Best Bulgarian crime movies

I Spit on Your Grave 2 (2013)

Broke, and in desperate need to update her portfolio, New York City model Katie calls a number from a tear-off flyer offering free photos. But this innocent attempt quickly turns into an unthinkable kidnapping nightmare where she's ripped away from everyone and everything she knows.

Zift (2008)

Moth is freed on parole after spending time in prison on wrongful conviction of murder. Jailed shortly before the Bulgarian communist coup of 1944, he now finds himself in a new and alien world - the totalitarian Sofia of the 60s. His first night of freedom draws the map of a diabolical city full of decaying neighborhoods, gloomy streets and a bizarre parade of characters.

The Racket (1982)

This is a psychological whodunit. The action is tense and there are many ups and downs. Vas, a young militiaman, has to pose as a ex-prisoner and infiltrate an international gang of smugglers at work in Bulgaria. Vas is involved in shady deals: in a web for smuggling drugs. The traffic in drugs is perfectly organized, every one along the chain is being checked up and shadowed. An elderly gentlemen, a harmless nuisance on the face of it, turns out to be one of the bosses. Vas's role as a double agent, in doing his efforts to become a trusted man among the dangerous criminals, faces him with many trials and he risks his life on several occasions. And no matter how strange it may appear, it is among these people that Vas meets the girl he falls in love with. A beautiful girl is tangled in the traffic web. She also falls in love with Vas. Just like the audience, the girl Sunny is not aware of the true personality of Vas in the racket.

The Bandit (1969)

Sicily, 1865. Two peasants, Gramigna and his father are tricked by Baron Nardò and robbed of their field, which then the baron lets to Assunta, her daughter Gemma and her fiancé Ramarro. Determined to take revenge, Gramigna begins to hunt down Nardò's complicit mediators. Unbeknownst to Gramigna, Gemma, to escape her arranged marriage, goes after him. Love and violence will follow all till their desperate ends.

Taste of Almonds (1967)

A hairdresser Gerda has an affair with Dr Nikodimov, a married man past his prime. Savarinova has had her hair done by Gerda in fashionable style. She is ill at ease at a family party. Her sister Mina has been the cause of her anxiety, because the young scientist Belokozhov prefers young and unaffected Mina. They go out to the park and have fun by themselves. Meanwhile, Nikodimov goes to see Gerda in her flat. She tells him what has been preying on her mind during their liaison. Nikodimov's wife comes there but he turns her away. He tells Gerda that he will move in with her for good. Heartbroken, the girl turns him away. Nikodimov goes to the hospital. In his office, he takes out an ampule of cyanide and drains it with a resolute gesture. Mina and Belokozhov discuss love in the park. It starts raining. Laughing, a boy and a girl walk towards the dawn.

A Strange Duel (1971)

A Bulgarian spy movie

Dangerous Flight (1968)

Professor Dimov is a diplomat who has been recruited as a spy by a foreign intelligence service. The suspicions fall on Dr. Belcheva. Major Kalinov is entrusted with the investigation of the case. He learns that she is Dimov's mistress. Paris, France. Dimov and Belcheva go out leaving a bag with secret documents in Belcheva's hotel room. Kalinov manages to retrieve the documents. After this incident Belcheva dies in hospital from poisoning. On board the plane Kalinov exposes the professor as a spy. Bulgarian counterintelligence officers arrest him.

Misty Shores (1986)

Fall, 1921. Wrangel's army, defeated in Crimea after a short stay in Turkey, found refuge in Bulgaria. White Guard Colonel lives here with his son and daughter, while his wife and youngest daughter were sheltered by the family of the Bolshevik, who've been sent to Bulgaria for propaganda work among Russian soldiers.

Judge and the Forest (1975)

Before going on leave an experienced magistrate assigns to his assistant a case that has been all but concluded. Everything has been proved. The facts are clear: a brutal murder has been committed. The suspect is a young, beautiful girl, who does not deny or remorse the murder. The only thing that remains to be done is to refer the case to the public prosecutor's office. The case is rather strange though. The murdered man had been a criminal blackmailer; the murderess is a timid girl of 17. The young magistrate tries to discover certain vital truth concealed beneath the obvious facts. The girl has pleaded guilty and the bulk of evidence is against her. The only question that has not been answered concerns the motive of the crime. The detective carefully questions the girl to find her real motives. From her story he learns that the girl is real victim. She arrived from the country and due to her naivety ended up in the apartment of a sexual maniac.

Theft in the Express (1931)

In a large European city the newspaper sellers are setting the latest news. "A Mysterious Theft" and "Buddha's Statue Missing" are some of the headlines. The news is also broadcast on the radio and spreads fast. A masked man enters a lawyer's office. He picks the lock in the desk with a skeleton key and takes out an envelope with the note: "Lord Herbert's Last Will and Testament. To be opened on September 1, 1930 in the presence of my daughter Mary." The layer walks nervously in front of the burgled desk. He brings out a revolver and points it in his head. At this very moment the detective Chante Coq, a Lord Herbert's friend, enters the room. He undertakes to find both thief and the will. The wealthy heiress travels from France to East on the Orient Express. The international criminal carrying the envelope with inheritance papers is also in the train. After series of adventures the will is retrieved.

Bird of Prey (1996)

As a boy, Dominik watched an American crime boss murder his father, a police officer fighting corruption in Sofia, Bulgaria. Years later, he attempts to avenge his father's death but is imprisoned for 15 years for attempted murder. In prison, he meets an American photo-journalist who shares his enemy and his thoughts of revenge. Released from prison, the two hatch a plot which involves the man's recently-arrived daughter.

Mud (1998)

A foreign visitor to Bulgaria finds himself accidentally involved in a chase for a stray child. The latter seriously injures him, but will also try in his own way to save him.

