Trama

A young priest is ordered to preside over the wake of witch in a small old wooden church of a remote village. This means spending three nights alone with the corpse with only his faith to protect him.

Getting lost, wandering home whilst on leave from his seminary, novice monk Khoma stays in the barn of an old woman. A scuffle breaks out. Later, he is summoned to stand and pray over a young dead woman, in the local church, for three nights. It is here that, while in the long, dark nights of the locked doors, the dead regain life, the souls of Hell taunt the young monk to near terrifying insanity, and the test of Faith will be as powerful as the witches, monsters and the mighty demon Viy who haunt his every step and bay for his very soul.—Cinema_Fan

It is Lent, vacation time for the students from the Seminary in Kiev. They are heading home to their families, stealing food at the markets, getting drunk, and hassling young ladies along the way. As more and more students reach their homes, the only ones left traveling are Khoma Brut [Leonid Kuravlev] and his two friends, Khaliava [Vadim Zakharchenko] and Gorobetz [Vladimir Salnikov]. As evening approaches, it becomes foggy and the road has disappeared, so they start looking for a place where they can spend the night and get a glass of vodka. Just when it looks like they're going to be forced to spend the night under the stars, they come to a house. An old woman [ Nikolai Kutuzov] answers their knocks on the gate. At first, she refuses to put them up for the night, but she finally relents. One gets to sleep in the house, another in the loft, and Khoma gets stuck with a haypile near the pigpen. During the night, Khoma is awakened by the old lady's advances on him. She chases him around the barn until she catches him, jumps on his back, grabs her broom, and the two of them go flying. Khoma realizes that the old hag is a witch. By invoking the name of Christ, he brings her back to earth. He finds a stick and beats her royally until she suddenly turns into a beautiful young girl. Leaving the girl lying on the ground, Khoma runs all the way back to the Monastery.

No sooner does Khoma return but the Rector [Pyotr Vesklyarov] summons him. The Rector informs Khoma that he has been contacted by a famous Sotnik [Aleksei Glazyrin] living near Kiev. The Sotnik's daughter Pannochka [Natalya Varley] is dying from a beating she received the other day, and her dying request was that Khoma Brut be the one to say the last prayers for her salvation. Khoma refuses the job, but the Rector gives him no choice. Either say the prayers or receive lashings in front of the entire seminary. Against his will, Khoma goes along with the servants sent by the Sotnik to fetch him. It's a long drive in a horse-drawn wagon, and Khoma tries to get away several times. Each time he is prevented from leaving by the servants. Yet, when he asks the servants why the girl needs to have such solemn prayers said for the deliverance of her soul, they are strangely silent.

When Khoma gets to the Solnik's house, he learns that Pannochka, has requested that he, Khoma Brut, say prayers over her for three nights in a row. Kohma is roundly questioned by the dead girl's father about his chastity, but Khoma denies ever knowing her that way. The vigil is set to start that night. Pannochka's body is moved into the church, and Khoma is served dinner, during which the villagers tell stories about how Pannochka has bewitched men in the past. Later that evening, Khoma is locked in the church where Pannochka's body is lying in state. He lights candles to chase away the gloom, sets up a pedestal, and begins to pray. Feeling pretty chipper at his praying ability, he sniffs a little tobacco. Unfortunately, his sniffs awaken Pannochka's corpse. She sits up in her coffin and wafts down to the floor. Now knowing that Pannochka is indeed a witch, Khoma draws a circle around his pedestal. For the rest of the night, until cockcrow, Khoma prays as Pannochka searches the room and circles the pedestal looking for a way to get to him.

The next day, Khoma eats his borscht and, when asked how the night went, he admits only to hearing some noises. Calling himself a Cossack, he convinces himself that Cossacks have no fear. When night comes, armed with a bit of vodka, Khoma bravely agrees to be holed up in the church for his second night. He again draws a circle and begins his prayers. Pannochka awakens and, for the rest of the night, she circles the room, riding in her coffin, looking for Khoma and calling out his name. At cockcrow, she again returns to her coffin.

Day three. Khoma emerges from the church, dancing and singing mindlessly until he takes off his hat and the villagers notice that his hair has turned white. Khoma pleads with the Solnik to let him return home, but the Solnik offers him a thousand pieces of gold or a thousand lashes. Once more, Khoma tries to escape the village, but he is met by two Cossacks who stop him. Armed with several flasks of vodka, Khoma enters the church for night three. Once again, Khoma draws his circle and begins his prayers. This night, however, Pannochka summons demons from hell. They rise from the floors, crawl out of the walls, and drop from the ceilings. Then, Pannochka summons the big demon, Viy. Viy points his finger at Khoma and directs all the other demons to get him. The demons penetrate the circle and jump on Khoma.

When the villagers open the church doors at sunrise, they find Khoma dead. Back at the Seminary, Khoma's friends Khaliava and Gorobetz discuss Khoma's desmise. Their conclusion: Khoma didn't have enough faith in God. Or maybe he had too much vodka. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.]