Atmospheric Russian House of Ectoplasm Ghost
story horror. Cute Alena Babak has to deal with her
comatose father returning from the snow after 10
years missing and her mother start acting creepy.
OK, if a bit generic as so many Russian horror films

The Ice Demon (Ledyanoy demon)

Direction and co-script: Ivan Kapitonov, production: 2021

Cast: Alena Babak, Olga Lomonosova, Aleksey Rozin
Blu-ray in russian audio with english subtitles, region A
US Scream Factory 2021 bluray edition

Great snappy war action with some geopolitical power
about the NATO bombings of Serbia in 1998 and
the secret mission of a russian special force. To take
the airfield in Pristina and hold it until russian peace
keeping forces arrives. Based on real events and a
highly recommended and very well made action movie

The Balkan Line (Boskanskiy rubezh)

Direction: Andrey Volgin, production: Russia-Serbia 2019

Cast: Anton Pampushnyy, Ravshana Kurkova, Yuriy "Gosha" Kutsenko
DVD in russian, serbian etc. audio with english subtitles, region all
Russian DVD edition

Entertaining great Sci-Fi horror thriller with a fine looking
CGI made creature when a space shuttle returns to earth
with 2 cosmonauts (one dead) and a third passenger.
Doctor Tatiana Klimova is sent to a base in Kazakhstan
to question the surviver of what really happened

Sputnik

Direction: Egor Abramenko, production: 2020

Cast: Oksana Akinshina, Pyotr Fyodorov, Fedor Bondarchuk
Blu-ray in russian audio with english subtitles, region A
US IFC - Shout Factory ! 2021 bluray edition

Stylish russian Neo-Giallo crime thriller made by a
young director and a fan of the genre, and with it's
pluses and minuses. The husband of a pharma re-
searcher has gone missing and a series of brutal
murders shake the city. Great soundtrack and with
slick cinematography and beautiful Dapkunaite

Stereoblood (Odino Chestvo krovi)

Direction: Roman Prygunov, production: 2002

Cast: Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Yuriy Gosha Kutsenko
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 1 & 5
Russian DVD edition

War drama about WW2 escape of soldiers and of
civilians from the by German Nazis besieged
Leningrad. In September 1941 the evacuation over
Lake Ladoga by Barge 752 gets in trouble when a
big storm hits them and they also are attacked by
german planes. 1200 people died on Barge 752

Spasti Leningrad (Flykten från Leningrad)

Direction and script: Aleksey Kozlow, production: 2019

Cast: Andrey Mironov-Udalov, Maria Melnikova, Gela Meshki
DVD in russian audio with swedish subtitles, region 2
Swedish Studio S DVD edition

Kolja Lvusjkin is a brilliant tank officer and when
a prisoner in a WW2 German concentration camp
tank commander Jäger wants him to pick a russian
crew for a T-34 tank and fight his german cadettes

T-34

Direction and script: Aleksey Sidorov, production: 2018

Cast: Alekxander Petrov, Viktor Dobronravov, Vinzenz Kiefer
Blu-ray in russian with swedish subtitles, region B
Swedish Nordic Entertainment bluray edition

Space station Cosmonaut thriller, suspenseful and
visually beautiful with amazingly well made effects.
Based on a real event in 1985 two cosmonauts have
to go to the shut down Salyut 7 and start it up again
before it has to be destroyed by military or crash
on Earth. Hailed for it's accuracy with tech details

Salyut - 7

Direction: Klim Shipenko, production: 2017

Cast: Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Pavel Derevyankov
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all
Russian DVD edition

Great and slick looking Fantasy Murder Mystery
Horror taking place in 1829 and with the young
writer Nikolai Gogol solving crimes in a Poltava
village. I loved it. TV movies shown in cinemas.
Darker with gore and some nudity and more fun
than the Detective Anna series. Russian film rocks!

