Tajemství hradu v Karpatech (1981)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Oldrich Lipský

Writers:

Oldrich Lipský (screenplay) and
Jirí Brdecka (writer)

Release Date:

October 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Hair-raising comedy about an old castle and its new specters, based on a novel by Jules Verne.

Plot:

In 1897, in a castle near the town of Werewolfville in the Carpithians, a slightly deranged Professor Orfanik experiments with his new inventions which include, even at this early date, television and a film camera.

Plot Keywords:

Castle | Television | Mountain | Secret Door | Film Projector

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Michal Docolomanský	...	Count Teleke of Tölökö
Evelyna Steimarová	...	Salsa Verde
Vlastimil Brodský	...	Komornik hrabéte ignác
Milos Kopecký	...	Baron Gorc z Gorcu
Rudolf Hrusínský	...	Vynálezce orfanik
Augustín Kubán	...	Tomá Hluchonémec-Zutro
Jan Hartl	...	Lesni adjunkt vilja dézi
Jaroslava Kretschmerová	...	Snoubenka lesnihoadjunkta
Oldrich Velen	...	Krcmár
Míla Myslíková	...	Krcmárka
Samuel Adamcík	...	Kmet
Jan Skopecek	...	Sedlák v kozichu
Václav Kotva	...	Kantor
Jirí Lír	...	Prefekt
Helena Ruzicková	...	Zpévacka

Also Known As:

Tajemný hrad v Karpatech (Czechoslovakia)
The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians (USA)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

Czechoslovakia

Language:

Czech

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Cachtice, Slovakia

Company:

Filmové Studio Barrandov

Quotes:

Baron Gorc z Gorcu: You surely know that my financial support is unlimited.
Vynálezce orfanik: Yes. Long live your false cheque factories!

Movie Connections:

Edited into Ten Minutes Older: The Cello (2002)

Congratulate yourself. You've heard of this movie.

Nobody but nobody has heard of this movie. I just can't understand it because it's such a great little flick; if nothing else it deserves its own underground cult following. I've been trying to start one for ages, but it seems in order to drum up a cult you need people. Drat.

Anyway, this film is like a yummy stew of Terry Gilliam (Monty Python), Mel Brooks (Young Frankenstein), Rob Reiner (The Princess Bride), Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen, City of Lost Children) and who knows, maybe some Fellini thrown in for taste. It's surreal, bizarre, funny artistic, classy and has a great underlying story by Jules Verne to feed your brain.

It's one of those films with lots of antique sets and cool retro-scifi gadgets which put you into a timeless state of mind--not exactly the past nor the future, but definitely not the present. Think of the movies Brazil or HG Wells' The Time Machine, then throw in some absolutely crazy characters: a villain who is obsessed with beards, a hero whose super power is his bellowing opera voice (if not his hyper-inflated ego), a mad scientist who sends rockets to the moon in his spare time, and a gorgeous damsel in distress who has a rather curious affliction (I won't ruin it)...

If you're into bizarre Czechoslovakian nightmares* then this is the film for you. Some of the gags are corny, but they're so corny they're classic. If nothing else, it'll be a memorable experience for you, and you can boast about being the only person in your town (in your hemisphere?) who's seen this flick.

*speaking of bizarre Czechs, you might also want to look for the films of Jan Svankmajer (Alice, Faust, Little Otik), definitely worth czeching out. Har.