Mr. Nobody (1969)

A ravishing double agent Emil leaves for a large Western city where he joins the staff of a spy group operating against Bulgaria. Here he meets the elderly Mladenov. With his help, Emil gets an editorial job in a Bulgarian-language magazine. Dimov heads the spy center. Kralev is his deputy. Kralev wants to become a chief and tries to eliminate those who stand in his way. Emil is among them. Lida, Mladenov's daughter has defected from Bulgaria. Disillusioned, she asks Emil to help her to return. He helps her to hide in a small provincial town. Kralev forces him to give away the address. Emil goes to Lida's hotel, but before he arrives here, Kralev blocks his way. Emil makes short work of him. Together with Lida, they hire a speedboat, which rushes them to a Bulgarian ship.

The Night of 13th (1961)

Todor Primov is an officer of the royal army who changes sides and goes over to the partisans. After the war, he graduates in engineering and is appointed manager of several construction projects. His car crashes on the eve of March 13. After his recovery, Primov resumes his work. Yet, secret information starts leaking from the projects and some serious accidents occur. Andrey, who befriended Todor Primov back in the partisan unit, goes to investigate the causes. He knows that Todor was colored-blind while this engineer distinguished colors. Andrey manages to get at the truth: Parvan Primov, Todor's twin brother, has made the car crash. On that night he killed his brother and took his place...

Hammer or Anvil (1972)

This is a political picture about the Bulgarian revolutionary Georgi Dimitrov. In 1933 during the Reichstag Fire Trial trumped-up charges of having set the Reichstag on fire were brought against him. At the trial Dimitrov exposed the machinations of the Nazis and turned from a defendant into an accuser. Central to the story is the face-to-face political duel between Dimitrov and Goering. Dimitrov's interactions with ordinary Germans, the memories of his wife Lyuba Ivoshevich, and the meetings with his mother Parashkeva alternate with documentary shooting scenes from the time of Nazi Germany.

I don't know, I didn't hear, I didn't see (1984)

Night time Sofia in the middle of the 80s. Bus 108 is doing its final route towards the Lyulin neighbourhood. A short altrecation between the passengers finishes with the death of one of them. While investigating the cruel crime the detectives from the militia face people's indifference.

The Third Person (1973)

A Bulgarian crime movie

Forest People (1985)

1929. The owners of a roadside hotel-a man and a woman-kill the merchant. To solve the murder, the investigator sends his undercover agent to the hotel. A passionate love begins between the agent and the woman. She confessed to her lover about the murder. The killer managed to escape, and the woman was sent to prison.

The Citadel Responded (1970)

Major Hariev, a State Security officer, manages to learn that the spying center codenamed Citadel receives encoded letters. Sometime later, the Bulgarian agent in the West reports that the spy h as a subscription to the French woman's magazine. The State Security men find a beautician, who received the magazine and delivers it to Ivan Bolyarski, director of an important state department. Hariev follows Bolyarski to his meeting with the Hawk, his associate working in a military unit. The Hawk agrees to deliver the request information for an exorbitant sum of money. Hariev runs into the Hawk and kills him in the fight. Bolyarski is arrested. Major Hariev is planted in his cell. In a moment of demoralization, the agent discloses the secrets of the Citadel to Hariev. Hariev has to go to the Citadel, passing off as the Hawk. He takes a leap in the dark and does not know if he will ever come back to his wife and his child.

Under Arrest (1983)

Yana, Trayan's girlfriend, is raped by three men. To enact revenge Trayan infiltrates their gang with intent to kill.

The Golden Tooth (1962)

Captain Lipovanski is badly wounded during World War II. The Germans take him prisoner. After the end of the war, he is set free in a foreign country. He has been deceived that he was sentenced to death as a deserter and that his pregnant wife had died in a Bulgarian concentration camp. He trains for subversive activities against his own country. He is given the codename 'Golden Tooth'. Eager for revenge, he arrives in Bulgaria. There he learns that an agent provocateur has killed his wife, that his child is safe and has been raised in a nursery, and that he himself is respected as a hero. Golden Tooth sets out to eliminate his accomplices. With a file containing valuable documents, the traitors prepare their escape abroad. The spies are caught at the border. Golden Tooth kills the last of the traitors and dies driving his lorry into a precipice.

End of the Road (1961)

A geologist engineer Yuliya disappears. Ablamov, an elderly engineer, organizes a rescue party to look after her in the mine galleries but they find nothing. Yuliya was last seen at a ceremony for award-wining miners. The newsreel crew was filming the event. Yuliya left in the middle of ceremony. Prodanov, a headstrong and quarrelsome engineer, had followed her. Suspicion falls on him. However, the film sequences shot at the ceremony reveal that Ablamov reacted suspiciously to Yuliya's exit. Detected as the murderer, Ablamov attempts to cross the border but is caught. Yuliya had discovered that the ore contained uranium. Ablamov had replaced the samples in order to prevent the development of the uranium ore deposit.

The Inspector and the Night (1963)

A classic noir murder mystery based on the same name detective book by Bogomil Raynov

The Last Round (1961)

Young Nikolay is a national boxing champion. On a picnic, he meets Vanya and falls in love with her. They have a lunch in the restaurant and when a brawl erupts there, Vanya leaves. Nikolay tries to catch up with her in a car, but has an accident. The uncle of his friend offers to pay for repairs of a car if he will agree to act as a courier in foreign currency smuggling deal. Nikolay agrees to take along a box of matches. The uncle tells him that he will receive as many dollars as there are matchsticks in the box. Nikolay is due to leave for Paris to compete in the world championships. During the journey, his coach confiscates the box, thinking that the athlete is smoking. Nikolay has to explain everything.

Izkustvenata patitza (1974)