The Gogol Viy Trilogy: 1. Gogol.The Beginning 2. Gogol. Viy
3. Gogol. Terrible Revenge/A Terrible Vengeance

Direction: Yegor Baranov, production: 2017-2018
Cast: Alexander Petrov, Oleg Menchikov, Yevgeni Stychkin
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all
Russian 3 disc DVD edition

A very entertaining Soviet horror fairy tale based on a
Gogol story and with some wildly inspired Aleksandr
Ptushko supervised effects at the grand finale.
The young seminarist Khoma Brutus has to spend
three nights reading prayers for a witch, dead or not

Viy

Direction and co-script: Konstantin Ershov & Georgii Kropachev
production: Soviet Union 1967

Cast: Leonid Kuravlyov, Natalya Varley, Nikolai Kutuzov
Blu-ray in russian or english audio with english subtitles, region all
US Severin Films bluray edition

A very crappy re-make of the 1967 horror classic Viy
where the happenings supposedly is taking pace in a
small village in the US. A journalist is sent to write
about supernatural ongoings when he strangles a
shapeshifting woman witch and dresses as a priest

The Power of Fear (Vedma)

Direction: Oleg Fesenko, production: 2006

Cast: Valeriy Nikolaev, Lembit Ulfsak, Evgeniya Kryukova
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all
Russian DVD edition

A fine atmospherical Soviet Union gothic horror
or mystery drama where a famous dandy artist and
designer meets a mysterious woman he's sure is
already dead. Fine cinematography by Anatoliy
Lapshov and a soundtrack by Sergey Kuryokhin

Gospodin Oformitel (Mister Designer)

Direction and production: Oleg Teptsov, Soviet Union 1987

Cast: Viktor Avilov, Mikhail Kozakov, Anna Demyanenko
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all
Russian DVD edition

A Soviet Union fairy tale film classic in color with
the enchanting Yanina Zhejmo as Zolushka.
With song and dance and satirical comedy.
Faina Ranevskaya is great as the evil stepmother

Zolushka (Cinderella)

Direction: N. Kosherova & M. Shapiro, prod. Soviet Union 1947

Cast: Yanina Zheimo, Faina Ranevskaya, Aleksei Konsorovsky
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all
Russian DVD edition

Enjoyable and very popular detective Murder
Mystery TV Series, seen on i.a. Youtube with
english subtitles in HQ. Sweet Anna Viktorovna
Mironova solves murder cases in her village in
1888 Russia along with police inspector Shtolman

Detective Anna (Anna, The Detective) TV Series

Direction: Various directors, production: 2016-2017

Cast: Aleksandra Nikiforova, Dmitry Frid, Sergey Drozyak
Youtube streaming video

Entertaining unique international cloak-and-dagger
thriller co-produced by the Soviet Union, France and
Switzerland with a delightful mix of Soviet and Euro
actors. About a planned attack in 1943 against The
Big Three, Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt in Teheran

Teheran - 43 (Assassination Attempt)

Direction and co-script: Alexander Alov & Vladimir Naumov,
production Soviet Union - France - Switzerland 1980

Cast: Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Natalia Belokhvostikova, Alain Delon
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all
Russian DVD edition

Psychological drama thriller with haunting images
from a northern barren shore. Multiple prize winner
and a modern Russian film classic, about two men
working at a weather station in the Chukotka region
in the north-east Siberia, at the Bering strait next to
Alaska. Magic landscape, so desolate and beautiful

How I Ended This Summer (kak ya provyol etim letom)

Direction and script/story: Alexei Popogrebsky, production: 2010

Cast: Sergei Puskepalis, Grori Dobrygin
Blu-ray in russian audio with english subtitles, region B
UK New Wave Films bluray edition

Good atmospheric jumpscare creature-ghost horror
with fine acting and a creepy ambient soundtrack
when russian youngsters summons an evil apparition
from the other side of the mirror. Mirrors are Scary.
With a sequel in 2019 this could be a film franchise

The Queen of Spades: The Black Rite (Pikovaya dama:
Chyornyy obryad)

Direction: Svyatoslov Podgayevskiy, Production: 2015
Cast: Alina Babak, Igor Khripunov, Vladimir Seleznyov
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 2
UK High Fliers Films DVD edition

Great looking Russian action-thriller based on real
events from the second Chechen war and the terror
attack in Breslan 2004. Islamist warlord has got hold
of rockets and plan an attack and Russian security
service agents from FSB tries to stop him. Beautiful
cinematography from the Caucasus mountains

Decision: Liquidation (Reshenie o likvidatsi)

Direction: Aleksandr Aravin, production: 2018

Cast: Igor Petrenko, Dmitry Parastayev, Ayub Tsingiev
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all
Russian DVD edition

