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Movie Review: Forbidden Empire (Viy)

Published

9 years ago

May 20, 2015

If there is one thing I love in this world its mythology from different cultures. Learning their stories and what influences their heroes and fears makes for fascinating story telling. That is why I jumped at the chance to review Forbidden Empire, a film based on a short story written by Nikolai Gogol in 1835. The film is a fun blend of folklore, mystery, and mass hysteria. Sadly, a lot of its charm is lost in translation.

Synopsis: An 18th century English cartographer, Jonathan Green, sets out on a journey to map the uncharted land in order to achieve fame and fortune. Along the way he discovers a small village in a Ukrainian forest cut off by the rest of the world. He soon discovers the dark secrets and dangerous creatures hidden around the town. As he draws closer to solving the mystery he comes face to face with the legendary creature known as Viy.

Fun for the whole family!

There is much to love with this film, especially since the film has its foot firmly planted firmly in a dark fairy tale world. Quickly the hero is sent out on his adventure and thrown into this strange village that is seemingly haunted by witches and a demon named Viy. The cast is settled into to their roles in a very animated almost over the top manner, but it helps make the film fun. The over all production design and characters make this feel a bit like a classic Disney film from the 80’s, back when they were going through their cool phase, with a bit of over the top horror comedy found in the Evil Dead films. This is most prominent in a scene where one of the characters is chased around the church by a flying coffin. You can tell the filmmakers had fun making this film especially scenes that take place in the church. A rich setting of a haunting church on the edge of a tall cliff is where much of the action takes place. When the creatures come out that is when the filmmaker’s imagination truly shines. All of the designs reflect a West European look emphasizing hooves, shrunken limbs, horns galore, and one man walking around with no head.

Unruly Dinner Guests: Transivania Edition

Unruly Dinner Guests: Transylvania Edition

There was a lot I liked with the film, but ultimately it has a few of faults. The biggest fault of this film has to do with the dubbing. The film was not originally recorded in English and the screener was dubbed instead of subtitled. When a dub is done right you will barely notice it, but here it is all too obvious with the voicing not matching the emotion of the actor, often falling flat. This took me out of the film way too many times. This brings into question what was lost in the translation of the film because often times they will cut out references in the dialogue when shown to Western audiences. This doesn’t help if the audience isn’t familiar with the folklore or culture which the film is based and often leaves the film feeling incomplete. The bit that stuck out the most as troubling was the film’s inconsistency with whether or not what was happening was real.

The film takes place in the 18th century in a village that is extremely isolated from society. The film paints this world as taking place in a magically supernatural realm early on, but as the film progress it starts to show that it was actually a case of mass hysteria. Now, I love stories of mass hysteria so I enjoyed this quite a bit, but when reflecting on the film I felt troubled. In order for hysteria to take place there has to be a source, like when a villager tells tales of witches. This plants the seed in the character’s mind of witches and all their witchy ways. But the film throws fantastical creation at Jonathan and us as an audience without a frame of reference to what is happening. This could be explained as an ACTUAL witch doing ACTUAL magic, but the entire experience is chalked up to collective imagination fueled by religious hysteria at the end of the film. Again, this makes sense that the villagers would experience this, but how could Jonathan Greene have any reference to these very specific cultural references? It doesn’t help that the pacing of the film is a bit inconsistent, jumping around a bit and drawing out moments that should have a bit more punch. When they are ramping up the climax of the film they don’t allow the pace to come down even though there isn’t much going on for bits, then ramp up the speed during the wrap up.

Ultimately the issues I had with the film barely stood in the way of having a fun time. The film has some good fantasy and comedic moments, especially the old villager who constantly critiques what is happening. The creature design is really good, especially when Viy comes onto the screen, totally stealing the entire movie. The film doesn’t take itself too seriously and neither should the viewer in order to give a chance this film a chance to be fun. I would however suggest finding a subtitled version of the film as the dubbing is pretty terrible. All in all I gave the film a 6.5/10

Catch Forbidden Empire In theaters and on VOD on Mat 22nd, 2015

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Movies

‘The Strangers’ Invaded Coachella in Instagramable PR Stunt

Published

15 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Renny Harlin’s reboot of The Strangers isn’t coming out until May 17, but those murderous home invaders are making a pit stop at Coachella first.

In the latest Instagramable PR stunt, the studio behind the film decided to have the trio of masked intruders crash Coachella, a music festival that takes place for two weekends in Southern California.

This type of publicity began when Paramount did the same thing with their horror movie Smile in 2022. Their version had seemingly ordinary people in populated places look directly into a camera with an evil grin.

