A unique and almost indescribable mix of Gothic fiction, steampunk gadgetry (designed by Czech animation wizard Jan Švankmajer), slapstick comedy and romantic opera, director Oldřich Lipský’s wonderfully bonkers delight has elements of THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS, Terry Gilliam, Mel Brooks and “The Benny Hill Show.” Based on an 1892 Jules Verne novel The Carpathian Castle (which partially inspired Bram Stoker to write Dracula), the film follows Count Teleke of Tölökö (Michal Dočolomanský) on the trail of the count’s lost lover, opera singer Salsa Verde (Evelyna Steimarová) – only to discover she’s been abducted by fiendish Baron Gorc of Gorceny (Miloš Kopecký), whose castle home is filled with the bizarre inventions of mad scientist Orfanik (Rudolf Hrušínský). Littered with puns, sight gags and non-sequiturs – “Later, in Werewolfston”, an invented dialect, a detached golden ear for eavesdropping, a staff topped by an enormous TV eyeball – MYSTERIOUS CASTLE was the third fantastical film from the team of director Lipský and writer Jiří Brdečka after their much-loved musical western spoof LEMONADE JOE (1966) and their detective/horror satire ADELA HAS NOT HAD SUPPER YET (1977), both major Czech cult hits. (Note that actor Miloš Kopecký and Jiří Brdečka worked on the supernatural anthology PRAGUE NIGHTS, also released by the Národní filmový archív, Deaf Crocodile and Comeback Company.)
directed by: Oldřich Lipský
starring: Michal Dočolomanský, Evelyna Steimarová, Miloš Kopecký, Rudolf Hrušínský
1981 / 97 min / 1.37:1 / Czech Mono
Additional info:
- Region A Blu-ray
- New Restoration of MYSTERIOUS CASTLE by Craig Rogers for Deaf Crocodile.
- New video interview with Czech film critic and screenwriter Tereza Brdečková on her father, Jiří Brdečka, writer of MYSTERIOUS CASTLE. (In English).
- New essay by film historian and expert on Central & Eastern European cinema Jonathan Owen.
- New audio commentary by Tereza Brdečková and Czech film expert Irena Kovarova of Comeback Company.
- Two eerie and stunningly beautiful Jiří Brdečka animated short films: Vzducholoď a láska (Love and the Zeppelin)(1948, 9 min.) and Třináctá komnata prince Měděnce (Prince Copperslick aka Prince Měděnec’s Thirteenth Chamber)(1980, 9 min.) Both in Czech with English subtitles.
- UNIVERSUM BRDEČKA (2017, 84 min., dir. Miroslav Janek), a feature length documentary on the life and career of filmmaker, animator, screenwriter and illustrator Jiří Brdečka, covering his childhood, his work as a screenwriter with Jiří Trnka, Karel Zeman and Oldřich Lipský, and his own acclaimed work as an animator and director. In Czech with English subtitles.
- Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion.
- English subtitles