Slow but somewhat atmospheric Art Horror with
nice cinematography by Igor Kiselev.
Two sisters try to survive in a German village hit by
a plague-like infection and encounters black magic.
Vaguely resembling the 2000 film "The Cell"

The Ritual III

Direction: Pavel Khvaleev, production: Russia-Germany 2015

Cast: Paulina Davidova, Liubov Ignatushko, Evgeny Gagarin
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all
Russian DVD edition

Well made and suspenseful erupting volcano airplane
disaster action-thriller when a hero civil airline pilot
rescues people from a burning inferno.
Great mainstream blockbuster HIT that was nominated
for a Best Film russian Golden Eagle Award.
Fine special effects and good acting. Very enjoyable

Ekipazh (Air Crew/Flight Crew)

Direction: Nikolay Lebedev, production: 2016

Cast: Vladimir Mashkov, Danila Kozlovskiy, Sergei Shakurov
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all
Russian DVD edition

Fascinating and colourful but dark depressing drama
about a country doctor getting hooked on morphine
during WW1, and based on a short autobiographic
novel by Mikhail Bulgakov. Powerful and no dark
humour or satire from Balabanov this time

Morfiy (Morphine)

Direction: Aleksey Balabanov, production: 2008

Cast: Leonid Bichevin, Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Andrey Panin
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all

Fascinating, mystical, haunting, funny, apocalyptic,
beautiful and poetic drama. The last great film from
the dying master, Balabanov. One of my favourite
directors this millennia.
4 people in a quest for a bell tower of happiness

Me Too (Ya tozhe khochu)

Direction & script: Aleksey Balabanov, production: 2012

Cast: Aleksandr Mosin, Oleg Garkusha, Yuri Matveev, Alisa Schtikova
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all

A dystopian near-future drama thriller where prisons
around the world are full and an international corporation
or organization dumps prisoners on a barren northern
island and as "colonists" starts killing each other off

Novaya Zemlya (New Land)

Direction: Aleksandr Melnik, production: 2008

Cast: Konstantin Lavronenko, Andrey Feskov, Tom Lister, Jr.
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all
Russian DVD edition

Tragi-comical drama where a middle-aged bullied
woman living with her mother in a Black Sea coastal
town grows a tail and has an erotic love affair with a
younger doctor. She's spurned by the community but
happier. Natalya Pavlenkova is fantastic as Natasha

Zoology

Direction & script: Ivan I. Tverdovsky, production: 2016

Cast: Natalya Pavlenkova, Dmitry Groshev
Blu-ray in russian audio with english subtitles, region B
UK Arrow Films 2017 blu-ray edition

Maybe the strangest film i've ever seen and a truly
unique watch. A sci-fi fantasy artmovie about a
medieval village on another planet, filled with dis-
figured looking people, snot, spit, shit and mud.
German certainly has a film language of his own

Hard to be a God

Direction, co-script: Aleksei Yuryevich German, production 2000-2013

Cast: Leonid Yarmolnik, Aleksandr Chutko, Natalia Moteva
Blu-ray in russian audio with english subtitles, region all
UK Arrow Academy blu-ray edition, black & white

A TV-series re-make of a famous 1972 film about a
small anti-aircraft unit in a godforsaken Karelian
village trying to stop a Nazi paratrooper sabotage
team. Fantastic! Great acting, direction and gripping
stuff. One of the best TV series i've ever seen.

A Zori Zdes Tikhie (The Dawns Here are Quiet)

Direction: Renat Davletyarov, TV Mini series, production: 2015

Cast: Pyotr Fyodorov, Anastasia Mikulchina, Ekaterina Vilkova
Blu-ray in russian with english subtitles, region all
Russian Star Media blu-ray edition

Fun mainstream blockbuster superhero action and
some sort of a Russian Spiderman when youngster
Dima fights crime in Moscow with his flying old
but superpowered Volga car.
Very entertaining if generic á la Marvel movies

Chernaya Molniya (Black Lightning)

Direction: Alexandr Voytinsky & Dimitriy Kiselev, production: 2009

Cast: Grigoriy Dobrygin, Ekaterina Vilkova, Viktor Verzhbitskiy
Blu-ray in russian audio with english subtitles, region all or B
UK Universal blu-ray edition

Sci-fi drama thriller about a writer that accidently
finds about the secret of the elixir of life and is
threatened by the gatekeepers of the secret.
Artmovie based on the writings of Boris and
Arkadiy Strugatskiy

Iskushenie (Temptation of B.)

