Viy (2014) Reviews

• Don't expect a remake of 1967 movie and you won't be disappointed

  JaneYak2014-04-19

  I liked the movie. When I was going to see it I had already known that it was not a screen version of Nikolai Gogol's story but "a movie based on it". That's why I was not disappointed as some people who went to the theatre to see just a new version of 1967 "Viy". Because it is not. This new "Viy" took the same legend from the book (based on a Slavic folklore legend), the same characters, the same location - a small Ukrainian out-of-the-way village, added some new characters , CGI (quite good), shuffled everything, sprinkled it with humour (sometimes dark)and eminently suitable music. And as a result, we have an interesting mystic story definitely worth watching.

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• Disappointed

  p-i-kazlou2014-02-09

  Viy comes from east slavic legends. Based on these legends Nikolai Gogol depicted Viy in his story back in 1835. There were several film adaptations, but the most notable is considered the one filmed in 1967 in USSR. I can't say that Viy 3D is an adaptation. It is a story which uses Viy legend just as background. And this is the first problem with the film. When you talk about Viy, you talk about fear. The legends are about that, Gogol's story is about that, 1967 film is about that. So how can a film, which places Viy in its title, and even mentions Gogol story, just throw away this spirit of something unknown and frightening, and instead suggest some stupid explanation for the story and challenge the existence of Viy. Another problem of the film is its ugly propaganda constructed from old clichés. Orthodox church is for enslaving people (wow, have you seen this 'new' idea before?), ukrainian сossacks are drunk and live in dirt, the English scholar is smart and can handle everything. In general you can see the contrast - bare and dirty Ukraine vs rich and beautiful England. OK, so maybe for someone who doesn't care about Viy concept and propaganda, is this film good? The story in film is very similar to Sleepy Hollow, but is worse. Plot doesn't offer something new, but fails to provide some solid story. It is a mess without any reasons. I can recall the most effects-loaded scene of cossacks transforming into devils and trying to frighten cartographer. Are there any reasons for this part of plot? No. Are there any consequences of this scene? No. The cartographer wakes up next morning and just continues his work. So you can just remove this scene from the film and you don't lose anything as far as plot is concerned. Same for many scenes. Effects are OK. You can enjoy some scenes. The film is not scary, there are some exciting moments, but the film never crosses the line of a real horror. Acting is decent, everyone did a good job. Conclusions: 1) If you like the story of Viy and want to see some adaptation - the film is not for you. 2) If you want some horror film - this film is not for you. 3) If you don't care much about a new story and would like to enjoy the effects and acting - you can have a good time.

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• A quite entertaining fantasy/supernatural/crime movie.

  p-jonsson2015-09-19

  This movie is probably quite unknown by most people. I certainly had never heard of it when I stumbled on it. It is a quite entertaining little fantasy / supernatural / crime movie though. I am actually not sure what to classify at as. It starts of as a fantasy movie but is it really? The cinematics of this movie is very good. For me it was the main part contributing to the enjoyment. The small world of these villagers is cinematically beautiful, dirty and gritty at the same time. The characters themselves with their enormous moustaches and weirdly cut hair are great. The special effects will perhaps not win any awards but they were good nonetheless. I especially liked the transformation scene during the meal somewhere in the middle of the movie. The story is a bit of a roller coaster ride and sometimes it felt a bit disjointed. It was not really obvious why one scene or event was followed by another at all times. But then, taking into account the later events in the movie it was perhaps meant to be a bit disjointed and "dreamy" and I have to confess that I was extremely tired when watching this movie. The ending was a bit of a surprise. This is where the movie kind of went from a fantasy movie to more of a crime story. I have to say that I did not really see that coming until it was about to fall in my lap. There are definitely worse ways of spending two hours in the evening, especially if you like movies that are not the typical mainstream Hollywood fare.

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• Extraordinary effects, poor dubbing

  banem22017-01-10

  Unlike some comments, I think the effects in this movie are extraordinary, especially the church and dinner scenes, and I cannot remember when I saw such in any movie recently. And it keeps going throughout the whole movie (including complete scenery in whole movie!). The kid in you will watch it mouth open! Unfortunately, for some reason, someone has decided to dub the movie into English since it is originally in Russian and this was done quite poor. I was watching it on the movie channel and I was not sure what is wrong with the tone until I found out this is Russian movie which was dubbed (I am against dubbing)... And I am looking to watch the original version. If you like this type of movies (fantasy), you will have 2 quality hours of full enjoyment!

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• Great fun

  bkbirge2015-12-20

  Thoroughly enjoyable bit of weirdness. The movie looks great and there is some great comedic timing from a lot of the characters here too. The juxtaposition of peasant superstition and aristocratic "there's an explanation for everything" is a great mix. For most of the movie, what is supposed to be real or an illusion from the story's point of view is in question. This reminds me of parts of Pan's Labyrinth, Naked Lunch, Van Helsing, among others. It does have some flaws in the logic and the pacing at times, and it can be a little confusing separating the characters from their grime to make sense of the story. This is one of those movies that's got a lot of art house in it so it's not going to appeal to everyone, but if you like a unique mix of camp, fx, and writing that leaves some questions unanswered you'll enjoy it. I highly recommend this one. I would go see a sequel in a heartbeat.

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