The first Soviet horror film “Viy. The actresses were horrified by Pannochka

The film adaptation of “Viya” is one of my favorite films from childhood) I can’t count how many times I’ve watched it))

A masterpiece film. For me, this is simply the ideal of the mystical genre. In horror, it is not blood or cosmic monsters that frighten me - but precisely this horror: a mysterious farm, an old lonely church.

These suddenly extinguished candles, cats in the corners, cobwebs, menacing faces of saints, the dull sound of the coffin lid slamming shut. Something truly Slavic, Old Russian, and even beautiful nature, a farm, the Ukrainian spirit - all this creates a magnificent, truly Gogolian atmosphere. I really love these particular stories by Gogol, “Evenings on a Farm,” “Viy,” and I must say of all the film adaptations based on them, the most successful are “Viy” and “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” - wonderful!
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/wikipedia/
Viy is a character in Ukrainian demonology in the form of a formidable old man with eyebrows and eyelids reaching down to the ground. Ethnography suggests that it is precisely with the image of Viy that the belief about the evil eye is connected - that everything perishes or gets spoiled from a bad look.
“Viy is a colossal creation of the common people’s imagination. This is the name given to the Ukrainians for the chief of the gnomes, whose eyelids go down to the very ground. This whole story is folk legend. I didn’t want to change it in any way and I’m telling it in almost the same simplicity as I heard it.” (Note by N.V. Gogol.)
In Gogol's work, Viy does not kill with his gaze, but rather removes the effects of all amulets against evil spirits when looking at him. He is, as it were, a guide, and not the killer himself.
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“Viy” became the leader in Soviet film distribution in 1968 (32.6 million viewers). This is the first and only horror film shot in the USSR.
In the 1970s, the film was purchased for foreign distribution: in the USA (under the distribution title "Viy or Spirit of Evil"), Argentina (under the distribution title "Viy, espíritu del mal"), Finland (under the distribution title "Velho") and France (under the rental name "Vij").
Very interesting to see documentary Nonna Bokareva “Viy. Soviet-style horror" (2007), dedicated to the filming of "Viy".


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I think everyone knows the plot. Bursak Khoma, who accidentally killed a witch, the daughter of a master, must perform her funeral service - this is last will lady and he has no choice. On the third night he dies - so she takes revenge on him.

Cast wonderful. Young L. Kuravlev - he is perfect!,

N. Kutuzov - witch,

and lady - N. Varley. She is very beautiful in this film!

