Viy (1967)

A young priest is ordered to preside over the wake of witch in a small old wooden church of a remote village. This means spending three nights alone with the corpse with only his faith to protect him.

Directors:

Konstantin Ershov, Georgiy Kropachyov

Writers:

Konstantin Ershov, Nikolay Gogol (story) (as Nikolai Gogol)

Stars:

Leonid Kuravlyov, Natalya Varley, Aleksey Glazyrin

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Leonid Kuravlyov	...	Khoma
Natalya Varley	...	Pannochka (as N. Varley)
Aleksey Glazyrin	...	Sotnik (as A. Glazyrin)
Nikolay Kutuzov	...	Vedma (as N. Kutuzov)
Vadim Zakharchenko	...	Khalyava (as V. Zakharchenko)
Pyotr Vesklyarov	...	Rektor / Dorosh (as P. Vesklyarov)
Vladimir Salnikov	...	Gorobets (as V. Salnikov)
Dmitriy Kapka	...	Overko (as D. Kapka)
Stepan Shkurat	...	Yavtukh (as S. Shkurat)
Georgiy Sochevko	...	Stepan (as G. Sochevko)
Nikolay Yakovchenko	...	Spirid (as N. Yakovchenko)
Nikolay Panasev	...	Uteshitel (as N. Panasev)

Storyline

Getting lost, wandering home whilst on leave from his seminary, novice monk Khoma stays in the barn of an old woman. A scuffle breaks out. Later, he is summoned to stand and pray over a young dead woman, in the local church, for three nights. It is here that, while in the long, dark nights of the locked doors, the dead regain life, the souls of Hell taunt the young monk to near terrifying insanity, and the test of Faith will be as powerful as the witches, monsters and the mighty demon Viy who haunt his every step and bay for his very soul.

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Plot Keywords:

folk horror | theology student | church | witch | russia | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror

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Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

27 November 1967 (Soviet Union)

Also Known As:

Viy or Spirit of Evil

Filming Locations:

Saint George's Church, Sedniv, Chernihiv, Ukraine

Company Credits

Production Co:

Luch, Mosfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min 71 min (VHS)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally a Ukrainian folk story.

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Goofs

The first time Khorma inscribes a sacred chalk circle on the church floor, it is possible to see a partially erased circle already present, possible left over from previous takes of the scene.

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Quotes

Pannochka: By the shades of night, may he go blind, turn his hair white. Bewitch him. Cover him with snow.

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Connections

Version of Sveto mesto (1990)

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Soundtracks

Night on Bald Mountain
Composed by Modest Mussorgsky

User Reviews

Holy minimalist masterpieces, Batman!

I'm not particularly a fan of horror flicks. I watched this movie simply because I wanted to see something Russian. But as I found out, this is much more than a typical horror flick. It has a lyrical quality to it almost like a Greek play. True, it has ghosts & goblins & creepy things in it. But so do Greek plays.

I consider this to be a fantasy or an allegory with some nice subtle insights about rustic life and the human condition in general. Some of the witty dialogue is absolutely priceless. I'm not familiar with the writings of Gogol who wrote the original story of "Viy", but if you're a fan of Tolstoy's short stories ("The Imp and the Crust") or Guy de Maupassant ("The Devil") or maybe the lighter side of Poe ("Never Bet the Devil Your Head"), then this'll be right up your alley.

And of course it'll scare the socks off your arse.

The camera illusions in this movie are absolutely 1st class. Don't be put off by the fact that it had a "low budget" by Hollywood standards. The minimalist approach really brought out the director's creativity in this case. Like an old 1940s Jean Cocteau film, the special effects are timeless in their simplicity, and they will hold up for the next 50 years, long after CGI has gone the way of the dodo (and not a moment too soon).