Medieval farmer Töre lives with his pious wife Märeta and indulged daughter Karin. Töre asks Karin to take candles to a faraway church; dressed in her best clothes Karin leaves accompanied by surly, pregnant maid Ingeri. Pagan Ingeri dislikes Karin and offers prayers to Odon to make her suffer.
Ingeri is scared by an old man in the woods so Karin continues alone; she is stopped by two goatherds and their younger brother and she requests they share her food. She slowly realizes their intent but they rape her, killing her afterward.
That night the rapists ask for shelter at Töre's house which he allows while Märeta worries about Karin. But when they offer Karin's clothes as payment, Töre exacts revenge...
Shelf or charity shop? The Virgin Spring resides in my storage box of coverless DVDs. I will keep it for the power of Bergman's direction, Sven Nykvist's glorious b/w cinematography and the performances of Max von Sydow as Töre - only 31 years old when it was filmed - Gunnel Lindblom's earthy Ingeri and Birgitta Pettersson as doomed Karin. Amazingly, it was the inspiration for Wes Craven's notorious THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT.
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