Viy

Viy 3D (, internationally known as Forbidden Empire, and in the UK as Forbidden Kingdom) is a 2014 fantasy film produced by Russian and Ukraine Film Group and Marins Group Entertainment and loosely based on the Nikolai Gogol story of the same name. The film was released in cinemas in Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan on 30 January 2014, in the United States on 22 May 2015 and in the United Kingdom on 1 June 2015. The film is directed by Oleg Stepchenko, based on the first manuscript of Nikolai Gogol. The film has been in production since December 2005 and stopped several times due to lack of funding. In October 2012, the filming was completed. Viy was a huge commercial success, even breaking a record for opening weekend in Russia, but was met with mixed reviews. Premise Early-18th-century cartographer Jonathan Green undertakes a scientific voyage from Western Europe to the East. Having passed through Transylvania and crossed the Carpathian Mountains, he finds himself in a small village lost in impassable woods of Ukraine. The villagers share a naive belief that they could save themselves from evil, failing to understand that an evil curse has already made its way into their town. Cast