (Frantisek Filipovský) tells him that Count Aldobrandini (Juraj Kukura), the Court Astrologer/Alchemist who is allegedly on a foreign trip, is the one behind her state.
This leads to Martin and the Jester (under the cloak of invisibility) following the hypnotised woman to Aldobrandini’s lair – but the Jester is caught. Of note is that Aldobrandini;s courtiers are grey in face and almost like automatons – one might say close to being undead. As the plot is revealed, we discover that Count Aldobrandini should have been dead 300 years ago and stays alive with an alchemical elixir of eternal life and youth; this is the vampire aspect.
He got the recipe for the elixir in a Pharoah’s tomb and to make it he takes the hearts of nine victims, through a magical process, and these are held in an apparatus that produces the elixir. One drop whenever he is losing strength is enough to restore him and the nine owners of the hearts are stowed in a state of suspended animation (until, one guesses, the heart runs out of power – hence getting nine new heroes). This is the Blood Demon reminiscent aspect, where the twelve murdered virgins are kept in a similar preserved state. His victims can be revived with a drop of the elixir, which restores their heart to them. If restored, and the owners escape, Aldobrandini will rapidly age and die.
This is, as I say, more fairytale than folk horror but it truly is a magical film, beautifully shot and well-acted. Ondrej Pavelka’s Martin is incredibly personable and takes on the principle of the Fool. There is a time dilation aspect that was interestingly added in and whilst I would have liked to know more about Aldobrandini’s lair, the courtiers and its mechanics both, it isn’t necessary and is the most deeply gothic part of the film. Worth catching. 7 out of 10.
The imdb page is here.
Release date: 1979
Contains spoilers
Despite being in the All the Haunts be Ours vol 2, Folk Horror boxset, this Czech film actually has more of a fairytale/fantasy feel. Yet, despite that, there is a rather unusual form of vampirism that I’ll dub alchemical vampirism. It actually reminded me, just a tad, of the earlier German film Blood Demon (AKA The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism) in a way that I’ll explain later.
 |
| puppet show |
It starts with a travelling carnival in town and we mostly concentrate on a puppet show that tells a political tale that is too close to home with regards what is happening with the daughter, Adriena (Julie Juristová), of the archduke (Premysl Kocí) and is not going down well with the authorities. The film also watches Martin (Ondrej Pavelka), a rougish looking young man – revealed as a penniless student – who wanders the fair. He takes a rose and throws it into a carriage with Adriena in it but approaches the daughter, Toncka (Anna Malová), of the puppeteer (Josef Kemr).
 |
| Toncka and Martin |
He invites Toncka to the inn and she accepts – on behalf of the whole carnival. The innkeeper (Václav Lohniský) is going to refuse them entry – they didn’t exactly pay on their last visit – but relents when Martin suggests they are his guests and insinuates a full coin purse. In the inn Martin also ingratiates himself with a barrel organ player and we discover that the Archduke is looking for a brave person who can save Adriena, offering her hand in marriage no mater the hero’s station in life.
 |
| becoming invisible |
When it comes to pay, Martin cannot. Guards come and the barrel organ player gives Martin a cloak before he is arrested. The cloak is magic and grants invisibility. He nearly escapes the jail through the use of the cloak, but is caught as can’t resist playing tricks. He then does escape but gives himself up when the law threatens all the carnival folk (especially Toncka, with whom he has become romantically involved and who has given him a protective heart shaped charm). To escape jail he offers to be the ninth hero to try and cure Adriena from the strange malady that has left her listless and unresponsive (we later discover she is permanently under hypnosis). To this end the Jester (Frantisek Filipovský) tells him that Count Aldobrandini (Juraj Kukura), the Court Astrologer/Alchemist who is allegedly on a foreign trip, is the one behind her state.
 |
| Aldobrandini and Adriena |
This leads to Martin and the Jester (under the cloak of invisibility) following the hypnotised woman to Aldobrandini’s lair – but the Jester is caught. Of note is that Aldobrandini;s courtiers are grey in face and almost like automatons – one might say close to being undead. As the plot is revealed, we discover that Count Aldobrandini should have been dead 300 years ago and stays alive with an alchemical elixir of eternal life and youth; this is the vampire aspect.
 |
| magical heart extraction |
He got the recipe for the elixir in a Pharoah’s tomb and to make it he takes the hearts of nine victims, through a magical process, and these are held in an apparatus that produces the elixir. One drop whenever he is losing strength is enough to restore him and the nine owners of the hearts are stowed in a state of suspended animation (until, one guesses, the heart runs out of power – hence getting nine new heroes). This is the Blood Demon reminiscent aspect, where the twelve murdered virgins are kept in a similar preserved state. His victims can be revived with a drop of the elixir, which restores their heart to them. If restored, and the owners escape, Aldobrandini will rapidly age and die.
 |
| rapid aging |
This is, as I say, more fairytale than folk horror but it truly is a magical film, beautifully shot and well-acted. Ondrej Pavelka’s Martin is incredibly personable and takes on the principle of the Fool. There is a time dilation aspect that was interestingly added in and whilst I would have liked to know more about Aldobrandini’s lair, the courtiers and its mechanics both, it isn’t necessary and is the most deeply gothic part of the film. Worth catching. 7 out of 10.
The imdb page is here.
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