Viy

Summary

“Bring out the Viy! Bring out the Viy!”

Boutique film distributor Severin Films has a catalog of over two hundred and fifty titles. The group was formed in 2006 and specializes in promoting under-seen films. Their output includes action films from the Seventies, Italian exploitation cinema ranging from Bruno Mattei to Umberto Lenzi, art house films by Alejandro Jodorowski, and many other types of films. It is an eclectic mix that has amassed a devoted following over the course of time. I have been a fan of the label for a couple years and have followed their release schedules with anticipation each month. I recently decided to start going through my collection and watching some of the films I have purchased. It is not uncommon for me to purchase numerous titles from a label and only get around to watching those films when I can fully commit and binge many things that have peaked my interest. 

One of the films that I was most interested in viewing is the Soviet horror film named Viy. It is considered to be the first horror film produced within the Soviet Union. The film was based on a short story (almost novella length) by author Nikolay Gogol. The story was written in the early nineteenth century. The tale is best described as a gothic fable with strong supernatural components. I watched the film a couple nights ago and was so impressed by the film that I read the story by Gogol the next day.

(Editorial Note: Viy is a film with a fairly short running time, so any plot synopsis unavoidably gives away half the plot of the film. Spoilers can’t be avoided for the first half in order to discuss the film, so if you want to watch the film without any preconceived ideas, skip to the final paragraph.)

The story begins with Russian seminary students being released by their deacon for their summer break. This is a time of revery for the novice priests and they typically spend their time drinking, eating, and taking snuff. Three of the monks in training head into the country. Khoma Brutus (Leonid Kuravlyov) and his two traveling companions arrive at a house in the middle of the night. Famished and exhausted, they beg for board from the old woman that greets them at the gate to the house. She agrees to let them stay there, but they will need to sleep in separate areas because she has so many tenants in the house already. They agree to her conditions. Khoma Brutus is sent to rest in the barn. Laying in the hay, Khoma is approached by the old woman. He realizes upon her approach that she is a witch. This revelation has come too late. She hops onto his back and rides him into the yard like an animal, grabbing her broom along the way. As they fly through the night sky, Khoma begins to pray out loud and they fall to the ground. On the ground Khoma begins to attack the old woman. She screams that he is killing her, and to his amazement, she transforms into a beautiful and serene young woman (Natalya Varley.) Khoma flees through the forest away from the woman and back towards the seminary. In town, Khoma is summoned by his superior. A wealthy and powerful corporal has called for Khoma by name to say prayers over his deceased daughter. Khoma asks that he not be sent, but this is not an option. Soon four strong men are sent to take Khoma on the journey to the corporal. Along the way, Khoma befriends the men and shows himself as enjoying drink and snuff. Arriving to meet with the corporal, he is frightened to see that the young woman that called for his presence by name is the same young woman that has come to him originally as a witch. The corporal tells Khoma that he must perform prayers over the body of his daughter by himself within the church for three nights. 

Viy is a truly original piece of filmmaking. I try to seek out films that show me things that I haven’t seen before. Viy ranks as one of the most interesting films I have viewed within this last year. Foreign horror films tend to feel different than those made for American audiences. Soviet films had very little American influence penetrate their craft, so they feel even more removed from American filmmaking. Watching Viy, it honestly felt like I was watching horror crafted in an alternate universe. The techniques used in the film for the special effects are visually striking and stand out from effects in Western horror films. It’s a visually compelling experience and part of that is due to the fact that the Soviets had their own processes they used for color filmmaking that differ from the Technicolor and CinemaScope processes used back in the States. Saying that Viy looks and feels different than anything I watched in the last few years feels like a wholly accurate statement.

