Malpertuis is a 1971 Belgian fantasy

Fantasy film

Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...

-horror

Horror film

Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...

 directed by Harry Kümel, based on the novel of the same name

Malpertuis

Malpertuis is a gothic horror novel by the Belgian author Jean Ray.-Premise:Malpertuis is a crumbling, ancient house where a dying warlock has trapped the aging gods of Olympus inside the "skins" of ordinary Flemish citizens.-Structure:...

. It was entered into the 1972 Cannes Film Festival

1972 Cannes Film Festival

- Jury :*Joseph Losey *Bibi Andersson *Georges Auric *Erskine Caldwell *Mark Donskoi *Miloš Forman *Giorgio Papi *Jean Rochereau *Alain Tanner...

.

Plot

Malpertuis is the name of an old, rambling mansion which is in reality a labyrinth

Labyrinth

In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos...

 where characters from Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

 are imprisoned by the bedridden Cassavius (Welles). He manages to keep them (as well as his nephew and niece) prisoners even after his death, through a binding testament. As Jan, the nephew, (Carrière) unravels the mystery, he discovers that he cannot escape the house because Malpertuis is far more significant than he was led to believe.

Cast

• Orson Welles
  Orson Welles
  George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
  
   - Cassavius
• Susan Hampshire
  Susan Hampshire
  Susan Hampshire, Lady Kulukundis, OBE is an English actress, best-known for her many television and film roles.-Early life:Susan Hampshire was born in Kensington, London, the youngest of four children. She had two sisters and one brother...
  
   - Nancy / Euryale / Alice / Nurse
• Michel Bouquet
  Michel Bouquet
  Michel Bouquet is a French film actor. He has appeared in over 90 films since 1947. He was born in Paris, France.-Selected filmography:* La petite chambre * Le Promeneur du Champ de Mars...
  
   - Dideloo
• Mathieu Carrière
  Mathieu Carrière
  Mathieu Carrière is a German actor.Carrière grew up in Berlin and Lübeck; he attended the Jesuit boarding school Lycée Saint-François-Xavier in Vannes, France, a school which had previously been attended by the director of Carrière's first major film, Volker Schlöndorff. In 1969 Carrière moved to...
  
   - Jan
• Jean-Pierre Cassel
  Jean-Pierre Cassel
  Jean-Pierre Cassel was a French actor.-Life and career:Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in Paris, the son of Louise-Marguerite , an opera singer, and Georges Crochon, a doctor. Cassel was discovered by Gene Kelly as he tap danced on stage, and later cast in the 1957 film The Happy Road...
  
   - Lampernisse
• Daniel Pilon
  Daniel Pilon
  Daniel Pilon is a Canadian-born actor, known for his role in Dallas as Naldo Marchetta. He has also appeared in daytime soap operas such as Ryan's Hope, Guiding Light and Days of our Lives....
  
   - Mathias Crook
• Walter Rilla
  Walter Rilla
  Walter Rilla was a German film actor. He appeared in over 130 films between 1922 and 1977. He was born in Neunkirchen, Germany and died in Rosenheim, Germany.-Selected filmography:...
  
   - Eigengott
• Dora van der Groen
  Dora van der Groen
  Dora van der Groen is a Belgian actress. She has appeared in 120 films and television shows since 1945. She starred in the 1975 film Dokter Pulder zaait papavers, which was entered into the 26th Berlin International Film Festival....
  
   - Sylvie Dideloo
• Charles Janssens - Philarette
• Sylvie Vartan
  Sylvie Vartan
  Sylvie Vartan is a French singer. She was one of the first rock girls in France. Vartan was the most productive and active of the yé-yé style artists, considered as the toughest-sounding of those. Her performance often featured elaborate show-dance choreography. She made many appearances on French...
  
   - Bets
• Jet Naessens - Eleonora
• Cara Van Wersch - Rosalie
• Jenny Van Santvoort - Elodie
• Fanny Winkler - Mother Griboin
• Robert Lussac - Griboin (as Bob Storm)
• Edouard Ravais - Doucedame
• Gella Allaert - Gerda
• Hugo Dellas - Hans
• Cyriel Van Gent - Thick Man