Harlin’s reboot is actually a trilogy with a more expansive world than that of the original.

“When setting out to remake The Strangers, we felt there was a bigger story to be told, which could be as powerful, chilling, and terrifying as the original and could really expand that world,” said producer Courtney Solomon. “Shooting this story as a trilogy allows us to create a hyperreal and terrifying character study. We’re fortunate to be joining forces with Madelaine Petsch, an amazing talent whose character is the driving force of this story.”

The movie follows a young couple (Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez) who “after their car breaks down in an eerie small town, are forced to spend the night in a remote cabin. Panic ensues as they are terrorized by three masked strangers who strike with no mercy and seemingly no motive in The Strangers: Chapter 1 the chilling first entry of this upcoming horror feature film series.”

The Strangers: Chapter 1 opens in theaters on May 17.

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Movies

‘Alien’ Returning to Theaters For a Limited Time

Published

16 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Timothy Rawles

It’s been 45 years since Ridley Scott’s Alien hit theaters and in celebration of that milestone, it is headed back to the big screen for a limited time. And what better day to do that than Alien Day on April 26?

It also works as a primer for the upcoming Fede Alvarez sequel Alien: Romulus opening on August 16. A special feature in which both Alvarez and Scott discuss the original sci-fi classic will be shown as a part of your theater admission. Take a look at the preview of that conversation below.

^{Fede Alvarez and Ridley Scott}

Back in 1979, the original trailer for Alien was kind of terrifying. Imagine sitting in front of a CRT TV (Cathode Ray Tube) at night and suddenly Jerry Goldsmith’s haunting score begins to play as a giant chicken egg starts to crack with beams of light bursting through the shell and the word “Alien” slowly forms in slanted all caps across the screen. To a twelve-year-old, it was a scary pre-bedtime experience, especially Goldsmith’s screaming electronic musical flourishes playing over scenes of the actual movie. Let the “Is it horror or sci-fi?” debate begin.

Alien became a pop culture phenomenon, complete with kid’s toys, a graphic novel, and an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It also inspired dioramas in wax museums and even a frightening setpiece at Walt Disney World in the now-defunct Great Movie Ride attraction.

_{Great Movie Ride}

The film stars Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, and John Hurt. It tells the tale of a futuristic crew of blue-collar workers suddenly awakened out of stasis to investigate an undecipherable distress signal coming from a nearby moon. They investigate the source of the signal and discover it’s a warning and not a cry for help. Unbeknownst to the crew, they have brought a giant space creature back on board which they find out in one of the most iconic scenes in cinema history.

It is said that Alvarez’s sequel will pay homage to the original film’s storytelling and set design.

_{Alien Romulus}

^{Alien (1979)}

The Alien theatrical re-release will take place on April 26. Pre-order your tickets and find out where Alien will screen at a theater near you.

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Home Depot’s 12-Foot Skeleton Returns with a New Friend, Plus New Life-Size Prop from Spirit Halloween

Published

18 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Cameron McFarland

Halloween is the greatest holiday of them all. However, every great holiday needs amazing props to go with it. Luckily for you, there are two new amazing props that have been released, which are sure to impress your neighbors and frighten any neighborhood children who are unfortunate enough to wander past your yard.

The first entry is the return of the Home Depot 12-foot skeleton prop. Home Depot has outdone themselves in the past. But this year the company is bringing bigger and better things to their Halloween prop lineup.

This year, the company unveiled its new and improved Skelly. But what is a giant skeleton without a loyal friend? Home Depot has also announced that they will release a five-foot tall skeleton dog prop to eternally keep Skelly company as he haunts your yard this spooky season.

This bony pooch will be five feet tall and seven feet long. The prop will also feature a posable mouth and LCD eyes with eight variable settings. Lance Allen, Home Depot’s merchant of decorative Holliday gear, had the following to say about this year’s lineup.

“This year we increased our realism within the animatronics category, created some impressive, licensed characters and even brought back some fan favorites. Overall, we are most proud of the quality and value we are able to bring to our customers with these pieces so they can continue to grow their collections.”

But what if giant skeletons just aren’t your thing? Well, Spirit Halloween has you covered with their giant life size Terror Dog replica. This massive prop has been ripped out of your nightmares to appear frighteningly on your lawn.

This prop weighs in at almost fifty pounds and features glowing red eyes that are sure to keep your yard safe from any toilet paper throwing hooligans. This iconic Ghostbusters nightmare is a must have for any fan of 80s horror. Or, anyone who loves all things spooky.