I have recently discovered some interesting Russian horror movies such as: ´The devil's pass´, 'Queen of spades', or 'The ninth', and, despite of the fact that I did not expect them to be good, to my surprise, not only did I like them very much but also they turned out to be as good as the American ones. One of these is, 'The ninth' directed by Nicholay Khomeki and starred by Evgeniy Tsyganov and Daisy Head.
The plot is quite simple although it caught my eyes from the very beginning. The action takes place in Saint Petersburgh, where a series of brutal crimes and mutilations against women are committed. As a result of this, a detective called Sergey Rostov, played by Evgeniy Tsyganov, is sent there to solve out the crimes and to arrest the killer. With the help of an English medium, Olivia Reed (Daisy Head), he will go in search of the murderer.
Apart from the plot, one of the main reasons to watch it is the extraordinary performances of the main actors: the Moscow born actor Evgeniy Tsyganov and the English actress Daisy Head. I had never seen Russian actors on a film before so I was absolutely delighted by the outstanding performance of Evgeniy as detective Rostov. An example of his versatility as an actor is the scene where he remembers the death of his wife, he is utterly expressive and convincing. In addition to this I would say that he does not have anything to envy to handsome American or European actors, he is as handsome as them. He should be taken into account to act in European and American productions. The female role is played by the English artist Daisy Head, who is quite good as Olivia Reed.
Another positive point is the gothic atmposphere of the Saint Petersburgh streets. It reminds me of the London streets where Jack the ripper used to kill and mutilate his victims. The staging is brilliant and the music is also a little bit scary.
To sum up, I highly recommend everybody to watch it. They will not be disappointed at all and they will find that there are also good horror films in Russia.
