Episode 407: VIY (1967)

VIY is a cult classic inspired by Ukrainian folktale, dubbed “the Soviet Union’s first horror film,” and it’s full of exactly the kind of wild, awe-inspiring creativity you’d expect of a moral tale from behind the Iron Curtain! On this episode, we gush over VIY’s vibrant final act like everybody always does, but we also dig into what makes the slow start special. Long story short: It’s PROBABLY got something more running under the surface than coffin-surfin’ witches and vodka-drunk villagers. Stick around for Cody’s Noteys, where the rest of us end up drinking too much booze in order to survive the night… like any good Cossack! References: VIY (1967) by Benjamin Desbois for Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/2026/10/16/viy-1967/ Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy tickets at https://www.trylon.org/ Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog, at https://www.perisphere.org/perisphere-blog-post-guidelines/ Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! #EvilIncantations #DCP Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music is a jaunty tune played on the sopilka (cопiлка), the performance of which was portrayed by uncredited actor Sergey Vanyashkin in VIY. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 407: VIY (1967) 5:22 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 7:58 - The pacing 17:00 - A defense of the slower middle act 26:04 - Sympathy for Khoma Brutus 51:31 - That’s the MF Viy 56:41 - When does Khoma Brutus actually lose his faith? 1:06:03 - The Junk Drawer 1:13:27 - Cody’s Noteys: Three Nights in Trylove Chapel (a dice roll-based adventure through the plot of VIY)