Murderer Hides His Face

Director Petr Schulhoff created a popular series of crime dramas with plainclothes detective Major Kalaš as the central character. The crime thriller Vrah skrývá tvář (The Murderer Hides His Face, 1966) was followed by Po stopách krve (On the Trail of Blood, 1969) and Diagnóza smrti (Diagnosis of Death, 1979). The first two stand out for their bleak and “paranoid” atmosphere, which audiences seemed to connect with, and the excellent performance by Rudolf Hrušínský in the role of Major Kalaš. Together with his trusty sidekick First Lieutenant Varga (Radoslav Brzobohatý) Major Kalaš endeavours to unravel the murder of a nurse. They uncover links to another murder committed three months previously which point the investigation towards a sexually motivated mass murderer. When another crime is committed the circle of suspicion narrows but the perpetrator is only discovered thanks to a brilliant crime reconstruction staged by Kalaš… Popular psychiatrist, doctor Plzák appeared as himself, just as he did in Takže ahoj (So Bye-bye, 1970) and V hlavní roli Oldřich Nový (Starring Oldřich Nový, 1980).