Get ready for spooky season with this ancient Soviet haunted feature! The first horror film ever produced by the USSR is a folktale about a Ukrainian religious student who has his faith tested over the course of three crazy nights locked in a church with a vengeful witch! Featuring absolutely incredible practical special effects and a manic energy reminiscent of cult-fan-favorite House, Viy is a woefully overlooked symphony of horrors and visual splendor.
We welcome our friend, cinematographer Ryan Kroboth, back onto the podcast for this one to discuss this film's spectacular visuals, and pick apart its dense thematic layers.
Viy
Directed by Georgi Kropachyov & Konstantin Ershov
1967, USSR
Incredibly Strange Video is produced and edited by Ryan Quinn and Cassie Kay. Follow us on Bluesky @isvpodcast.bsky.social for updates on the newest episodes!
Theme music:
The End by EVA
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.
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