III: The Ritual

This is a strange combination of true creepiness and stunning visuals albeit very dark. It's a Russian movie so it's in subtitles, which is good because unless 1000% would be put in setting this to English, it would not be as effective. So a town has a infection killing its folk and two girls want to stop it with the help of a Priest. That's the barebones of it, but the visuals are so magnificent in a perfect darkness like way . So indulge in this film strange and haunting in a artistic vein.

Two sisters, who have just lost their mother to an illness that has plagued their village, only have each other to lean on. When one of them becomes gravely ill and the villagers decide that those who are sick must be quarantined, the other turns to their priest for a place to hide. While caring for her sister, she comes across a strange book in the priest's home and learns there is a ritual that may help save her sister. She approaches the priest, who agrees to help, and they begin the ritual in which the healthy sister must enter her ill sister's subconscious. There she must find her sister's biggest fear and eliminate it to break the grip of the illness. The illness has taken over and made the ill sister's subconscious a dangerous and horrific place but the healthy sister is willing to brave it to save her sister. Will it work? This is your plot.

Let's start with the good things about this film. It is a visually appealing film. Some of the scenery is beautifully portrayed with nice reddish hues. Even the horror aspects of the film have been nicely done. The acting is quite well too and the story, while not a new idea, has a few changes from the norm. There's a twist.

The bad things. The pace is really slow but it does draw you into it. There's not a lot of character development and that takes away from your ability to become invested in the characters. The story needed some work. By that I mean not everything was explained to my liking and there were some situations that were sorta vital that lacked detail.

My take away from this is that it isn't an awful film. It had some problems but it held my interest. I'd like to give it 6.5 stars but we don't have that option here so I rounded up to a 7. I'm glad I checked it out.

Russian horror flick but be aware that it isn't going to be a gory ride or a flick full of action going on. This is a slow moving flick but made with excellent cinematography.

It's all about possession in a small town were everybody is getting sick and two sisters are being involved in the sickness. One of them is getting sick up to the other to cure her with the help of a priest.

In fact, that is the story but the flick is full of creepy and weird shots. As said earlier the editing and the use of the camera was well done. But of course not everybody is into arty flicks. If you are into possession horror then this is a must see, if you are into gory flicks and can't stand slow moving flicks full of blah blah then leave it.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

I must pinch myself, just to make sure I'm awake. *Pinch*. Talk about arrestingly hypnotic and abstract. And that's the contrasting imagery inside (dreams) and out (landscapes) of the subconscious. Watching "III" is like being caught in a trance. It's visually sublime captured by its elegant cinematography and otherworldly score, but frail storytelling does keep this grim, surrealistic Russian horror-fantasy from reaching great heights.

The style is in the same mould of such psychophysiology films ("The Cell" & "Horsehead") dealing with a journey into the subconscious mind. What transpires is rather sobering and haunting, but how the journey plays out is uniquely puzzling. The natural performances of Piling Davidova and Luibov Ignatushko do share a touching bond as the two sisters caught up in a sickness infecting their small village.

III is a mysterious and allegoric tale about two sisters, AYIA and MIRRA, who live in a little village infected by a contagious and fatal disease. After their mother's death MIRRA also falls ill and, helpless, her sister calls for Village's priest assistance. FATHER HERMAN (played by Evgeniy Gagarin) will help them but not in a conventional way...

I watched this film in a world première at FANTASPORTO (film festival from Oporto, my home town), precisely one year ago, in March 2015, and there were present the director, the producer and both actresses.

Visually the film is very strong and I must say I was impressed with its cinematography. From the mysterious and allegoric sets, the contrast dark vs light, to incredible shots of landscapes, everything looks visually beautiful. The ambiance created is very dark, intense and eerie but the characters are depressive and melancholic. Death surround them as they go deep on the dark side of their souls...