The Ghost from Hovrino is a deep, dark trek into a frozen Russian forest
The Ghost from Hovrino was clearly influenced by The Blair Witch Project. It has a similar premise in that there's a filmmaker, Kirill, played by director Kirill Khrestinin, who wants to document the supernatural in the deep, dark woods. This time, the location is outside of Moscow, and the entity is a ghost. The result is a doomed expedition to try to capture the unknown on film, and while The Ghost from Hovrino may be heavily influenced by The Blair Witch Project, it's still a fun and entertaining found food feature in its own right.
To its credit, The Ghost from Hovrino spends ample time in the beginning of the film really establishing the lore behind the Hovrino forest and what may lurk there. More specifically, there are tales and urban legends about people who never returned from the woods and stories that detail pagan sorcerers who apparently sacrificed victims to the ghost and then wore the number one around their necks. Much of the tale is described in detail by a local professor, played by Sergey Shanin. Before any of that, however, the film presents itself in typical found footage fashion, as recovered footage and on-screen text stating a camera was found in an abandoned SUV on the Ryazan highway, near the forest. According to police, 200 people have disappeared there over the last ten years. All of this certainly makes for an intriguing premise.
Meanwhile, Kirill is joined on his quest to document the paranormal by his buddies, Anton (Anton Demkin), Artem (Artem Polienko), and Roman (Roman Murtazova). Kirill ventures into the woods despite warnings from his girlfriend (Anastasiya Buzunova) not to go. She continually has horrible visions and dreams about the woods and the ghost. Well, Kirill should have listened to her, because, from the outset, viewers already know he and his buddies aren't making it out of the woods alive.
One thing the film does well is allow enough time to establish the friendship between Kirill and his pals. There's plenty of banter and jokes among them before the scares ramp up. The film is under 90 minutes, but there's sufficient time spent allowing the characters to joke around. Additionally, Kirill does warrant some comparison to Heather from The Blair Witch Project. Both are young filmmakers who try desperately to control a situation that quickly spirals and has forces that they can't contain or comprehend. Yet, despite that, and despite all the warnings not to venture into the woods, they still do as a means to capture the unknown on film. Yet, no matter how much they try to finish their film, it's doomed from the start. Additionally, their ambition puts everyone else in danger.
The winter forest where The Ghost of Hovrino was filmed functions incredibly well as a creepy setting. The woods look expansive and threatening on camera. It's not far-fetched to indeed imagine something sinister lurking there, hiding in the shadows. It's the perfect setting for a horror movie of this nature, and as for the pacing, the movie doesn't rush its scares. It takes its time showing what happened to the young filmmaker and his friends, but they do eventually encounter an imposing and deadly presence in the woods, coupled with other ominous signs that again feed into the legend about the ghost and sorcerers. They also encounter a tomb and strange formations made out of sticks that they never should have touched.
The Ghost from Hovrino may be like a Russian version of The Blair Witch Project that sometimes is a little too similar to the groundbreaking American found footage film, but it puts its own twist on a familiar story. Even if we know how the narrative ends, it's still an entertaining trek into the endless woods, where a ghost waits for its next victims. Kirill's film is a scrappy love letter to some of his influences, shot with one camera, and for found footage fans, it's a thrilling, if not familiar, journey into the frozen woods.
Currently, The Ghost from Hovrino is available to rent or purchase on Prime Video.
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