The Cremator [Blu-ray]

Description

Presented from new HD materials, Second Run presents a special Blu-ray edition of one of its most enduringly popular titles – Juraj Herz’s The Cremator.

The Cremator has been described in many ways – as surrealist-inspired horror film, as an expressionistic political allegory, a pitch-black comic satire and as a dark and disturbing tale of terror.

This brilliantly chilling film, a unique mix of Psycho, Dr Strangelove and Repulsion, is set in Prague during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. It tells the story of one Karl Kopfrkingl (Rudolf Hrušínský), a professional cremator, for whom the political climate allows free rein to his increasingly perverse and deranged impulses for the ‘salvation of the world’.

Now more chillingly prescient than ever, The Cremator also contains another of master-composer Zdeněk Liška’s brilliantly inventive film scores.

Presented from a new HD transfer this region-free Blu-ray special edition includes Herz’s rarely-seen 1965 debut short film The Junk Shop (Sběrné surovosti), a new audio commentary by Kat Ellinger and a filmed introduction by the Quay Brothers.

Czechoslovakia, 1968
Length: 100 minutes
Special features: 44 minutes
Sound: 2.0 Dual Mono LPCM (48k/16-bit)
Black and white
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Language: Czech
Subtitles: English
Blu-Ray: BD50 / 1080 / 24fps / Region ABC