The Damned House of Hajn

Sonya is the heiress of the Hajns, a noble Czech family. Petr, a man on the way up, marries her and looks past the odd things in the house. Chief among them is an uncle who believes himself invisible and moves freely through the mansion. The family has indulged this for years. The uncle keeps stepping out from behind cupboards and curtains. In time the young bride is worn down under that watching. The film builds its horror not out of a creature but out of a household’s own habits. The hundred and seven minutes pass inside a single mansion, in a story adapted from a novel. Emil Horváth and Petra Vančíková appear in Jiří Svoboda’s Czechoslovak film, completed in 1989.