Such a frustrating disappointment

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Blistering performances.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I have seen the original, most enjoyable , not dubbed but with sub-titles, as with a lot of English versions movies not as good as the originals. This is not bad just reminds me of movies like Van Helsing (2004) and other fantasy like movies for people who like these types of movies it's OK.

ly terrible. Don't do drugs, kids! Watching this with a friend as we speak and we can't stop laughing at every single scene. What an experience! This movie is on acid!I give the movie a 3 because at the very least it was entertaining and made us laugh! It's difficult to pick just one favorite thing about this movie but here's some of them. Keep in mind we don't know the original story and how much of the movie is actually based on it... but it made zero sense to us.Also.. SPOILERS!-All the haircuts! So sexy! -The Landscape. No, really, the landscape is beautiful, I seriously wanna go explore in those woods! A+ on filming location. -the music was very randomly placed sometimes. ...Sometimes! -Viy and its amazing ability to hide in very open spaces. -The dubbing! I bet this must have been one hell of an experience for the two English speaking actors in the movie. Speaking of, why did they add two English actors in a Russian production? Wouldn't it be better to just have an all Russian cast? -when the casket came to life and attacked the young monk (was he a monk?) in the church. A+ entertainment! -The extremely trippy scene with the billion arms frolicking around Jonathan Green and the demon with thousand eyes and the longest eyelids in history.. -Lots of dogs in a random scene! A very pleasant surprise! -So.. not sure if I got this right but... there are demons and monsters here (or are everyone just seriously high 24/7?), but the big monster that everyone fear... is a dude terrorizing a village because... a woman turned him down? What is this, an episode of Scoobie Doo? Honestly, what the hell did I watch? Why did we just watch this? I think we spent our Saturday well!"This is the best movie ever." - my friend every five minutes "I don't understand anything..." - Also my friend every five minutes3/10 stars

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.

I did not like this film. The plot is week. 3D effects are fine, but they can not improve the overall impression. The plot of original Russian film "Viy" (1967) was is fully distorted. The original film was really scarring. The new film has nothing common with Gogol's great book. It should have another title, not "Viy". Ukrainian men are shown as stupid and permanently drunk people. Ukrainian women are also shown as silly witches. But the hero of the film is an English scientist. The general idea is that Ukainian (and Russian) people can do nothing without help of Europe. The is no truth in the film. Even more, it is harmful and anti-patriotic. Do not recommend it.