Onderhond Russian cinema ... never been my cup of tea. Which goes for most Eastern-European cinema actually. Bored and disgruntled farmers in bleak, depressing landscapes, being pretty unhappy about life and showering themselves in pity and poverty. It is not what I prefer to see when watching a film. But things change, and clichés are there to be shattered. Enter Pavel Ruminov.To be fair, Ruminov is not the first Russian director to break out of the mold. The latest rebirth of genre cinema in Russia was most likely initiated by Bekmambetov's Nochnoy Dozor (Night Watch). If was the first effects-laden Russian genre film that received fair media coverage, since then others have followed in its footsteps.Anyway, that's where the comparison with films like Nochnoy Dozor ends. Ruminov's Myortvye Docheri might be a genre film, but he's aiming a lot higher, and he boosts some serious artistic pretensions (which is probably the reason why his film got burned down by many in Russia).Myortvye Docheri is marketed as a horror flick, which is only half of the truth. The basics are there of course, but the layout of the film is different. It takes us 10 to 15 minutes to grasp most there is to know about a legend of murdering sister ghosts, from there on Rumoniv progresses slowly and takes his time to delve into the lives of his characters.Ruminov surely delivers on an aesthetical level. Every scene is filtered to bring out the bleakness and decay of a big Russian city. Dark blue tones dominate the film, often in sharp contrast with white elements. Visually very pleasing, but not all that special. The camera work is something else. There's lots of shaky action and shots, but it feels a lot closer to the work of Boe than it does to a film like REC. There is not a second where you get the impression that Ruminov isn't in control over what is shown and what isn't.There's also a fair share of Sogo Ishii to be recognized, especially when the camera is racing behind the characters. It creates a lovely mood and it's rare to see camera work like this that well done. Ruminov also remains in control over the audio at all times, never reverting to loud scares but carefully building up an atmosphere. Add to that some snappy and precise editing, and even people with dulled-down senses will be pleased with Myortvye Docheri.The film might be a bit long for some, but my attention never faded. The middle part of the film keeps up the atmosphere but has very little scares or horrific sequences. It mainly brings us a look into the bleak future of several young Russians. The ending delivers though, in a marvelous scene that makes sure to remind us why this was classified as a horror film in the first place. Not all that gory or scary, but impressive nonetheless.Don't expect a typical horror film going into Myortvye Docheri. But expect to be impressed by the atmospheric skills of Ruminov. It's nice to see films like these coming out of Russia. At least it shows they're capable of keeping up with modern standards. Let's hope they make a similar move to genre cinema as other countries have been doing these last years. 4.5*/5.0*

sawo-1 At the beginning the movie was very promising, but the director did awful work.The camera is just shaking randomly without any specific direction.At the scenes where most of the characters get killed, you simply cant see anything except random fast moving frames.As others before me already said, the movie is not the typical horror flick, but its still bad.The motive of the girls is pretty simple as in other Japanse horror movies, but they are way way ahead.This movie can be done with $500 budget by group of students and they will probably can make it even better especially if they use normal camera angles.//spoiler There was scene where the last alive sister says that she can feel them when they are around and then the director shows underwater camera just 2m away pointed at her that probably should make you think that the sisters are watching her.So why she didn't felt them when they was 2m away?!?! //spoilerAll in all i expected something better than most of the latest horror movies from Hollywood, but all i got was poor scripted and amateur filmed movie.The director tried to cover his disability with random "effects" like shaky camera and very close-up scenes with the dead bodies of the victims, but he failed and even forgot to follow the script at some moments.I have no problems watching very long movies with almost no action like Rose Red or Stalker (which my friends found extremely boring) but i was unable to watch this movie from the beginning to the end.It was simply too boring and annoying.At the middle i just stopped it and the only thing that made me to watch it to the end was the desire to write comment here how bad it really is.Don't waste your time!To the people who rate this movie 10/10: try to think before you rate there is simply no way that this movie can get 10/10

Indrigis-XIII Can't say I'm a hardcore horror/slasher/whatever-with-blood-boobs-and-sfx fan. Might even say I get bored by such films. But this one is as different as it gets - true horror seeps from every possible plot hole, bland facial expression and camera movement. After two hours of watching I was absolutely terrified. Mostly of the fact that P. Ruminov might make another movie. Dead daughters come bundled with almost everything that was good in the last five years of horror films, but each and every brilliant idea, plot twist or piece of sfx only serves as a reminder of the original thing. The director claimed there are only two four-minute stills in the whole movie, which is innovative. And indeed it is - for the other 115 minutes the camera keeps wobbling, jumping and circling around every object in sight, bringing nausea and carrying away the viewer's ability to see the details. And then there's the desaturation, making everyone look like a malnourished vampire. The actors' performance is surprisingly realistic - they have absolutely no idea of what's going on around them and they're not afraid to show it by staring blankly at the camera. Also there is an unhealthy amount of inside jokes, only funny to hardcore Russian anime fans. Of course, the creator could use - and used - free advertisement, but by now almost each one of those fans who cheered for the future masterpiece is trying to move as far away as possible.I can congratulate Russian moviegoers on having an aspiring Uwe Boll-wannabe in business, of course, but I personally think one is more than enough.*It gets a two instead of one because of a single good joke. Two with a minus, but slightly above the ground.

desperate06 full of visual poetry and stunning moments. Cinema itself, made by real artist. Eye-opening, fearless work. There's no such words to explain. 2 days gone, but i'm still inside the movie... can't analyze. DOP - master, hand-held cam makes every shot breath with tension. Actors - best hitch traditions (no theater-melodrama acting, very unusual for Russian style of play). Art department - the world of movie lives in each frame. Sound - just the best. Genre and voice mixed into the great work revolutionary and magically.There was no such break-through in last-times Russian cinema. Ruminov& all his team - !!!! they finally done it. cinema wins.