Wednesday, May 8, 2024

VIY 1967 (SEVERIN) BLU-RAY

The first Russian horror film!

What a great little film! The movie starts with three monks from the church who are looking for a place to spend a cold evening.

One of them is almost seduced by an old hag witch but he manages to kill her. Several days later he is requested to go to a home where a dying young woman has asked for this specific monk to pray over her.

When the monk called Khoma (Leonid Kuravlyov)arrives he is told the woman has died and he must spend three nights with her body in the mortuary and pray for her soul.

He is reluctant but agrees when told his pay is 10,000 gold pieces. The first night the dead woman rises from her tomb but Khoma protects himself inside a magic circle.

The second night the woman tries to get him again and fails, but during the day people notice that Khoma's hair has turned gray. On the third night the woman summons many demons from hell as well as VIY, an impressive monster and they manage to kill Khoma and take his soul.

We learn at the end of the film the young girl was actually the witch that Khoma killed at the beginning of the movie.

This is a minimalist film with maximum outcome. The effects are very good and the VIY costume is one of a kind. A circus performer played the monster because the costume was extremely heavy.

I recommend this film to any horror fan. It's a MUST SEE and the quality of the print is beautiful.

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