Czech Film Center

Synopsis

The king and queen have everything money can buy but they still don’t have what want most: a child. The queen prays to God, but to no avail. So she decides to ask for help from the kingdom of hell. Her request is indulged and she gives birth to a baby girl. But hell will naturally have to be repaid for her happiness. When the princess turns 18, the devil will come for her. While the princess spends all her free time with a country lad, her parents are planning a grand courtship ball for her 18th birthday. Of course the devil, disguised as an aristocrat, is there to partake. When he asks the princess for a dance, he gets a fright – the country lad has given her a necklace with an amulet of herbs that repel hell. The devil turns the princess into a black ghost and disappears. The princess haunts the fortification, her hand pointing towards the devil’s mill. The country lad sets off in that direction and reveals a long-kept secret. He challenges hell to a duel for her soul. Outsmarting hell with wit and intellect, the royal parents give him their daughter’s hand out of gratitude.