The voice is also beautiful, but it turns out it belongs to Klara Rumyanova - she voiced the lady.
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The idea of ​​​​the film adaptation belonged to the director of the Mosfilm film studio, Ivan Pyryev, but due to an acute lack of time, he proposed filming the film to two students of the Higher Directing Courses of the USSR Union of Cinematographers, Georgy Kropachev and Konstantin Ershov. However, much in their plan did not appeal to him, and it was decided to involve the famous film director and storyteller Alexander Ptushko.
I didn’t even know all these details; a lot of interesting things are told in the documentary.
Interesting Facts.
 It is repeatedly mentioned that after the release of “Viya” the all-Union fame of Natalya Varley, which fell on the actress thanks to the role of Nina in the comedy “ Caucasian captive" ended unexpectedly. Great amount letters from fans with proposals for “marriage” abruptly disappeared. According to Natalya, she “began to have a dark streak in her life,” but then in the film “Viy. Horrors in the Soviet Way” she abandoned these words. The actress did not act in films for 4 years. Varley herself justifies her absence from the screen with a word given to Yuri Katin-Yartsev, a teacher theater school them. B. Shchukin, where Varley began to study.
 Repeated attempts to show “Viya” during sea ​​cruise. As soon as the film began, a storm broke out, calming down immediately after the interruption of the session. As a result, at the request of Natalya Varley, who, according to the organizers, was supposed to speak before the show, after the third attempt, it was decided to stop showing the film.
 The candidacies of directors Kropachev and Ershov were proposed by the head of the Higher Directing Courses Leonid Trauberg.
 Initially, Vyacheslav Nevinny was planned for the role of Khoma Brut.
 Khoma’s Ukrainian bowl haircut – wig.
 “Flight” of the Witch (Nikolai Kutuzov) on Khoma was filmed in the pavilion. The pole, disguised as a broom with a horizontal bar on which Nikolai Kutuzov was sitting, was attached at a low height. The performer of the role of Khoma, Leonid Kuravlev, also hung on this bar and moved his legs in the air, imitating running.
 Alexandra Zavyalova was first cast for the role of Pannochka (Elena Sanko and Svetlana Korkoshko also auditioned). But during the filming, at the insistence of Ivan Pyryev, Zavyalova was removed from the role and she was replaced by Natalya Varley. According to another version, future husband Zavyalova, director Rezo Esadze demanded that she refuse the role.
 Three coffins of Pannochka were prepared as props for the film. One is real, for filming Natalia Varley lying in it. The other two are for scenes of flying around the church: a small closed one and an open one, with a special stand equipped with a belt of assembly workers that kept the actress from falling, suspended in a suspended state on six metal cables.
 During filming of the flight, Natalya Varley once fell out of her coffin due to a technical failure. Only the reaction of Leonid Kuravlev, who managed to catch the actress, saved her from injury. Leonid Kuravlev couldn’t film for a week after that because he severely strained his arms. Nevertheless, this incident gave rise to numerous rumors about Varley’s death.
 At the insistence of Alexander Ptushko, some scenes of the confrontation between Pannochka and Khoma, which took place in the church, were later re-shot in the pavilion scenery of Mosfilm.
 Of all the films in which Leonid Kuravlev starred, “Viy” is his favorite film
 The film features 50 crows (captured in the studio area) and 9 trained black cats.
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In addition, many have probably seen the modern film adaptation - the film “The Witch” (2006) with E. Kryukova and V. Nikolaev.

But, I must say, this is not close to Viy. Yes, there are a lot of tricks and effects, but it’s drawn out and boring. The soundtrack is just good. Well, in general, this is a different film, a different story, and some people like it too. In principle, I watched it twice - well done too, it has its own atmosphere. But sometimes it's just boring and there's too much going on.
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I also found the trailer today. Here's something they filmed again on a similar topic:

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Here is /my-hit.ru/film/3970/online" target="_blank">http://my-hit.ru/film/3970/online" target="_blank">here you can watch the film online. The only thing is that when I watched the film a long time ago, the sound was perfect. Now it looks like they did something to him. So, in the church the candles now crackle so intensely, as if there were fires all around, the lid slams shut with a ringing sound, some kind of clanking instead of those terrifyingly dull sounds that gave goosebumps. I don't know what quality is on this site.
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It is clear that to the current viewer, experienced in all kinds of horror films, “Viy” seems just a cartoon. Yes, there is something fairy-tale-folklore about it, and there are some blunders here and there.

Viy himself is not scary at all, and even unsuccessful - he is funny, but there is some kind of superstitious mysticism in the film - for example, I wouldn’t watch it alone at home at night)) And in general it was filmed like that in those years - 1967! - no graphics.. Great movie. and I think you all have seen it))

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Thank you for your attention! =))

On November 26, 1967, the premiere of a real thriller took place in Moscow - an adaptation of Gogol’s story “Viy”

The film shocked the imagination of the inexperienced Soviet viewer and collected 32.6 million rubles at the box office in a year. We learned about how the first “socialist horror film” was born from reporting documents stored in the Mosfilm archives and from the creators of the film

The Mosfilm archive contains an application for the film adaptation of Viy from two desperate students of the Higher Directing Courses - Konstantin Ershov and Georgy Kropachev. They worked in cinema for a long time, but in different directions: Ershov was an actor, and Kropachev was an artist. Both entered directing courses and became passionate about making Viya. This is what they wrote in their application to Mosfilm management:

“Soviet cinema has no right to farm out to foreign artisans the right to use, and predatory at that, the treasury of Russian classical literary plots. So, in recently Italian director Mario Bava staged a film based on the story “Viy” as a purely commercial horror film, called “The Mask of Satan.” Our film is conceived in direct polemic with crafts this kind..." The film studio gave the go-ahead to launch the Viya script in order to give an answer to "craftsmen from the West." Soon, aspiring directors began auditioning artists.

