Nikolai Gogol’s short story ‘Viy’ gets a big screen update

MANILA, Philippines - Based on Nikolai Gogol’s famous short story, the upcoming dark fantasy blockbuster Viy: The Spirit of Evil — produced by Russian Film Group and Marins Group in Russia — is set to open in Philippine theaters on Oct. 22.

Nikolai Gogol — regarded as the first Great Russian novelist along with Turgenev, Leskov and Tolstoy — was more known for his enjoyable short stories, one of which was Viy. The onscreen version stars Jason Flemyng from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Charles Dance who plays Tywin Lannister in HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Viy is the name of the dark and notorious monster responsible for the deaths of many village folk in a sleepy 17th century Ukrainian village. Viy’s most terrifying ability is to murder and cut through the soul of any one with just the gaze of his many eyes.

The movie revolves around the voyages of a cartographer, Jonathan Green, who is spellbound by a heavy fog on his way to Eastern Europe and chances upon a Ukrainian village under siege by the monster Viy, thus begins the protagonist’s crusade to end the village’s misery.