Viy

Based on Nikolai Gogol’s story of the same name, this nightmarish Soviet-era fantasy feature recounts the tale of a Kiev seminary student who becomes entangled with a powerful, seductive witch who won’t take no for an answer. Produced by Aleksandr Ptushko, frequently (and inaccurately) labeled the “Soviet Walt Disney,” the film has been called “the first Soviet-era horror film to be officially released in the USSR,” bypassing the censors by positioning itself as a folk tale—and disguising, according to scholars of the era, a barely hidden streak of Ukrainian nationalism that feels timely now.