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Quite a historic production, “Viy” was the first Soviet-era horror film to be officially released in the Ussr and one of the most influential Russian films of all time, particularly due to its startling visuals and effects courtesy of directors Konstantin Yershov, Georgi Kropachyov, and perhaps most notably, artistic director Aleksandr Ptushko. The film was included among the “1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die” and now finds its way to a stunning Blu Ray release, courtesy of Eureka.

The story revolves around a group of seminary students, who, despite the strictness associated with the fact that they have their lessons by monks, are anything but disciplined, frequently getting drunk, and joking all the time, as the introductory scene that has them making a goat read the bible highlights.

As the students are sent home for vacation, three of them get lost on the way in the middle of the night.

Viy

Blu ray

Severin Films

1967/ 1:37:1 / 78 min.

Starring Leonid Kuravlyov,Natalya Varley

Directed by Konstantin Ershov, Georgiy Kropachyov

Anything can happen in a horror movie and that was one of the reasons despots from Stalin to Khrushchev banned the genre from their homeland for the better part of a century. Education and propaganda, not cheeky attacks on the status quo were the prime directives of Soviet cinema – yet one so-called horror film managed to sneak through the Iron Curtain in 1967 – Viy, directed by Konstantin Ershov and Georgiy Kropachyov. Based on Nikolai Gogol’s creepy fable about a persistent witch and her hapless prey, it’s possible the state allowed this particular thriller to pass because special effects artist Aleksandr Ptushko takes a distinctly playful approach to the story, flipping its nightmare scenario into a quirky campfire tale.

Viy is set in Ukraine and stars Leonid Kuravlyov as Khoma, a naive seminarian,...