The Witches Cave is a 1989 science fantasy film from Gorky Film Studio, USSR and Barrandov Studios, Czechoslovakia. The script was written by Kir Bulychov based on his own story and directed by Yuri Moroz. The cast featured Sergei Zhigunov as Andrei Bruce, Marina Levtova as Belogurochka, Dmitry Pevtsov as Oktin Khash, and Nikolai Karachentsov as cosmolinguist Jean. The movie had two nominations in the 1991 Nika Awards.

Plot summary

An interstellar expedition is sent to study a strange planet called Evur (Evolutionary Aberration), located far from Earth. This world, reminiscent of Earth, hosts creatures from various Earth time periods—including mammoths, pterodactyls, dinosaurs, horses, and birds—and is populated by nearly identical-to-human natives who live in a stone-age-level society but possess metal weapons. After a treacherous attack by the tribal chief Oktin-Khash on the Earthlings’ base, only two members, the ethnologist inspector Andrei Brus and the linguist Jean, survive and are taken captive. Jean is escorted to the Sanctuary of the Witches by a river, where mysterious black-clad beings take him away. Andrei manages to escape with the help of a native girl, Billegurri (White Swan), and sets off to rescue his friend. Facing numerous dangers, they uncover the secrets of the strange planet, eventually learning that an advanced alien race had conducted an unprecedented experiment here to merge different epochs of time, though this grand plan ultimately fell victim to the ambitions of the tribal leader.

Cast