Forbidden Empire
2014 · Movie · R · 128 min · ★ 5.9 · 40% critics
In the early 18th century, a European cartographer on a scientific journey east becomes stranded in a remote village hidden by fog and surrounded by impassable woods. As he tries to make sense of the locals’ superstitions and strict isolation, unsettling events force him to question whether the danger comes from outside—or from within the community itself.
Based on Viy
Also known as Forbidden Kingdom · The Forbidden Kingdom
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Details
- Original title
- Вий
- Years
- 2014
- Release date
- 2014-01-30
- Language
- Russian
- Rated
- R
- Runtime
- 128 min
- Max quality
- SD
- Critic score
- 40/100
- TMDB rating
- 5.9/10 (338 votes)
- Budget
- $26,000,000
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want a strange, folklore-tinged fantasy with monsters, comedy, and a dreamy, sometimes confusing plot, with vibes some compared to Van Helsing or Sleepy Hollow; Not for you if you need tight storytelling and clear dialogue.
Pros: imaginative creature effects; eerie fairy-tale vibe; quirky dark humor | Cons: muddled, disjointed story; uneven pacing; distracting English dubbing
Themes
- monster
- mystic
- church
- demon
- witchcraft
- dark fantasy
Cast & crew
Jason Flemyng
as Jonathan Green
Aleksey Chadov
as Petrus
Agniya Ditkovskite
as Nastusya
Yuriy Tsurilo
as Sotnik
Olga Zaytseva
as Pannochka
Aleksandr Yakovlev
as Overko
Igor Jijikine
as Dorosh
Valeriy Zolotukhin
as Yavtukh
Nina Ruslanova
as Zhena Yavtukha
Viktor Bychkov
as Kuznets
Directed by Oleg Stepchenko