Spalovač mrtvol

A couple of weeks ago, a few of us went to a coffee house to see Spalovač mrtvol.  This has got to be one of the creepiest movies that I've ever seen.  Don't get me wrong...the movie was good.  But creepy.

The English language title is The Cremator.  The movie was released in 1969 and is considered one of the best movies made in Czechoslovakia.  The film has a strong Hitchcock feel to it.

The film takes place in Prague during the 1930s.  Right before the Germans carve up Czechoslovakia and create the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

The lead character is Karl Kopfrkingl and he works at a Prague crematorium.  The man is a freaking whack-a-doo!!  He winds up killing people including his family because his part Jewish wife and their kids will make it difficult for him to advance his career under the Nazis.  

The movie is in black and white.  It was also in Czech with English subtitles.  It was not accepted by the 42nd Academy Awards as an entry for Best Foreign language movie.  I'm told that the movie was banned under the communists and was released again until after the Velvet Revolution in 1989.

Here's a clip from the end of the movie that I found out on YouTube.  Unfortunately, there are no subtitles but you can at least hear what Czech sounds like.