The storyline of the film follows the writing of the short story very closely. Viy is not just one of the better horror films I have watched this year, but it is also certainly one of the better literary adaptations I have seen in a while. I can’t imagine that Gogol’s writing could receive a much more accurate rendering than is presented in Viy. Whole portions of dialogue are pulled directly from the text. The actions taken by the characters are exactly as written in the book. When I was watching the film, I felt like some of the ideas in the film that seemed to cast doubt on the sanctity of priests was possibly added in by the Soviet adapters. This was not the case! The text of Gogol is accurately reflected in the film without any forced perspective applied by the adaptation. The last adapatation I saw that brought a text to life so completely was No Country for Old Men which brought Cormac McCarthy’s writing to life perfectly. A close second might be A Most Dangerous Man which adapted Le Carre brilliantly. Viy is in that same class of perfectly crafted adaptation.

Now – that is not to say necessarily that this film will appeal to the masses. Full disclosure: I was an English literature major with a minor in theology, so I find myself drawn to Gothic filmmaking and texts. I really enjoyed the central storyline of the somewhat unlivable lead character whose faith is tested by forces beyond his control. The film (and the text it is based upon) are unsympathetic at times and certainly unsentimental. This helps to differ the film from other Gothic films that I have seen. In some ways Viy feels like a doppelgänger version of what Hammer Horror could have looked like without any Western influence. The themes and time period are similar to those explored in the Hammer films, but the gothic text is closer to works like Matthew Lewis’s The Monk. The cinematography in the film is fantastic. The colors will probably remind some of Mario Bava’s more colorful output. Directors Konstantin Ershov and Georgia Kropachyov drew solid and memorable performances from their cast.

Overall – Viy is a fantastic film. Unique, compelling, strange, and very literary, I highly recommend checking out the film and forming your own opinion of it. In the meantime, if you want to read the text that was the basis for the film, it is a public domain text. On Kindle you can find the story within the free Ebook of The Mantle and Other Stories by Nikolai Gogol. Enjoy!

Video

Severin Films has provided a very good looking transfer in 1080p of Viy in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1 with an MPEG-4 AVC encode. The format of 1.37:1 means there are black bars on the side of the screen for all widescreen televisions. The movie’s print seems to be in good shape and I did not notice many indications of damage to the print. My guess would be that the scan was done in 2K, but that is just a guess. Fine detail is appealing and filmic grain is apparent without becoming obtrusive. The coloring of the film is one of its most appealing qualities displaying a blue hue in most sequences. that said, the film can become a little dark at times with some heavy shadows that obscure detail at times. I was really impressed with the transfer overall.

Audio

Severin Films has provided a well done DTS-HD MA 2.0 track. The sound quality is pretty excellent. I had no trouble hearing the dialogue in the film. The score of the film relies on classical motifs well and then does an excellent job of accentuating the horror aspects in the church sequences in the finale. I was pleased with the presentation.

Supplements:

• Viy the Vampire – director Richard Stanley leads a spirited discussion of Viy and the vampiric texts of the time when it was first published. I enjoyed this discussion, although I am not one hundred percent sure that I agree with his premise that Viy was a vampire. In the actual text, Viy is mentioned as a gnome. Regardless, this is a really enjoyable discussion.
• From the Woods to the Cosmos – film historian John Leman Riley gives an incredibly insightful overview of Russian science fiction, fantasy, and horror films. I know very little about this subject and found this piece really compelling viewing. It is obvious that Riley has done his homework. This is a great feature.
• Trailer
• Soviet Silent Horror
• The Portrait
• The Queen of Spades
• Satan Exultant

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Severin Films have chosen a great film to champion in Soviet gothic horror film Viy. It is one of the most unique film experiences I have had in a while. The film is a pitch perfect adaptation of a short story by Nikolai Gogol and an entertaining piece of filmmaking. It’s colorful, stylish, and entirely unsentimental. This film will feel very foreign from what Western audiences are accustomed to watching, but I mean that as a compliment. I really enjoyed the film. The technical specifications of the Blu-ray release are very good and the supplemental features are both fascinating. Highly recommended for anyone with any interest in gothic literature or gothic cinema.