Direction: Arkadi Sirenko, production: Soviet Union 1990

Cast: Lembit Ulfsak, Natalya Gundareva, Oleg Borisov
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all
Russian DVD edition

A great if pitch-black crime movie without any
likeable person to root for. But very well acted,
well shot and with an impressive depressive atmo-
sphere. Well, this is a gangster film and there are
no heroes, only scum criminals

Chuzhaya (Russian Gang Wars/The Alien Girl)

Direction: Anton Bormatov, production: 2010

Cast: Natalya Romanycheva, Evgeniy Tkachuk, Kirill Polukhin
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 2
UK 20th Century Fox 2012 DVD edition

Russian ukrainian WW2 drama about partisans
and a suspected collaborator in 1942 Belarus.
Winner of the Critics Prize in Cannes 2012.
Slowpaced, depressing but very good.
A WW2 film should be depressing as war is hell

In the Fog

Direction & script: Sergei Loznitsa, prod. Russia-Ger-Lat-Belarus 2012

Cast: Vladimir Svirski, Vlad Abashin, Sergei Kolesov
Blu-ray in russian audio with english subtitles, region B
UK New Wave Films blu-ray edition

Great looking WW2 tank battle duel meets
Big-game hunting adventure and Moby Dick
in a strangely mystical and philosophical
action thriller. War meets Art. Enjoyable and
i still think about that strange last 25 minutes
Winner of a Golden Eagle award for Best Film

White Tiger (Belyy tigr)

Direction & co-script: Karen Shakhnazarov, production: 2012

Cast: Vitaliy Kischenko, Aleksey Vertkov, Gerasim Arkhipov
DVD in russian audio with nordic subtitles, region 2
Nordic Atlantic Film edition

A very good and visually breathtaking anti-war
drama based on a Tolstoj story. Poetic beautiful
about captivity high up in the Chechen
mountains from Father and Son, the talented
Bodrov's - R.I.P. Sergei Jr. 1971-2002

Prisoner of the Mountains (Kavkazskij Plennik)

Direction& co-script: Sergei Bodrov, prod: Russia-Kazakhstan1996

Cast: Oleg Menshikov, Sergei Bodrov, Jr., Dzhemal Sikharulidze
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 1
US MGM Home Entertainment edition

Gloomy and harrowing, but impressive, WW2
action-drama from the absolute beginning of
the Germany-Soviet war about the hopeless
defence of the Brest fortress. The cruelty of
war and the murder of civilians

Fortress of War (Brestskaya krepost)

Direction: Alexander Kott, production: 2011

Cast: Andrey Merzlikin, Pavel Derevyanko, Aleksey Kopashov
Blu-ray in russian audio with nordic subtitles, region all ?
Swedish Atlantic/Central Partnership blu-ray edition

Epic film saga that starts in the 1930's and ends
with the red Army victory over the nazis.
Hailed in the west but more divided views on it
in Russia. For me, Oleg Menshikov saves this
trilogy, what an outstanding actor he is

Burnt by the Sun Trilogy (Burnt by the Sun/Exodus/Citadel)

Direction: Nikita Michalkov, production: 1994 - 2010

Cast: Oleg Menshikov, Nikita Mikhalkov, Ingeborga Dapkunaite
DVD in russian audio with swedish subtitles, region 2
Nordic 3 disc DVD edition

Great, fascinating drama from the Edge of
the world, The Kray. The year is 1945 and a
loose cannon engineer finds a deserted train
in the woods but also a german woman
hiding out in the Siberian wilderness.
Won the russian Golden Eagle award

Edge of War (Kray/The Edge)

Direction: Alexey Uchitel, production: 2010

Cast: Vladimir Mashkov, Anjorka Strechel, Yulia Persild
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all
UK New Horizon edition

Nice Crime Drama, very atmospherically
shot about an older man out hunting and
who gets drawn into a gangster feud.
Soon he has to flee for his life together
with one of the gangsters. Great stuff

Live ! (Zhit)

Direction and script: Yuri Bykov, production: 2010

Cast: Vladimir Tuldykov, Denis Shvedov
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai J-Bics edition

