The new brainchild of director Svyatoslav Podgayevsky in 2017, breaking the start record of his horror film The Queen of Spades: The Black Rite, was recognized by domestic film industry experts as a very competent and verified project in the Gothic horror genre.
Expert Score
At the same time, the horror film “The Bride” has also been more restrained by critics, indicating a lack of bold, innovative solutions. Therefore, if you evaluate the overall rating of art critics, i.e. ratio of positive reviews to the total number of reviews of professionals, then in percentage terms it amounted to 40%. Although the reviews of the film “The Bride” (2017), published by ordinary people, indicate that the picture copes with the task of captivating and scaring the beholder just fine.
Patriotic Gothic Horror
Horror-gothic film, which is highly demanded abroad, is poorly represented in Russian cinema, Russia does not have its own Crimson Peaks, Women in Black and Sleepy Hollows, we have a different mentality, folklore, developmental history and aesthetics. Nevertheless, in the presence of talent and an irresistible desire, our filmmakers have all the conditions to lift the curtain over this eerie world. As the reviews of the film “The Bride” say, the authors of the project can’t take away the fact that they managed to create a strong, consistent world in which everything that happens is explained clearly, understandably, although sometimes it is somewhat corny. Svyatoslav Podgaevsky already had the experience of forming a picture from an eerie ceremony, now the “Bride” can be called the worthy heiress of the Queen of Spades, she is also carefully thought out. Given the apparent simplicity, this fact is very important for high-quality horror, most of the tapes of this genre "break" on the banal stupidity and illogicality.
Universal "horror story"
According to the reviews, the film “The Bride” has all the necessary components: a frightening secret, colorful characters, innocent victims and forced accomplices of a specific sacrifice. The undoubted advantage of the horror is the author’s decision of the creators to take the narrative beyond the framework of civilized modernity. At a certain point, the story transforms into a universal horror story, which at times enhances the viewing experience.
The ensemble of the tape “Bride” (2017) received extremely positive reviews. Many reviewers noted that all the actors completed their work very soundly and perfectly complemented the overall picture. Alexandra The child, reincarnated in the image of Elizabeth - the elder sister of Ivan, was unsurpassed. Many filmmakers believe that this is her best acting work at the moment. In the heroine of Alexandra an unimaginable number of faces, it is impossible not to admire her. The reference cleanliness is hidden behind the sweet appearance of Victoria Agalakova, the performer of the main role of Nastya. This character is exemplary with the status of thirst for life, naivety and love.
Strong genre project
Reviews of the film The Bride, published by film critics, emphasize that Podgayevsky in his new work does not seek postmodernism, does not ignore canonical genre patterns and traditions. His picture works exactly as a true genre movie should. It is possible that sophisticated fans of horror films will be sad from the amazing twist of the imagination, without an unpredictable plot twist, but the average citizen will definitely like the tape. Therefore, the Russian film "Bride" reviews are welcome. The picture was made in an extravagant style of the author, annoying mistakes and errors of previous works by the director were taken into account, the performers do not behold themselves, but are fully included in the game, computer graphics are not annoying. The experience of many years of work of domestic horrormakers was not in vain - in 2017, the Bride was the most impressive genre project that is not embarrassing to praise.
Short storyline
Neutral reviews of the film "The Bride" received for a very predictable storyline. The story begins with the fact that actor Igor Khripunov, familiar from Podgayevsky’s previous work, in the image of a pre-revolutionary photographer, repeatedly tries to fix the head of a deceased beloved in front of the lens. According to the fashion of that time, deceased relatives and friends needed to be captured in a photograph. There was also a belief that the deceased could be returned from the world of the dead. Therefore, the photographer tried to capture the soul of the deceased bride on a daguerreotype, so that after transferring it to the body of a serf girl.
After such a prologue, the narrative is postponed today, where the descendant of the same daguerretypist Ivan (Vyacheslav Chepurchenko from “Treason”) is connected by marriage with the beautiful Nastya (Victoria Agalakova). After painting, the young wife wants to get acquainted with her spouse, and he takes her to the family estate, which is a landowner Gothic estate from the 1800s. The way of life of the inhabitants of the estate also did not change much. The sister of a young husband Lisa (Alexandra Child) uses kerosene lamps. Relatives greet the spouses kindly enough, but soon Ivan disappear somewhere, and Nastia begins to overcome unkind premonitions.
Not without problems and shortcomings
In general, in a demonstration of the mansion and its inhabitants, the creators of the picture adhere to the standards of design ideas of foreign horrors like "Crimson Peak" or "Others". Residents of the house look and behave externally, realizing that they are inside a horror movie. This to some extent explains why they are not trying to leave the ill-fated monastery. This fact, according to the reviews of the audience, in the film “The Bride” is one of the most controversial issues. It is difficult for the beholder to realize that in a comprehensive sense, all the characters in the picture behave as if they identify themselves with the characters in the movie. And this time, we are not talking about postmodern deconstruction as in Scream. At the same time, the director knows all genre standards (references to “Mom”), therefore, he tries to work accurately, without snobbery. Therefore, the episodes when the main character sees herself from the side are by no means schizophrenic, she just sees herself as a movie character. It is quite logical for a horror movie dweller to wander aimlessly through dark corridors, not trying to escape at a favorable moment, but, on the contrary, heading to the darkest nooks and crannies. All these delights are easy to accept, the real incidents in the picture begin when the plot logic is limping and the rules indicated by the mythology of the tape are violated.
Disadvantages of the picture
Svyatoslav Podgaevsky not only directs the second film, but also tries himself in film drama, writes scripts. Perhaps that is why the plot problems migrate from project to project. According to film critics, the nature of everything that has happened is poorly worked out in the cinema, drastic changes are allowed in the behavior of the evil spirit in order to please the scene necessary for the author, significant details are missed, plot sagging and even holes take place, straining only to explain the ending.
Of course, after the starting “Possession 18” and the more competent “Queen of Spades” for Podgayevsky, who was called by the filmmakers “the hope of the Russian horror”, “The Bride” is a really huge leap forward. There is no enumeration in the number of frightening effects and screamers, special effects do not upset (for once), most horror stories work in a harmonious combination with the soundtrack. It is also impossible to say that cinema in everything is predictable and completely composed of genre cliches - this is what the people who watched the horror Bride (2017) say in the reviews. The rating of the horror movie according to the rating of the aggregator of reviews “KinoPoisk” is 4.7.
Outperforming
“The Bride” is truly the most technically sound and high-quality domestic horror of the present in terms of form, it is one level higher than all the latest samples like “Diggers”, “Route Built”, “Queen of Spades” and “Dislike”. If we consider it in the context of world cinema, then the Podgayevsky project is the average city correspondent of the level of production work by James Wang. The picture is the case when a positive impression of viewing remains even if you find private blunders and frank flaws.
As a defensive reaction
Domestic horror-makers should already understand that a Russian viewer, who does not particularly trust domestic film production, will not forgive mistakes in the logic of the plot of a horror film. This perception is like a defensive reaction, reminiscent of laughter while watching frightening moments. Only this time includes common sense and an irresistible desire to criticize everything that they try to scare without serious argument.