Directed by Valeri Rubinchik • 1980 • USSR/Belarus

Blending gothic chills with surreal, folkloric imagery, The Savage Hunt of King Stakh is a forgotten classic of Soviet horror. At the turn of the twentieth century, ethnographer Andrei Bielorecki (Boris Plotnikov, star of Larisa Shepitko’s The Ascent) stumbles upon the seemingly haunted castle of Marsh Firs, where a reclusive noblewoman (Elena Dimitrova) lives in fear of the vengeful spirit of medieval warlord King Stakh. Soon Bielorecki finds himself drawn into a deadly detective story as the bodies start to pile up. Based on a celebrated novel by Belarusian writer Uladzimir Karatkievich and invoking that nation’s bloody history and local legends, The Savage Hunt of King Stakh is a potent mix of folk horror and Hammer-style gothic fantasy, brought to life with exquisitely macabre production design.

THE SAVAGE HUNT OF KING STAKH • ДИКАЯ ОХОТА КОРОЛЯ СТАХА
Written and directed by Valeri Rubinchik
From the novel by Uladzimir Karatkievich
Cinematography by Tatyana Loginova
Music by Evgeny Glebov
Starring: Boris Plotnikov, Elena Dimitrova, Aleksandr Kharitonov

In Russian with English subtitles