The Master is Dead. Russia's Big Son of Film.
It's satirist and post-Soviet depictor. Never
again will he swing his magic wand over us
filmlovers and the film screen. The world has
become a much duller place

It reached me through a russian work-mate and the grief was intense
among fans of russian cult film. Just think of all the unique films we
won't see now. Swedish media don't know about this genius director,
the post-Soviet master. We're deep in a Hollywood abyss and our con-
formistic film critics hail pretentious bores and hipsters instead

Prime Russian Film Noir that Rocks your world.
Fascinating and monstruos crime drama with
satire and black humour. Hypnotic, bizarre and
funny masterpiece from The Great Balabanov

Cargo 200 (Gruz 200) - A MONSTER - A Must See!

Direction and script: Aleksei Balabanov, production: 2007

Cast: Alexey Poluyan, Leonid Gromov, Agniya Kuznetsova
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all
US Inter Cinema unrated edition

The Unique universe of Balabanov doesn't
resemble anything made in Europe with the
possible exception of Czech Jan Svankmajer.
A bizarre and delightfully quaint fairy tale
about evil pornographers in Saint Petersburg
at the start of the 20th century

Of Freaks and Men (Pro urodo i lyudey)

Direction and script: Aleksei Balabanov, production: 1998

Cast: Sergei Makovetskiy, Dinara Drukarova
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all
Hong Kong Platinum Classics edition

A Masterful gangster Noir crime drama from
St. Petersburg with a sensational Sergei Bodrov
Jr. as Danila in the main part and he's intensely
alive in this Super Smash Hit, and with a great
Soundtrack from Nautilus Vyacheslav Butusov

Brother (Brat)

Direction and script: Aleksei Balabanov, production: 1997

Cast: Sergei Bodrov, Jr., Viktor Sukhorukov, V. Butusov
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all
US Kino International edition

Crime action comedy, an extremely violent
and another pitch-black satire where all are
abominable scum. Murder, torture and un-
abashed gangsterism. Beware of violence

Dead Man's Bluff (Zhmurki)

Direction and co-script: Aleksei Balabanov, production: 2005

Cast: Aleksei Panin, Dmitri Dyuzev, Nikita Mikhalkov
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region all
US Kino Video edition

Entertaining WW2 time travel action where 4
guys lands in Ukraine anno 1944 and have to
fight to stay alive in meetings with nazis,
german-ukrainian and russian troops
A popular sequel to the blockbuster

My iz budushchego 2 / We Are From The Future 2 (Paradox Soldiers)

Direction: Oleg Pogodin, production: 2010

Cast: Aleksei Barabash, S. Belotserkovskiy, Ekaterina Klimova
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai J-Bics edition

Whatever happened to Eric Roberts and Michael
Madsen? They went to Russia to appear in Fun
popcorn action films. This is a strange thriller
where a journalist makes a career as a Prophet,
and with Stephen Baldwin in a bizarre cameo

The Prophet: Mission (Prorok)

Direction & script: Alexander Izotov/Rod Hewitt, production: 2010

Cast: Eric Roberts, Olga Rodionova, M. Madsen, Stephen Baldwin
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai J-Bics edition

Fun lowbudget WW2 action thriller where 5
doomed men and a woman are on a mission
to enter the German headquarter and kill
Adolf Hitler. Clever and without the lofty
patriotic stuff that bores you in war films

Werewolf Hunt (Okhota na Verevolf)

Direction: Evgeny Mitrofanov, production: 2010

Cast: Vladimir Litvinov, Alexandr Kryzanovskij, Boris Galkin
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai J-Bics edition

Cool and very entertaining action with Gosha
Kutsenko as a psychotic cop released from
a mental institution. Russian popcorn at it's
best. Would love to see the other entries in
this series

Antikiller 3 (Antikiller D.K)

Direction: Eldar Salavatov, production: 2009

Cast: Gosha Kutsenko, Ekaterina Klimova, Mikhail Efremov
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai J-Bics edition

Strange paranoia drama with Sci-Fi and an
apocalyptic theme. Andrey wonders why
the sky is green, why people put themselves
on fire and why human clones are appearing
everywhere. Great ending with the dog

The Rejection (Ottorzhenie)

