An aspiring young painter falls for his patron's niece but forsakes love for ambition when a ghoulish stranger demands her for himself. Adapted from the chilling ghost story by J Sheridan Le Fanu, Schalcken the Painter weaves a fictional tale of terror around the work of real life seventeenth-century Dutch painter, Godfried Schalcken.

Originally screened by the BBC during the dying hours of 23 December 1979 this exquisitely shot, atmospheric horror film explores the uneasy relationship between art, commerce and erotic desire. The superb cast includes Jeremy Clyde (Supernatural) and Maurice Denham (Torture Garden).