The actresses were horrified by Pannochka

In the film, Pannochka was played by Natalya Varley. But another actress began acting in the film - Alexandra Zavyalova, who beat out contenders Elena Sanko and Svetlana Kokoshko at the auditions.

But as soon as filming began, Zavyalova became seriously ill. The filmmakers were waiting for the actress, filming Kuravlev alone. As soon as Zavyalova received treatment, arrived on the set and was made up as a witch, she felt unwell again. Filming was suspended again. Then Zavyalova’s husband called with a request to leave this “devilish picture” altogether, saying that this role would bring trouble. Zavyalova left the picture. And rumors have already spread throughout Moscow that Pannochka’s role is cursed.

The directors urgently began to look for a new artist on female role. But the actresses refused to even appear at the auditions. Zhanna Bolotova and Natalya Varley agreed to play Pannochka. During the auditions, Bolotova suddenly fell ill, and Varley, who was not afraid of the “devilishness,” was automatically approved for the role of Pannochka.

The very next day after her approval, her measurements were taken for... the coffin in which she was to fly.

By the way, many actresses even at the audition stage refused the role old witch. As a result, this role had to be cast not by a woman, but by a man - actor Nikolai Kutuzov, who unexpectedly began to “pawn by the collar” during the filming. For this reason, one day even the shooting was disrupted. But the actor, either jokingly or seriously, explained the weakness by the fear of the devilish role...

How they filmed the evil spirits

It soon became clear that the footage was no good. The authorities, in order to save the situation, sent two venerable film storytellers, who together shot “Sadko”, “Ilya of Muromets”, “The Stone Flower”, to strengthen the film - director Alexander Ptushko and his cameraman Fyodor Provorov.

Ptushko literally rolled up his sleeves and got down to business with enthusiasm. He forced the workers to remodel the “church” that had already been built for filming, in which Khoma was supposed to read prayers. The church was made lopsided, crooked, the director demanded that rotten logs and rotten boards be found for the scenery...

They worked on the creation of the Viy army for several weeks. Vampires were made with lop-ears, ghouls - with three noses, ghouls - with big lips (with “dumplings” half-faced).

Ptushko even invited ten midgets to the shoot to contrast with the tall evil spirits, to give them a more sinister look.

Real crows and eagle owls took part in the filming of the second night of Khoma. 50 crows were caught right at Mosfilm in a snare, with bait laid out. At the director’s command, black birds fluttered noisily out of the windows of the “church” that opened with a crash...

On March 7, 1966, the third night with the participation of monsters was filmed. These were 14 dolls. Actors playing living evil spirits - ghouls, ghouls and vampires - also ran around here. Everyone was made up so that they looked bald and naked. Some had a bluish tint, others were grayish-black,” says film researcher and writer Fyodor Razzakov. - On March 9-10, filming of episodes with monsters and evil spirits continued. At Pannochka's command, they attacked Khoma, but could not break through the magic circle that he had drawn around himself with chalk on the floor. On March 16, they filmed the same Pannochka and Khoma, as well as the evil spirits that were climbing the vertical wall. This trick was filmed like this: a “wall” was made from thick boards, which was placed at an angle to the floor, and filming was carried out from above, from a camera crane. 12 gymnasts and 4 trampoline players played the role of evil spirits here.

On March 17, they began filming Viy for the first time. The monster's costume was made of burlap, and instead of arms, tree roots were attached to it. This heavy robe was worn by a weightlifter.

