BABA YAGA: TERROR OF THE DARK FOREST (2020)
Genre: Horror
Director: Svyatoslav Podgaevskiy
Cast: Maryana Spivak, Svetlana Ustinova, Denis Shvedov
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Rating: PG13 (Horror)
Released By: Golden Village
Official Website:
Opening Day: 20 August 2020
Synopsis: A young family move into a new apartment on the edge of town and hire a nanny to look after their newborn daughter. After gaining the trust of the young parents, the nanny begins scaring their young daughter and older son, Egor, at night. Egor tells his parents about their nanny’s strange exploits but they don’t believe him. For peace of mind his father installs security cameras, but they don’t register anything out of the ordinary. One day Egor comes home to find that his little sister has disappeared along with the nanny. His parents are in a strange trance-like state and don’t remember ever having a daughter. All her toys and clothes have vanished along with her, as if she was never there. Egor sets out with his friends to look for her. They are convinced that the nanny is actually an ancient Slavic demon that once went by the name Yaga. And if the kids don’t succeed in their quest, their parents will forget them too.
Movie Review:
Not often do we get the chance to see a Russian horror on the big screen, and fortunately, we’re glad to report that ‘Baba Yaga’ is as good a maiden experience as any for those who are new to the country’s brand of scares.
Based upon the Russian folklore of a child-eating witch, director and co-writer Svyatoslav Podgaevsky’s adaptation reimagines the legend in modern times. Set in a quiet suburban community of somewhat identical three-storey homes, the story tells of three young children who are forced to confront the return of Baba Yaga looking for a way to return from her world to ours.
Egor (Oleg Chugunov) has just moved into the community with his father and stepmother Yulia (Maryana Spivak). Though Yulia makes every effort to try to reach out to him, Egor is still reeling from the death of his mother, and finds it difficult to accept both Yulia and her newborn daughter Varya. Rounding out the trio is Dasha (Glafira Golubeva), an only child whose movements are closely supervised by her stern mother, and Anton (Artyom Zhigulin), the neighbourhood bully who works at and is adopted by the icy supervisor of the neighbourhood supermarket.
Each has his or her own troubles at home, and when they first meet, it is with Egor saving Dasha from Anton’s harassment. But it soon becomes clear that there is something sinister lurking around their neighbourhood – Egor senses it first when weird things happen at home with the arrival of their nanny Tatyana (Svetlana Ustinova), followed by Varya’s disappearance; Dasha next experiences the evil entity when it assumes the identity of her piano teacher; and last but not least, Anton encounters it when two of his best friends disappear in the deep forested woods next to their community.
Confirming their suspicions is the local outcast Alexey (Aleksey Rozin), who lives by himself in the forest since losing both his wife and daughter to the witch. Alexey tries desperately to hang on to both their memories, in order that they not be lost forever to the darkness, and he advises Egor to do likewise before Varya is also forgotten in eternity. Undaunted, Egor ventures into the witch’s lair to save her, and though initially reluctant, both Dasha and Anton eventually join him on a mission to stop the witch once and for all.
At slightly over one and a half hours, Podgaevsky and his co-writers Natalya Dubovaya and Ivan Kapitonov keep the storytelling tight and concise. The build-up is well calibrated, slowly notching up the danger the children realise they are in for suspense. Eschewing any sort of gore or violence, the filmmakers opt instead for the occasional jump scare to add ‘oomph’ to the unsettling atmosphere they maintain throughout the film, especially in the scenes where the children find themselves in the witch’s side of the world. You’ll appreciate too the care taken to design this alternate world; especially memorable is a scene where Dasha is attacked by an android who emerges from the poster on her wall.
At the same time, the writers provide just enough backstory to each of the three teenage protagonists to lend texture to their respective characters. Not surprisingly, there is additional emphasis on Egor, whose very transformation from disgruntled stepbrother to selfless deliverer is the film’s very emotional ballast. Though it is clear right from the start that Egor is to be that special one whom the witch apparently needs to cross over from her world to ours, the film lets Egor earn that status than simply bestow it on him by showing us just how different and special a boy he indeed is on the inside.
Whether intentional or not, the filmmakers seem to have tailored their film to an audience familiar with the elements and structure of their American counterparts. This means besides the language difference that ‘Baba Yaga’ feels like a US horror movie, especially them ‘80s flicks where teenake kids had to confront a terror way beyond their ages. Don’t get us wrong, it isn’t a bad thing at all; in fact, we suspect that’s probably why you’ll won’t find a cultural barrier when it comes to appreciating the movie. Like we said, it’s as good a maiden experience as any for a Russian horror, so don’t let the fact that the language is foreign turn you away from an otherwise engaging and intriguing tale..
Movie Rating:
(Don't let the fact that it is Russian turn you away; this surprisingly engaging and intriguing horror, based upon the titular Russian folklore, holds no cultural barrier)
Review by Gabriel Chong