Direction & script: Vladimir Lert, production: Russia-Ukraine 2009

Cast: Sergey Babkin, Bogdan stupka, Agniya Ditkovskite
DVD in russian with english subtitles, region 3
Thai J-Bics edition

WW2 action drama from the Ukrainian
countryside and the village that doesn't
exist on any map. Russian prisoners flees
from Stalin terror and encounters Nazi troops
near the Eastern Front

Black Sheep

Direction: Seregey Chekalov, production: 2010

Cast: Kirill Rubtsov, Vladimir Tolokonnikov, Victor Soloviov
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai J-Bics edition

Family oriented Popcorn action fluff about a
Maltese cross and the kidnapping of a Tsar
descendant. An old and battered stuntman
leads the hunt for the Bad Guys.
Stupid but Fun popcorn entertainment

Maltese Cross (Maltiysky krest)

Direction: Nikolai Popkov, production: 2008

Cast: Aleksandr Inshakov, Oleg Taktarov, Yekaterina Galakhova
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai J-Bics edition

A Delightfully Bizarre SCi-Fi action with a
fascinating odd start and with a strange abrupt
ending. Very entertaining mumbo jumbo mess
where an agent hunts a defected agent who
carries an alien psychotropic weapon, and visits
a parallell Moscow. Love it

The Interceptor (Zapreshchyonnaya realnost)

Direction: Konstantin Maximov, production: 2009

Cast: Igor Petrenko, Aleksandr Baluev, Lyubov Tolkalina
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai J-Bics edition

The Battle of Neva in year 1240 where young
Alexander beat the swedes in a battle that
became a russian historical landmark.
All history nerds loves it ... yes, yummy!

Alexander. The Neva Battle (Aleksandr. Nevskaya bitva)

Direction: Igor Kalyonov, production: 2008

Cast: Anton Pampushny, Igor Botvin, Svetlana Bakulina
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai Movies-Happy Home Entertainment

Nice, well acted drama from the Caucasus war
about 2 russian soldiers making their way through
the Chechen wilderness with a young captive.
A bit melancholic but beautiful and without any
stuffy patriotic sentiments

Captive (Plennyy)

Direction: Aleksei Uchitel, production: 2008

Cast: Vyacheslav Krikunov, Pjotr Logachev, Irakli Mskhalaia
DVD in russian audio and chechen with english subtitles, region 3
Thai J-Bics edition

Bad, BAD action BUT ... very entertaining in a B
sort of way. Like a russian Dolph Lundgren or
Seagal flick but funnier. Strange story and almost
incomprehensible but great Psychotronic Fun

The Way (Put)

Direction: Vladimir Pasichnik, production: 2009

Cast: Dmitry Nosov, Nikolai Valuev, Michael Madsen
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai J-Bics edition

Absolute Masterpiece.
Epic from the 15th century Russia about the
monk and icon painter Andrei Rublyov.
Told in tableaus with visuals that makes imprints
on your brain, and you will never forget them

Andrei Rubljov (Den yttersta domen)

Direction: Andrei Tarkovskij, production: Soviet Union 1968

Cast: Anatoly Solonitsyn, Ivan Lapikov, Nikolai Burlyaev
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, b/w, region 3
Korean Spectrum 2 disc edition

Not really a russian film, but an israeli crime
drama with some russian spoken and with the
gorgeous Olga Kurylenko in the lead. She's
paired with israeli singer Tayeb in an interest-
ing female buddy movie

Kirot (Walls/The Assassin Next Door)

Direction: Danny Lerner, production: Israel 2009

Cast: Olga Kurylenko, Ninet Tayeb, Liron Levo
DVD in russian, hebrew and english audio with english subs, region 3
Thai United Home Entertainment edition

Somewhat entertaining swedish-russian crime
action after Johnnie To's Breaking News.
Shifts between some good action scenes and
un-funny and corny media satire, but Merzlikin
and Tsyganov are Great as usual

News Makers (Goryachie novosti)

Direction: Anders Banke, production: Sweden-Russia 2009

Cast: Andrei Merzlikin, Yevgeni Tsyganov, Mariya Mashkova
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai United Home Entertainment edition

Impressive epic historic drama from 1916-1920
about the Amiral Alexander Kolchak and his
love story with Anna Timareva. With some
great battle scenes and visuals.
A New Dr. Zjivago-ish love story ?

