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"This is a horrible, damned house." Whoa - what do we have here?! Deaf Crocodile, Belarusfilm, & Seagull Films, in partnership with DiabolikDVD, are releasing on disc a lost Belarusian folk horror film titled The Savage Hunt of King Stakh, which originally debuted in 1980. Described as an "ultra-rare" film that is a "major rediscovery for genre fans" who might want to take a look. A mystical drama set in an out-of-the-way castle in the Belarusian woodlands at the end of the 19th century. A young ethnographer, Andrej Bielarecki, arrives at the castle to research local folk legends including the story of King Stakh. "Part folk horror, part supernatural mystery, King Stakh is a melancholy, chilling mixture of Terry Gilliam, Italian Gothic Horror, 1960s Hammer Films, and The Wicker Man." Long unavailable, the film has recently been restored from the original film elements in its extended 126-minute Director's Cut. The film stars Elena Dimitrova,...

Summer time is approaching, which means it is, of course, Belarusian folk-horror season. As part of Deaf Crocodile Films’ new collaboration with DiabolikDVD, the largest independent online distributor of specialized home video releases, their first release will be Valeri Rubinchik’s ultra-rare 1980 feature The Savage Hunt of King Stakh, based on the novel by Belarusian writer Uladzimir Karatkievich. Newly restored by Craig Rogers, Deaf Crocodile Co-Founder and Head of Post-Production and Restoration, this will mark the first-ever North American Blu-ray release of the two-hour Director’s Cut version. Ahead of the July 1 release, we’re pleased to exclusively share the restoration trailer.

Here’s the synopsis: “‘We have more ghosts than live people,’ murmurs the pale, haunted mistress of the mansion of Marsh Firs (Elena Dimitrova) to a scholar of ancient folklore (Boris Plotnikov) who has arrived at her castle to research the bloody legend of King Stakh, a murdered...