ABOUT important role vibrator in art

Three coffins were made for the filming of the horror film: in the first Pannochka lay, in the second she flew, and the third flew with the lid closed (the last one was half the size of the other two to make it easier to move). A metal pin-bracket was mounted into the base of the “coffin for flight”, to which the actress was fastened with a mounting belt. Behind her, under her robe, she had a reliable support. But Varley was very afraid of these flights - she had a fear of heights since childhood, which she overcame in the circus.

“Pannochka’s Anger” was filmed on a special vibrator, which shook and swayed along with the actress.

Curse of Viy

Despite big success paintings, accompanied her for many years after the premiere bad reputation. They gossiped that it was no coincidence that the creators of this picture, after a while, began to leave for another world one after another. And indeed, after the premiere, the main director of the film, Ptushko, began to get very sick. He died in 1973, before his 73rd birthday.

Two years later, cameraman Fyodor Provorov passed away, two months short of his 70th birthday. In 1971, actor Alexei Glazyrin, who played the centurion in Viya, died, three and a half months short of his 49th birthday. Two years later, actor Stepan Shkurat, who played Yavtukh, died: “Viy” was his last work.

In 1984, the second director of the film, Konstantin Ershov, died at the age of 49.

Natalya Varley immediately after filming fell ill with a serious illness for a long time. "Viy" pursued her for a long time. According to her, sometimes it came to mystical things. For example, one day the actress went on a sea cruise, the organizers of which took with them a cassette of Viy. The show was announced on the first day. Varley said introduction. But before the start of the session, the calm sea suddenly became violent. Varley saw this not a good sign and persuaded me to reschedule the session for the next few days.

But a day later, history repeated itself. As soon as the lights in the wardroom went out, the sea began to foam. The second show was also cancelled.

The next day, Varley persuaded the cruise organizers to show another film instead of Viy. They agreed, but they stubbornly staged “Viya”. Less than five minutes had passed since the start of the session when the ship began to rock violently and the ship began to list. Her son ran into Varley’s cabin shouting: “Mom, they’re still showing Viy!” The actress rushed into the wardroom and almost forced him to stop the session. As soon as the show stopped, the sea calmed down. Out of superstition, they no longer tried to show this film on the ship.

Varley admitted that she regretted starring in the first Soviet horror film: “After the film, troubles began to befall me. I seemed to attract them... I repented for this role, received forgiveness from the church and am sure: you shouldn’t look into places where mortals are forbidden to enter.”

However, the fate of Leonid Kuravlev turned out to be quite happy. According to the actor, his role did not affect him in any way. True, in “Viya” he still FIGHTED evil spirits. And almost won...

Leonid Kuravlev: Getting a role based on Gogol is happiness!

On main role Khomy auditioned for Vyacheslav Nevinny and Vladimir Korshunov. But they approved Leonid Kuravlev’s sample. Here's what the artist himself told us about it.

Auditions are a natural thing for cinema. In this picture they affirmed not the Glory of the Innocent, but me. And, for example, in another film, joint with the Finns - “Behind the Matches” - Gaidai tried me, but in the end he took the Glory of the Innocent, - says Kuravlev.

As for Gogol, I got great pleasure from filming Viya. It's a blessing to get a role in a film based on Gogol. I have re-read and re-read the author's text many times. An aura of mysticism exists there. She helped me a lot as an actor.

They say you saved the actress during filming?

Natasha Varley. There is an episode where she flies in a coffin. One day Natasha’s coffin began to spin, and suddenly she began to fall. From a height of 2.5 - 3 meters. But I was at the point where I just had to, without retreating a single step, put my hands up - and she fell into them. Miracle. This is also Gogol!

45 years have passed since the release of perhaps the most terrible Soviet mystical film"Viy." Moreover, the film, based on the story of the same name by Nikolai Gogol, was repeatedly mentioned as the only horror film made in the USSR. Of course, today it cannot be compared with such a horror as “Saw” or the thriller “The Silence of the Lambs”, but the title of the first Soviet horror film is firmly attached to “Viy” and, I must say, it is worth it.