The Admiral (Admiral)

Direction: Andrei Kravchuk, production: 2008

Cast: Konstantin Khabensky, Elizaveta Boyarskaya
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai J-Bics edition, released in Sweden also

Fun and well made Popcorn action thriller with
a rock-hard Vladimir Epifantsev as a special
agent on a mission in Malta. Objective:
To transport an unwilling witness home to
Moscow

Man of the East (Nepobedimyy) - entertaining popcorn

Direction: Oleg Pogodin, production: 2008

Cast: Vladimir Epifantsev, Olga Fadeeva, Sergei Astakhov
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai J-Bics edition

Unusual adventure action comedy where an
unfit (fat) parody agent is on a mission to
free captive russian women sold to bedouins
for white slavery sex duty. Somewhat funny
with weird swinging 60's music

Mirage (Mirazh) - OK russian popcorn

Direction: Tigran Keosyan, production: 2008

Cast: Dmitry Maryanov, Yelena Khmelnitskaya
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai J-Bics edition

Great Fun Russian Popcorn Action Trash !
Wild crazy action where the super commando
Colonel Kirill slaughters Bad Guys on the
Siberian taiga. Great settings in Russian East

Hunting Piranha (Okhota na Piranju) - Great popcorn Fun

Direction: Andrei Kavun, production: 2006

Cast: Vladimir Mashkov, Evgenij Mironov, Svetlana Antonova
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai J-Bics edition

Great pace and snazzy Fun in a Popcorn
action where a team of agents is on a mission
to stop terrorists from bombing Moscow.
Action hero Merzlikin is great

Moscow Mission (Obratnyy otschet) - fun russian popcorn

Direction: Vadim Shmelev, production: 2006

Cast: Andrei Merzlikin, Oksana Akinshina, Maksim Sukhanov
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai J-Bics edition

B-ish thriller where a geologist tries to stop
a seismological weapon from being used
at a political top meeting in the Caucasus.
can the Russian authorities be trusted?

Shift (Sdvig)

Direction: Anna Kelchevskaja, production: 2006

Cast: Dmitry Ulyanov, Anna Churina, Ivan Bortnik, Oleg Taktarov
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai j-Bics edition

Lavish and impressive looking production
war drama about a group of young men
sent on duty in the Afghanistan war in
1988-1989 at the end of that military project
Golden Eagle award for Best Film 2005

9th Company (9 rota/poma)

Direction: Fedor/Fyodor Bondarchuk, production: 2005

Cast: Aleksey Chadov, Ivan Kokorin, Konstantin Kryukov
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai J-Bics edition

OK, not Russian but almost. A historic war drama
from Kazakhstan that costed a fortune to make.
It's a pompous, patriotic and slick looking film
and an entertaing spectacle to watch. After Borat's
ridicule Kazakhstan needed a Hero adventure

Nomad (The Warrior)

Direction: Sergei Bodrov/Ivan Passer, prod: Kazakhstan 2005

Cast: Kuno Becker, Jay Hernandez, Doshan Sholzhaxynov
DVD in kazakh audio with english subtitles, region 1
US Weinstein company edition

Another well made and great looking russian
WW2 drama with a nice atmospherical historical
setting. About the skilled but distrusted by the
authorities U-boat captain Alexander Marinin

First After God (Pervyy posle Boga)

Direction: Vasili Chiginsky, production: 2005

Cast: Dimitri Orlov, Elizaveta Boyarskaya, Irina Björklund
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Thai edition

Hallucinatory and experimental Cyberpunk
horror in a very promising indie film debut
from the interesting russian Iskanov

The Nails

Direction and script: Andrey Iskanov, production: 2003

Cast: Alexander Shevchenko, Irina Nikitina, Andrey Iskanov
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 1
US Unearthed unrated edition

Absolute Masterpiece.
Visually and Existentially mysterious,
beautiful and haunting after a novel by
polish Stanislaw Lem. wide 2.35:1, 5.1 audio
interview Natalya Bondarchuk with subs

Solaris

Direction: Andrei Tarkovskij, production: Soviet Union 1972

Cast: Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Juri Jarvet
DVD in russian audio with english subtitles, region 3
Korean Spectrum 2 disc edition