Viy (1967 film)

Viy

DVD cover
Directed by Konstantin Yershov
Georgi Kropachyov
Written by Screen writers:
Aleksandr Ptushko
Konstantin Yershov
Georgi Kropachyov
Original story:
Nikolai Gogol
Starring Leonid Kuravlev
Natalya Varley
Alexei Glazyrin
Vadim Zakharchenko
Nikolai Kutuzov
Music by Karen Khachaturian
Cinematography Viktor Pishchalnikov
Fyodor Provorov
Edited by R. Pesetskaya
Tamara Zubova
Production
company
Artistic Association "LUCH"
Distributed by Mosfilm
Release dates
 1967
Running time
 78 minutes
Country Soviet Union
Language Russian

Viy (Spirit of Evil[1] or Vii, Russian: Вий) is a 1967 horror film produced by Mosfilm and based on the Nikolai Gogol story of the same name.

Plot

A seminary student must survive three nights in prayer guarding the deceased witch maiden while she, along with an army of hellish demons, try to lure him out of his Holy Ring of Chalk.

The movie follows the original tale in a somewhat loose fashion, but manages to retain the majority of the images and action.

Cast

Production

Some of the 'witch' scenes and the ending where Viy appears were toned down due to technological limitations as well as then current restrictions on Soviet film production. The directors were able to avoid the previous restrictions by using what was considered a 'folk tale'.

Release

This was officially the first Soviet-era horror film released in the USSR.

Remake

A modern version starring Jason Flemyng has been in production for several years and has gone through several different deadlines, but is planned for release in 2012.[2] The 1990 Serbian version of the film, called "A Holy Place" has run on the Fantasia Festival 2010.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Staff (2004). The Scarecrow Movie Guide. Seattle: Sasquatch Books. p. 367. ISBN 1-57061-415-6.
  2. ↑ "Viy: News". Russian Film Group. October 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  3. ↑ Fantasia 2010: Subversive Serbia Spotlight – New Stills: Life and Death of a Porno Gang, A Holy Place, and T.T. Syndrome

External links