THE CREMATOR (Herz, 1969)

(Directed by Juraj Herz from a script by Herz and Ladizlav Fuks; starring Rudolf Hrušínský, Vlasta Chramostová, Jana Stehnová, Miloš Vognič, Jiří Menzel, and Ilja Prachař. Released 14 March 1969; watched 2023w13 via Criterion Channel)

If ALL MY GOOD COUNTRYMEN followed the horrors of Post-WWII conformity (led, as here, by Ilja Prachař) to an oppressive regime, THE CREMATOR – one of the most frightening horror films I've seen – offers a darkly (pitch black) comic unfurling of the spiral of possession of one (already primed) man and a populace just prior to the outbreak of WWII by the ultimate evil of the 20th century. Hrušínský is a revelation - that I'd never heard of or seen anything of this treasure is a crime I'll be further rectifying (as seems to be the way with my current Czech New Wave obsession) - his performance as Kopfrkingl reminding me, on more than one occasion, of Peter Lorre's Hans Beckert in M. Every great villain – whether fully formed or in the process of becoming – is convinced that they're doing the right thing: Hrušínský's Kopfrkingl is one of the greats and then some. Brilliant, brutal – and essential – viewing.