Second Run DVD - Morgiana

Czechoslovakia, 1972
Length / Morgiana: 97 minutes
Length / Special feature: 15 minutes
Sound: Original mono (restored)
Colour
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1 Full Frame
Language: Czech
Subtitles: English On/Off
PAL DVD9
Region 0
RRP: £12.99

Release Date: 11th Oct 2010
Second Run DVD 050

With delirious visuals conjured by cinematographer Jaroslav Kučera (Daisies) and often described as the 'last' film of the Czech New Wave, Juraj Herz's delirious tale of terror is a fantastical and surreal phantasmagoria of dark desires and splintered minds – a twisted Czech take on Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and Poe's The Black Cat.

Based on a short story by Aleksandr Grin, (the 'Russian Poe'), Morgiana is the story of twin sisters, Klára and Viktoria who live a life of decadent opulence, somewhere in the late 19th century. Klára is auburn-haired and beautiful, whilst Viktoria is wicked, sadistic, bursting with hate and jealousy - and who hatches a terrible revenge by slowly poisoning her more popular sister. As the poison takes hold, Klára begins to lose grip on her sanity...

Part fairy-tale, part Gothic horror, Morgiana is a full-blown hallucinatory experience from the director of the chilling The Cremator.

• Newly filmed interview with director Juraj Herz.
• New digital transfer with restored picture and sound.
• New and improved English subtitle translation.
• Booklet featuring essays by Dr Ian Conrich and Daniel Bird.
• Optimal quality dual-layer disc.
• Available for the first time on DVD in the English speaking world.

Iva Janžurová - Klára/Viktoria
Petr Čepek - Glenar
Nina Divísková – Otylie
Josef Abrhám – Marek
Jiří Kodet - Bessant
Josef Somr - Opilec

Directed by Juraj Herz

Screenplay – Vladimír Bor and Juraj Herz
Based on the story 'Jessie and Morgiana' by Aleksandr Grin
Cinematography – Jaroslav Kučera
Art Direction - Zbyněk Hloch
Costume Design - Miloslava Šmídová, Irena Greifová
Music - Luboš Fišer
Editing - Jaromír Janáček
Sound - František Černý

"Edward Gorey as filmed by Ken Russell... It's like a dress-up, younger-generation version of Baby Jane, set in an ornamental snow globe" kinosvetozor.cz

"The film is an elegant, beautifully executed, post-'60s essay on sex and repression" Wally Hammond, Time Out Film Guide

"For those familiar with the, oft-chilling, The Cremator, by the same director - I'd say this is equally as good a film... and a unique, psychological, horror" Gary W. Tooze, DVD Beaver

Juraj Herz's terrifying masterpiece The Cremator is also available from Second Run DVD.