'Viy': The Soviet Union's First Official Horror Film

I cant remember how exactly I stumbled across this title. I know a few weeks back I was looking for horror films that I hadn't yet seen to watch around the Halloween month. I do this every year and it often feels as if I have exhausted much of my options, and looking for something new was a great motivation to mix things up. I put Viy aside for a while as I watched other things, but today I finally decided to give it a change. I found it interesting primarily due to the fact that it was a film from the Soviet Union; to add to this, it was the first horror film from the Soviet Union. Filmed in Ukraine. I wouldn't classify this film as a horror title though. The Soviet Union was still very much behind in trying to figure out the genre in this era it seems. A few decades later the Soviet Union would throw out plenty of films regarding the threat of nuclear war and its consequences, which I found to be much more unsettling and atmospheric. But Viy comes from the year of 67. A decade in which the west had already been throwing out horror titles for decades already, with its most notable coming from the 30s with its creation of monster brands that would eventually fall under the control of Universal. I'm not surprised that an attempt at the horror genre from the Soviet Union would feature some oddities, however. This is a film coming from the tight grasp of people that would've done anything to ensure the limitations of certain ideologies entering the powerful realm of visual media.

If anything, I found Viy to be more of a comedy attempt than a horror one, while containing certain elements of the thriller genre that didn't quite make sense to me. This is an incredibly strange film but one that also has a lot of interesting things to it that allow it to stand out. I really found myself enjoying some of the set design and technical aspects of the filmmaking. It's quite an impressive film in some regards. But that aforementioned comedic side leaks into the film, removing a lot of that suspense. Those assumed thrills become laughs. Those moments of eerie directing and movements turn into something that aren't actually that discomforting a few seconds later. As if the horror genre was guessed. And I think that is ultimately what happened here. The lack of films entering from the west due to the censorship, the powers at hand still pulling the strings and ensuring things didn't dive into territories that would've distanced people from the Soviet Unions interests; that takes into consideration the ideas of religion and all that comes with it: good, evil, spirts, and magical beings. Much rather, one thing that remains is culture, elements of the old way of Ukraine's lifestyle. The signs of its history mixed with Orthodoxy.

To my understanding this is based on a short story, one that contains aspects of Ukrainian mythology and folklore. Something I'll definitely be reading up on a bit more after writing this and having seen this title. There's definitely more of interest here than the film provides.

I think the best part of Viy is its start, as well as its ending. A story that has a young monk ending up in a location that is new to him. A small village. Upon arrival he meets an old woman, to which he discovers is a witch after she takes him up on a surprising flight into the sky. This is met with the two landing, the witch not seeming particularly sinister in any fashion. He beats her, to which she returns to youth and and claims to be dying. Leading to this, the town insists on using his expertise of the young woman's funeral. The film then takes a turn into the question of faith with how he spends the following nights in the church with the witch's body. The start is incredibly strong, such an odd introduction that has us in the remote parts of Ukraine, a traditional looking village with traditional looking attire. I really loved how the film looked in terms of costume design. That old Ukrainian "Cossack" look of a lengthy moustache, round heads and little hair on the top. It has a very gothic look to it alongside this more dated setting. Old villages with straw rooftops. Long robes for clothing. But dark, pointy churches and settings.

In this sense I do think it did fit the more western look of horror with the gothic style. I really found the settings of the film to be powerful. This mixes up from time to time, but much of the film takes place in exterior shots of the village with the interior shots of the church where the witch remains. The young monk having to spend the night with her each night, as her toying with him grows in intensity. From waking up and roaming around the church, trying to enter the circle in chalk he has placed down around him. There is a little bit of atmosphere here, but much of these nights are lacking in events. Which is surprising to say for a film that is just about an hour in length, incredibly short runtime for most films. The witch doesn't really do a whole lot at first, which brings much of the film feeling a little bit like a slog. Those aforementioned comedic moments come out of nowhere, where the monk will suddenly demand music to dance to in front of the villagers. Where he'll scream about how a Cossack doesn't fear anything and act normal. There are parts to the film where I just didn't quite get what it was trying to say or do, not quite really feeling the atmosphere or the story, but I stuck with it.

And it's towards the end where this film shines. Throughout it are great aspects of filmmaking. Beautiful gothic set design and techniques with special effects that are highly impressive for the era. And with the aspect ratio the film has, beautiful camera movements that have us from various perspectives and performing movements that definitely engage us more with the protagonist and the environment he finds himself within. In terms of directing and cinematography, this film was incredible. Primarily towards the end where much of these special effects get ramped up and are displayed in a sudden montage of chaos. A few minutes which really highlight the film, definitely making it the best part of what it has to offer. It's hard to say whether I can recommend this though. This isn't for everyone. Most would certainly get bored, the thrills aren't really there. The story seems to be a bit all over the place in some senses. There's a spark here though. One that had me wanting more from the film. Wanting to see more of those special effects and the witch.