3 Films: Juraj Herz
Forget shaky cam with these three films from Czech director Juraj Herz.
Each features a type of shot, perspective, or camera that adds a specific element of horror to the movie in the way shaky cam used to.
Often associated with the Czech New Wave, Herz’s skill in film was self-taught and he was actually excluded by the core group of directors we name in this movement. While his original works like The Night Overtakes Me are stunning, he is a master of adaptation of others’ stories, reinterpreting them into twists on horror themes.
The Cremator (1969)
So many movies are focused on the overarching narrative, at the detriment of details that make a world feel real. The world of The Cremator does not feel real. It’s a place where a somewhat absent father has a doting wife, adoring children, and everything a man could want. Realistically, he still wishes for more, and the details are part of what damns him.
The film has gained a cult following over the years and comes from a novel by Ladislav Fuks. This is as much in relation to the gruesomely implied horror as it is to the fantastically portrayed longing for anything more. Rudolf Hrušínský creates an intense man whose obsessive explorations are aided by film techniques.
