VIY 1967 Review

  VIY 1967

“Viy” is a Soviet Union made film from 1967. It’s said to be the Soviet Union horror film. I watched it for free on Fawesome, on January 12th, 2026. 

I went in blind watching the film, only hearing that it was pretty scary. I knew nothing else about it. Upon first look, I was immediately enamored with the creepy opening shots of the spiderwebs and stone. It can be immediately said that “Viy” is a beautiful movie. I was really taken back by the various shots that were legitimately taken outdoors. The countryside shots were beautiful to see, and so well captured. In general, the captures in the movie are so well done and artistic. I was legitimately shocked that the movie originally came out in 1967, because the camerawork was ahead of its time, nearly seeming like something from the 1980’s. There’s a lot that doesn’t seem to be known about the film’s background; production trivia is scant. 

The plot of “Viy” is based off of the story of the same name. Originally a story written by Nikolai Gogol, the movie follows the story faithfully. This was interesting to watch after seeing “Black Sunday”, which was released 7 years prior in 1960, and was also inspired by the story. The difference though is that “Black Sunday” is much more inspired than a faithful recreation. “Viy” is essentially the story made into movie form, from what I understand. 
To quickly sum up the plot, three Seminary students get lost after being released for break. They come across a farm, and the old woman only allows them to stay if they agree to sleep in separate rooms. Our main character, Khoma, goes into the barn to sleep, when the old lady comes in trying to seduce him. She climbs on his shoulders and they run outside, where they start flying. Khoma realizes that she’s a witch, he calls on Christ, and they land, where he proceeds to beat the witch to death. Before she dies, she transforms into a beautiful woman. Khoma then runs away, back to the Seminary, where he’s told that he’s to say prayers over a Sotnik’s dying daughter; the daughter asked for him specifically. Despite not wanting to go, he’s forced to anyway. Right before arriving, the daughter dies. When Khoma goes in to see the woman, she turns out to be the beautiful woman he killed. Khoma is then to say prayers over her for 3 nights while locked in the church. After the 3 days, he’s supposed to get 1000 gold. To spoil the ending, this doesn’t happen, and Khoma is scared to death. 

The movie isn’t very long, only about 1 hour and 16 minutes. It builds up in the first half, just to get to the church. I think that this build up is necessary, to understand how much of a coward Khoma was, because he couldn’t admit he hurt that girl. I don’t think he ever admits to anyone in the movie that he killed her. Eventually, it’s made clear that this is all part of an ancient folktale, that the other people are aware of. So, it might have been possible that people knew he killed her. Either way, it seems that others knew he was being haunted by the witch’s spirit. 

Even though this is considered the first Soviet Horror Film, I don’t find the movie scary, honestly. But, I don’t think the Soviet Union would have allowed to it be any creepier than it is. The “horror” aspect is much more in the Scooby Doo spooky realm, than something like “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. But I think that this is fitting, considering that it’s a folktale, and not a slasher film. 

I found the practical effects absolutely amazing in the movie. There was obviously a lot of work put into all of the sets and props. This is most strongly seen at the end of the movie, where the monsters all come out of the Church crevices. The biggest one of all, being Viy. I found the Goblin Viy himself to be an interesting creature, though lackluster in the sense that he wasn’t really worth the movie being named after. Viy was a creature entirely different from the witch, though I know that this is how the original story goes. It’s still a shame though, that Viy is only in the movie for a very short period of time, before it ends. 

The effects used in the movie really show during this final scene, all of the detail that went into making it. The use of green screen magic really added to the magical sense of the movie. Though the modern eye can easily tell that it’s green screen, I think that this looks really well considering the folklore theme. The end part with the hands surrounding Khoma looked really cool and haunted. The wooden Church used for the set adds to this creepy folklore story, and Scooby Doo vibe. I know that Scooby came out 2 years after the movie was made, but I can’t think of anything else that comes close to the feeling that “Viy” conjures.  The campy creepy feeling, that’s a lot more silly in the end, but in a good way. 

The movie has this more classic “scary” feeling, using hand gestures with the girl, in ways that remind me of how theater shows will use hands a lot to create even the smallest of effects during a play. 

I also loved the use of the green screen for the drunk effect, when the men were in the tavern, before reaching the dying woman. I’ve never seen a movie use the screen before in such a way, and I thought that it was very clever. 

Overall, I think that this is a great movie, and actually, really funny. I loved how the camera showed the expression on Khoma’s face when the other women started telling the tale of the witch, which is what ended up happening to him. I don’t know what you’d call this type of cinematography in general, but I love this style so much. It’s definitely one of the earliest examples of “modern” movie making, or rather, an early film that takes a step away from the standard “Old Hollywood”, “Golden Era” film. It uses shots and set making that are similar to movies seen in the 70’s, and that era of horror movies. One that comes to mind, is “Magic” with Anthony Hopkins. That film style is what I thought of, when I saw “Viy”, and ironically, those films are 12 years apart! I’m unsure what the film influences to “Viy” are, but they had to have been different from the standard Hollywood hits of the time. 

Not much info is out there about the movie in general. It seems to have come to America around 2001, judging by a DVD version being released that year, according to Wikipedia. I didn’t see anything about it in the newspaper archives. IMDB doesn’t have much more info either, just some of the same things that are on wikipedia. Interestingly, the wooden church used in the film burned down, but was rebuilt in 2006.

 One of the interesting things about the movie was how it so beautifully captured people who were born a very long time ago. It’s interesting watching this film in 2026, 59 years later. Many of the actors have since passed away, and any of the living young people are old now. Some of the characters, such as the man who plays the old version of the witch, and a few of the men that go with Khoma to the dying woman, were born in the 1800’s! It’s mind blowing, to see actors so well depicted, yet having been born so far away from the time we are in now. I think that goes to show, that with a high enough quality camera, decades in the past can seem nearly modern day, or a few years ago. 

Overall, I think that the movie is worth watching, though you’ll have to read the subtitles. I have no problem with that, though some people do. I found this movie funny, interesting, and artistically beautiful. If you’re into underground horror, weird, cult movies, this is something you should at least watch once. I can actually see myself watching this again. If anything, you should watch the movie for the silly little pufferfish ghoul that they glued crab legs onto. I have no idea what that thing was, but it was so silly and cute. 

4/5 Stars

 

My video: https://youtu.be/Y1Z4SAz6LAQ