Three nights of fear

For those who have forgotten what Gogol wrote about in Viya, we remind you of the plot - both the book and the film, since Soviet filmmakers transferred the story to the screen practically without changes. One night main character, student Khoma Brut (this role went to Leonid Kuravlev, although Vyacheslav Nevinny was originally planned for it), accidentally killed a witch. Soon he is called to perform the funeral service for three nights a young lady (actress Natalya Varley), who turns out to be the same witch who now wants to take revenge on Khoma. Brutus tries to escape, but this is prevented by the lady’s father, who promised to fulfill his daughter’s dying request. Master Centurion (Alexei Glazyrin) presents Khoma with a choice: if the seminarian completes the ritual, a generous reward awaits him; if Khoma tries to evade the funeral service, he, by the will of the centurion, will be severely punished. Reality and incarnations folk beliefs intertwined when Khoma has to defend himself with prayers for three nights against various evil spirits: the deceased witch lady, ghouls, ghouls and, finally, himself terrible monster- Viya.

The idea for the film adaptation of “Viya” belonged to the famous Soviet director, at that time the director of the Mosfilm film studio, Ivan Pyryev. Only due to an acute lack of time did he offer to shoot the film to two students of the Higher Directing Courses of the USSR Union of Cinematographers, Georgy Kropachev and Konstantin Ershov.

Viy

A character from Ukrainian demonology in the form of a menacing old man with eyebrows and eyelids reaching down to the ground. Having huge eyes with heavy eyelids, Viy cannot see anything on his own, but if several strong men manage to raise his eyebrows and eyelids with iron pitchforks, then nothing can hide before his menacing gaze: with his gaze Viy kills people, destroys them and turns them to ashes cities and villages.

Circus evil spirits and trained black cats

Filming took place in the Bogorodchansky district Ivano-Frankivsk region, the village of Sednev, Chernigov region and the Yeletsky monastery of the city of Chernigov. However, the material filmed on location disappointed the management of Mosfilm, turning out to be “too realistic,” including because of the scenes with naked women. So it was decided to involve the famous film director and storyteller Alexander Ptushko in the work. As a result, a lot of material filmed by Ershov and Kropachev was cut out, and a number of ideas remained unimplemented.

Three coffins of Pannochka were prepared as props for the film. One is real, for filming Natalia Varley lying in it. The other two are for scenes of flying around the church: a small closed one and an open one, with a special stand equipped with a belt of assembly workers that kept the actress from falling, suspended in a suspended state on six metal cables. During filming of the flight, Natalya Varley once fell out of her coffin due to a technical malfunction. Only the reaction of Leonid Kuravlev, who managed to catch the actress, saved her from injury. Leonid Kuravlev couldn’t film for a week after that because he severely strained his arms.

Viy's costume was very heavy and none of the actors could move normally in it, so a specially invited weightlifter had to play this role. It was the circus artist, acrobat Nikolai Stepanov. Other evil spirits were also played by circus performers and athletes Soviet Union, a total of 12 gymnasts and 4 trampoline jumpers. To create a contrast for them, it was decided to include several dwarfs in the crowd. The film also featured 50 crows (captured in the studio area) and 9 trained black cats.

The film was released in 1967. And a few years later, in the 1970s, the film was purchased for foreign distribution: in the USA (under the distribution title “Viy or Spirit of Evil”), Argentina (under the distribution title “Viy, espiritu del mal”), Finland (under the distribution title under the name "Velho") and France (under the rental name "Vij").

