#konstantin yershov

[bloodaria]

VIY | Вий (1967) dir. Konstantin Yershov & Georgi Kropachyov

[cinematicjourney]

Viy (1967) | dir. Konstantin Yershov, Georgi Kropachyov

[astralbondpro]

Viy (1967) // Konstantin Yershov and Georgi Kropachyov

[301-302]

Вий (Viy | Konstantin Yershov | 1967)

[dilettantefish]

[junglejim4322]

Viy (1967)

[sloshed-cinema]

Viy (1967)

Save a broomstick, ride a priest.  Gogol’s story takes on a goofy bent in this Soviet confection.  The main thrust of the story has a classic fairy tale structure to it, a series of escalating repeated encounters as a wayward seminarian struggles to read vigil prayers for a deceased young woman.  She is in fact a witch, and the reading of Scripture is repulsive to her.  Each night, Khoma Brutus protects himself with a chalk circle, but each night the witch is increasingly fervent in her drive to breach the barrier.  When bashing it with her fists and pummeling it with her casket like a battering ram both prove insufficient, she summons hordes of demons and other creatures of the night, building to the hulking Viy.  At points, the film skirts a line between creepy atmosphere and goofiness, but the final night explodes in a delightfully ooky spooky phantasmagoria, as if Ray Harryhausen had designed the Black Lodge.  You can see makeup lines and discern how the effects were achieved, but somehow that makes it all the more enjoyable.

As is a theme, horror emerges from a confrontation between the divine and the profane.  Yet here, even our priest figure is flawed.  He doesn’t doubt God, and in fact implores the Almighty to save him from the witch.  But he’s weak of the body and mind, constantly in his cups and fleeing at any opportunity despite insisting that Cossacks know no fear.  All of the seminary seem beyond help, though—the seminarians released for a holiday unleashes pandemonium on the local town as the young men harangue women and steal food.  Viy, in a strange sort of way, becomes God’s judgment on Khoma for his debaucherous ways.

Truly, this could be nothing other than a Slavic work, as the filmmakers root the story in the culture of Kyiv and its surroundings.  Song features prominently throughout, from prayer to drinking songs to women passing the time while they work.  It interweaves in lovely fashion with Karen Khachaturian’s score, evocative of Rimsky-Korsakov and Rachmaninov.  The Russian Orthodox Church wherein the encounters take place is imposing and atmospheric, paintings of saints glowering down from the walls before being replaced by demonic images in the climax. 

THE RULES

SIP

Madlad seminarian antics.

Someone makes the sign of the cross.

Bird calls.

Someone says ‘Cossack’.

BIG DRINK

Granny bewitches someone.

The rector tells someone off.

Singing people.

[filmgifs]

A curse upon you! With the wings of a bat! With the blood of a serpent! I shall curse you! Curse you! 

ВИЙ (VIY) 1967 | Konstantin Yershov, Georgi Kropachyov

[classicfilmsource]

ВИЙ (VIY) 1967 | Konstantin Yershov, Georgi Kropachyov

[russiawave]

Viy (Spirit of Evil or Vii, Russian: Вий) is a 1967 Soviet horror film directed by Konstantin Yershov and Georgi Kropachyov. Based on the story of the same name by Nikolai Gogol, the film's screenplay was written by Yershov, Kropachyov and Aleksandr Ptushko. The film was distributed by Mosfilm, and was the first Soviet-era horror film to be officially released in the USSR.

eng subs

[victusinveritas]

Hallucinatory 1967 Soviet horror film,(first Soviet-era horror film to be officially released in the USSR) VIY, directed by Konstantine Yershov and George Kropachyov.

Based on the classic novella by Nikolai Gogol – and previously adapted by Mario Bava as BLACK SUNDAY – the first horror film ever produced in the Soviet Union remains “genuinely frightening” (1001 Films You Must See Before You Die), “a visual grab bag of terror” (FilmInquiry.com) and “one of the best horror films of all time.” (IndieWire): In 19th century Russia, a seminary student is forced to spend three nights with the corpse of a beautiful young witch. But when she rises from the dead to seduce him, it will summon a nightmare of fear, desire and the ultimate demonic mayhem. Bursting with startling imagery and stunning practical effects by directors Konstantin Yershov and Georgi Kropachyov, this “overlooked classic” (Paste Magazine) has influenced generations of directors for more than half a century and is still unlike any horror movie you’ve ever seen.

[bloodaria]

VIY (1967) dir. Konstantin Yershov & Georgi Kropachyov

[atna2-34-75]

Viy

Konstantin Yershov and Georgi Kropachyov, 1967

[stilllifesposts]

VIY 1967

Director: Konstantin Yershov, Georgi Kropachyov

USSR | Russian | 77 mins

[301-302]

Вий (Viy | Konstantin Yershov | 1967)

[nextstopwonderland]

Films seen in 2024: Viy (1967, Konstantin Yershov and Georgi Kropachyov)