The Fifth Horseman Is Fear (Czech: A pátý jezdec je strach) is a 1965 Czechoslovak film about the Holocaust that was directed by Zbyněk Brynych.

Instead of depicting gas chambers and concentration camps, the film examines the subtler but equally debilitating mental effects of oppression.

Superficially, the city might appear to be normal, but hallucinations, awkward outbursts, and nervous, self-conscious behavior make it clear that society is falling apart.

As Dr. Braun travels through the seedy undergrounds of Prague and back up to his apartment building—where a long winding staircase connects the lives of all his eccentric neighbors—a wide variety of personalities are introduced to the screen, each of whom appears equally as tortured.

His neglected violin suggests passion and creativity that has been suppressed; and his small bedroom window, which shows a solitary smoking chimney, subtly alludes to the horrors of the Holocaust.

Time magazine said it was a "superlatively photographed film," [2] and Roger Ebert wrote, "It comes as a shock, in the last ten minutes, to discover how deeply involved you have become.