Film #7 — 1/1 Former Soviet Film; 1/6 Countries (USSR)
Also filed under: A-One
By C. Ramsay
One of the few feature-length horror films from the USSR, sometimes argued to be the only true title in the category, Viy is a morality tale wrapped in folk horror. Beginning with three seminary students who find themselves lost in the country after trying to make it home for vacation, they eventually find a farm and rudely demand shelter and food from a witch in the form of an old woman. Khoma is the most egregiously demanding of the three, earning him interest from the witch, though all the students are completely uninterested in the praxis of their doctrine and are shown to be disruptive to everything and everyone around them. None seem to practice earnestly, and Khoma repeatedly uses his ties to piety as a way to conceal his wrongdoings, at no point showing any actual selfless consideration for those around him or the harm he causes.
The film builds tension through the quickening of cuts and increasing the speed of camera movements, using lots of playful handheld camerawork to add a fluidity to much of the motion that becomes jarring when it suddenly stops. The viewer is told exactly how to feel and when to feel it, but there’s such a strong comedic tone throughout that this approach adds to the absurd surrealist ride rather than feeling like the audience is being spoon-fed. Blending with beautiful imagery, Viy becomes nightmarish in its repetitions and in the length that some sequences carry on for, eliciting the same feelings of frustration from not being able to run properly in a bad dream. The use of diegetic music in one scene, too, adds to the absurdity faced by the protagonist, and to the joy the people he is staying with glean from his terror. It’s notable that Khoma is drunk, drugged, sleep deprived, or some combination of the three, for practically every supernatural event he witnesses, raising questions about what his actual experiences are, though they have the same effect whether in his head or in front of him.
The focus of the camera sometimes blurs briefly before aligning again, and there are some sudden cuts that don’t feel like they were stylistic choices, but both inadvertently add to the muddled reality and nightmarishness of the film. There are a couple of shots that feel unique to Viy, unclear how they managed to be pulled off, and the finale caps the events with some great set work and practicals.
Star rating (/5): ★★★★★
Recommend?: Yes!