1967 • Russia • Directed by Konstantin Ershov, Georgiy Kropachyov
Based on a novel by Nikolai Gogol, Viy tells the story of a group of seminary students who go on summer break out of the city. Drunkenly wandering in the countryside, they end up lost and spend a night in the company of a haggard witch. A scuffle breaks out, and one of the students, Khoma (Leonid Kuravlyov), murders the witch. Only it turns out that he killed a beautiful landowner's daughter (Natalya Varley), and now he must sit with her body in a church for three days, protecting it from evil spirits.
Up Next in Kat Ellinger and Dima Ballin Selects
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Vampire Circus
1972 • United Kingdom • Robert Young
As the plague sweeps the countryside, a quarantined village is visited by a mysterious travelling circus. Soon, young children begin to disappear, and the locals suspect the circus troupe might be hiding a horrifying secret...
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Blind Beast
1969 • Japan • Directed by Yasuzô Masumura
Blind Beast is a grotesque portrait of the bizarre relationship between a blind sculptor and his captive muse, adapted from a short story from Japan’s foremost master of the macabre, Edogawa Rampo (Horrors of Malformed Men, The Black Lizard, Caterpilla...
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The Witch (Italian version)
1966 • Italy • Directed by Damiano Damiani
When a young historian (Richard Johnson, Zombie Flesh Eaters) is lured to work for an ageing woman, only to be held captive when he becomes obsessed with her beautiful daughter (Rosanna Schiaffino, The Killer Reserved Nine Seats).
