Juraj Herz Drowning the bad times Juraj Herz interviewed Herz resists the notion that his work fundamentally belongs to the horror genre, but he explains to Ivana Košuličová that his two blackly comic films about the Holocaust are "real horror." To excess The grotesque in Juraj Herz's Czech films Herz has worked in a wide range of styles, but in all of them he has flaunted the fantastic and indulged in visual and narrative excess. Daniel Bird reviews his Czech career. Gothic at heart Spalovač mrtvol (1968) and Morgiana (1971) Ian Conrich on Juraj Herz's two most widely known films Keep track of what's in Kinoeye by joining our free e-mail update service. Subscribe here.

ANIMATION The morality of horror Jiří Barta's Krysař (The Pied Piper, 1985) Barta's adaption of this old tale is a far cry from those of Disney and many others. Ivana Košuličová explains how Barta uses animation to depict the horror of human society. POLITICAL HORROR Who's afraid of... Big Brother? Karel Kachyňa's Ucho (The Ear, 1970) Initially noted for its brave political stance, Ucho is now just as remarkable for its pared-down asthetics and unsparing view of a personal relationship in an Orwellian state. Steven Jay Schneider revisits the film.

Jan Švankmajer Bringing up baby Jan Švankmajer interviewed about Otesánek (Little Otík, 2000) Švankmajer's latest feature film is, perhaps, his most conventional work to date. But as the director tells Peter Hames, Otesánek is another angle on a theme that has obsessed him for a long time. An alchemist's nightmares Extracts from Jan Švankmajer's diary In the pre-production phase of Otesánek (Little Otík), Jan Švankmajer confides to his diary about his occasional doubts in himself and the film, LSD-induced flashbacks he used to experience and dreams that haunt him at night. Dark wonders and the Gothic sensibility Jan Švankmajer's Něco z Alenky (Alice, 1987) Švankmajer's films may not be straight horror, but they draw on Gothic literary sources and have a definite appeal to horror film fans, as Brigid Cherry explains.  Further  surfing   Švankmajer   resources   on the web   Links galore,   compiled by   Sarah   Andrews The bare bones of horror Jan Švankmajer's Kostnice (The Ossuary, 1970) Švankmajer's early career in short film-making holds some under-appreciated masterpieces. Jan Uhde looks at a "horror documentary" shot in the wake of the Soviet-led invasion.

From the archives Invisibility and repression Jiří Svoboda's Prokletí domu Hajnů (The Damned House of Hajn, 1988) Elements of genre film and auteurism blended in this Gothic noir. A commercial for Czech literature F A Brabec's Kytice (Wild Flowers, 2000) Horror motifs from a literary treasure are given the gloss treatment. Dreaming a bad reality Radim Spacek's Rychlé pohyby očí and Jaromil Jireš's Valerie a týden divů A horror classic inspires a trippy exploration of teenage angst.

"Strach: Czech film's love affair with fear and horror" was inspired by "Down to the Cellar: Horror and fantasy in Czech cinema," a weekend of Czech horror films organised by the London Czech Centre, to whom the editors would like to express their thanks for their assistance. Kinoeye would also like to thank Sight & Sound and Keith Griffiths.

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