Mystical impact of the film

After the release of Viya, the all-Union fame of Natalya Varley, which fell on the actress thanks to her role as Nina in the comedy Captive of the Caucasus, ended unexpectedly. A huge number of letters from fans with marriage proposals suddenly came to naught. According to Natalya, she “started a dark streak in her life.” The actress did not act in films for 4 years. Varley herself justifies her absence from the screen with a word given to Yuri Katin-Yartsev, a teacher at the theater school. B. Shchukin, where Varley began to study.

Repeated attempts to show Viya during a sea cruise failed. As soon as the film began, a storm broke out, calming down immediately after the interruption of the session. As a result, at the request of Natalya Varley, who, according to the organizers, was supposed to speak before the show, after the third attempt, it was decided to stop showing the film. A wooden church Holy Mother of God, in the village of Gorokholino-Les, Bogorodchansky district, Ivano-Frankivsk region, in which a number of scenes of the film were filmed, burned to the ground. By official version, the fire occurred as a result of violation of the rules of installation and operation of the electrical network.

It is worth saying that the mysticism did not end there. In 2005 Russian director Oleg Stepchenko decided to shoot another “Viy” based on Gogol’s manuscript, and in 3D format. The cast includes Valery Zolotukhin, Agniya Ditkovskite, Alexey Chadov, Igor Zhizhikin, Jason Flemyng and others. However, the film has been in development for 7 years now. No one is talking about what exactly prevents its release on screens, but about unusual, mysterious cases on film set There are already legends. Now the official website of the film lists the next expected release date - 2013.

At that moment he stuck his head out from under the table, so that my saber passed a centimeter from his face!

The monsters in the film are divided into three groups - made-up actors, animatronic dolls and completely virtual three-dimensional monsters. Photo: kinopoisk.ru

Yeah... Five people from our film group are no longer alive... But there are good events: our actor Lesha Chadov married our other actress Agnia Ditkovskite: they either argued or made up. And finally they became spouses. Such is mysticism...

Digital only

According to Wikipedia, the budget of the film “Viy” 3D is $26 million.
Think about it!
* According to Alexander Kulikov, producer of the film “Viy” 3D, some of the film’s props were “borrowed” from the creators of the thriller “Van Helsing” starring Hugh Jackman.
History of cinema
* Domestic and foreign filmmakers have more than once taken on the film adaptation of Viy. The first film was made by Russian cinema pioneer Vasily Goncharov in 1909. The tape has not survived, as well as the next production in 1912. But the 1916 film was directed by Vladislav Starevich, who worked in technology puppet animation, - intact.
* In 1960, the Italian Mario Bava staged the film “The Mask of Satan” based on Gogol’s story. Stephen King and the Bravo TV channel included this film in the list of the 100 most scary movies throughout the history of cinema. And in the UK, due to excessive cruelty, it was not allowed on screens for eight years.
* Outraged by the work of the Italian, who, in their opinion, used our classics for low commercial purposes, young people began film adaptation of Viy Soviet directors Ershov and Kropachev (later they were joined by film storyteller Ptushko). In 1967 they filmed famous movie with Kuravlev and Varleya in leading roles.
* In 1990, the Yugoslavs took a swing at the story of Pannochka and Khoma and made a colorful horror film “ Holy place" (Not to be confused with the 2007 US film of the same name)
* In 2006, director Oleg Fesenko released the film “The Witch” with Valery Nikolaev and Evgenia Kryukova in the lead roles. The credits say that it is based on a story by Gogol.

