Juraj Herz

Juraj Herz (4 September 1934 – 8 April 2018) was a Slovak film director, actor, and scene designer, associated with the Czechoslovak New Wave movement of the 1960s. He is best known for his 1969 horror/black comedy The Cremator, often cited as one of the best Czechoslovak films of all time, After attending secondary school in Bratislava, he studied photography at the city's University of Applied Arts, going on to study directing and puppetry at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU) alongside Jan Švankmajer. He remained in Prague after he completed his studies to work at the Semafor Theatre and Barrandov Studios. In 1972, it won the Festival de Cine de Sitges Best Film award, as well as awards for Hrušínský and cinematographer Stanislav Milota. Immediately banned by Communist censors after its premiere, It was re-released in 2017. The film combined horror and black comedy, Herz's 1976 film Day for My Love, a drama about the death of a child,

His 1982 movie Ferat Vampire , a horror movie about a murderous Ferat sports car fuelled on human blood, starred Jiří Menzel and future first lady Dagmar Havlová. In 1986 Herz released The Night Overtakes Me, a tragic drama about his experiences in the concentration camp.

Death Herz died in Prague on 8 April 2018, aged 83. His death was announced on Facebook by Slovak actor Andrej Hryc, his friend and long-time collaborator.

Selected filmography The Junk Shop (Sběrné surovosti, 1965) The Sign of Cancer (Znamení raka, 1965) The Cremator (Spalovač mrtvol, 1969) Sweet Games of Last Summer (Sladké hry minulého leta, 1970) Oil Lamps (Petrolejové lampy, 1971) Morgiana (1972) Day for My Love (Den pro mou lásku, 1976) Beauty and the Beast (Panna a netvor, 1978) The Ninth Heart (Deváté srdce, 1979) Ferat Vampire (Upír z Feratu, 1982) The Night Overtakes Me (Zastihla Mě Noc, 1986) Darkness (T.M.A., 2009) Habermann (Habermannův mlýn, 2010)