Myortvye docheri (2007)

User Rating:

4.1/10   

Director:

Pavel Ruminov

Writer:

Pavel Ruminov (writer)

Release Date:

1 February 2007 (Russia)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Tagline:

Be Good or Die

Plot:

In present-day Moscow ghosts of three little girls killed by their insane mother randomly pick a person to watch over for a three days...

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Death | Murder | Friend

Cast

Yekaterina Shcheglova	...	Anna
Mikhail Dementyev	...	Anton
Nikita Yemshanov	...	Nikita
Darya Charusha	...	Vera
Artyom Semakin	...	Yegor
Ravshana Kurkova	...	Rita
Mikhail Yefimov	...	Stepan
Ivan Volkov	...	Maks
Yelena Morozova	...	Sister
Irina Brazgovka	...	Usherette
Olga Bondareva	...	Extrasensory individual
Yelizaveta Stishova	...	Employee
Pyotr Rytov	...	Client
Irina Fatkina	...	Client
Dmitri Sergin	...	Anton's neighbour

Also Known As:

Мёртвые дочери (Russia)
Anna i docheri (Russia) (working title)
Dead Daughters (International: English title)

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Filming Locations:

Moscow, Russia

Company:

Central Partnership

Trivia:

After seeing the rough cut of the film, Gold Circle Films purchased rights to re-make it.

Quotes:

Anton: Yeah, ghosts, right... Very neat. Still it feels pretty gingerbread inside. I feel nothing.

Movie Connections:

References E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

The horror is out there.

Can't say I'm a hardcore horror/slasher/whatever-with-blood-boobs-and-sfx fan. Might even say I get bored by such films. But this one is as different as it gets - true horror seeps from every possible plot hole, bland facial expression and camera movement. After two hours of watching I was absolutely terrified. Mostly of the fact that P. Ruminov might make another movie. Dead daughters come bundled with almost everything that was good in the last five years of horror films, but each and every brilliant idea, plot twist or piece of sfx only serves as a reminder of the original thing. The director claimed there are only two four-minute stills in the whole movie, which is innovative. And indeed it is - for the other 115 minutes the camera keeps wobbling, jumping and circling around every object in sight, bringing nausea and carrying away the viewer's ability to see the details. And then there's the desaturation, making everyone look like a malnourished vampire. The actors' performance is surprisingly realistic - they have absolutely no idea of what's going on around them and they're not afraid to show it by staring blankly at the camera. Also there is an unhealthy amount of inside jokes, only funny to hardcore Russian anime fans. Of course, the creator could use - and used - free advertisement, but by now almost each one of those fans who cheered for the future masterpiece is trying to move as far away as possible.

I can congratulate Russian moviegoers on having an aspiring Uwe Boll-wannabe in business, of course, but I personally think one is more than enough.

*It gets a two instead of one because of a single good joke. Two with a minus, but slightly above the ground.