Devil's dozen secrets of the Soviet Viy

1. The role of Pannochka was initially played by Alexandra Zavyalova - Pistemey from the series “Shadows Disappear at Noon”. But when about half of the film was filmed, at the insistence of Mosfilm director Ivan Pyryev, the actress was changed to Natalya Varley (Elena Sanko, Ada Rogovtseva, Zhanna Bolotova and Svetlana Korkoshko auditioned). According to another version, Zavyalova became seriously ill. And her future husband, and then lover, director Rezo Esadze, ordered her to leave the “devilish picture.”
2. Leonid Kuravlev played Khoma with a bowl haircut and wore a wig. Initially, Vyacheslav Nevinny was planned for this role.
3. While filming the flight in the coffin, Varley once almost injured herself. She was saved by the excellent reaction of Kuravlev, who managed to catch the fallen actress. Leonid was out of action for a week, having pulled his arm muscles.
4. Rumors about Varley’s troubles and misfortunes, which allegedly befell her after the premiere, circulated for a long time. Gossipers linked her absence bright roles, death ex-husband(Vladimir Tikhonov) and numerous intrigues of envious people specifically with the “Viya” curse.
5. The lady in the frame was placed on a special vibrator, a device in the form of a refrigerator, so that the viewer got the impression that she was shaking with anger.
6. The role of the old Witch who flew on Khoma was played by a man - the “king of the episode” Nikolai Kutuzov. Suddenly he began to drink heavily, once disrupting a shoot. The actor explained his weakness by fear of evil spirits.
7. Circus artist and acrobat Nikolai Stepanov starred as Viy.

Monsters of the 1967 model terrified Soviet citizens

8. Ten midgets took part in the filming to contrast with the actors portraying tall devils.
9. To depict animal spirits, they tried to photograph insects under a magnifying glass - praying mantises, rhinoceros beetles and spiders. But they used bats, ravens, eagle owls and black cats.
10. The original version had several scenes with naked women. But the management of Mosfilm considered these episodes “too realistic” and ordered them to be cut out.
11. The music for the film was written by Karen Khachaturian, who allowed himself to quote Mussorgsky’s symphony “Night on Bald Mountain.”
12. Late in the evening of February 20, 2006, a wooden church in the Ukrainian village of Gorokholino-Les, where key scenes were filmed, burned to the ground.
13. In the first year of distribution, “Viy” took 13th, “diabolical” place in terms of the number of tickets sold.
Chief of the Dwarves
From what mythological depths did the colorful character Viy, who was feared, emerge? Soviet schoolchildren, historian Elena DMITRIEVA said:
— The word “Viy” (in Western Slavs- Niy) in the Ukrainian language comes from the words “viya”, “viyka” - eyelash - a powerful, squat old man with iron fingers and drooping, overgrown eyelids, which he is unable to lift on his own. He is blind, but since he lives in underground kingdom, he doesn’t need to see. According to various legends, Viy owns iron ores and stores underground wealth. And this is similar to European gnomes. Gogol himself wrote: “Viy is a colossal creation of the common people’s imagination. This is the name given to the Little Russians for the chief of the gnomes, whose eyelids go all the way to the ground. This whole story is a folk legend. I didn’t want to change it in any way and I tell it almost in the same simplicity as I heard it.”
Koshchei the Immortal has common features with Viy. In one of Belarusian fairy tales the maid raised his eyelids, five pounds each. Baba Yaga is also connected with Viy, but functionally - both provide escort to the kingdom of the dead: Yaga does this by turning the hut located on the border of the worlds.
Viy's predecessor is the pagan Veles, one of the main East Slavic gods, and his follower is the Christian saint Kasyan.

The Slavic god Viy is the mighty guardian of the border separating the light and dark parts of the world of spirits and souls

Guest from the Underworld

An expert on ancient religions, Vladimir LOPATKIN, believes that in ancient times, characters like Viy could have actually existed and scared half to death:
“It’s no coincidence that all the devilry happens to Khoma in the church. A place seemingly farthest from demonic obsessions. Meanwhile, the people from whom Gogol borrowed the plot did not think so. This has scientific explanation. Previously, Christian churches were built exclusively on sacred sites. Where temples to pagan gods stood for thousands of years. These were the places of power of the Earth, the gates to parallel space. Moreover, during their excavations, underground structures are often found. It is possible that this is precisely the point of contact with gnomes and trolls. After all, completely different nations There are the same legends about little men living underground. So ancient people marked the places where they came to the surface with different Stonehenges. So Viy could well exist in reality and appear either from underground or from a parallel reality.