interior, hospital. THE BRIDE looks at the car keys she got from BUCK, the man she just killed. she walks through the parking lot, and finally finds the yellow pickup truck that used to be BUCK's. On the tailgate, in large pink letters, is written: GIRLDICK WAGON

And thus my theme month of Russian(ish) movies with friends comes to a close with tonight's pairing. I had never seen either of these before, and paired them together, solely for the titles. There's less of a thematic link as I would've liked, but ah well.

"The Bride" is another movie from the director of Baba Yaga, and Dark Spell, which I've mentioned previously. The setup involves old daguerreotype photography, when a photographer years and years ago lost his wife, stored her soul in the negative plate (just go with it, you know how these folklore and magic movies go), and used a ring to transfer her soul into a new body. Jump to the modern day with another young woman, engaged to a photographer, and going to meet his family. You can see where this is going. Hijinks and spookiness ensues, and fun was had by all. This is another REALLY well done movie from this guy (Look, I'm never gonna get his name right, okay?) and sure, it's got a little of Skeleton Key to it, a few other movies, but when a movie is this well done, I don't mind being able to go, "Oh, this reminds me of...!" because it IS well done, and it is still it's own thing. I have not seen a bad movie by him, and await more. A very solid four out of five soul transferring engagement rings.

"The Widow" is a lot more folklore-centric, drawing on some supposed legends of a woman who died in the woods, and now her spirit lures people to their deaths. Again, very straightforward, but with some interesting visuals, a handful of surprises, and one or two moments that genuinely made me sit up and take attention. Not quite as creative as The Bride, and other movies, but still a good adventure. And definitely a lot more familiar in its tropes, although the creature is a LOT more unique than most. It's just familiar enough to feel like you're being led along a safe path, but with enough stuff going for itself that it's not entirely paint by numbers. Not as good, but still good, as The Bride, so...I'll say a three, maybe three and a half lost teddy bears.

Like I said when this started, I'm loving Russian movies, these days, because they may be familiar, but you get to see these tropes through fresh eyes, fresh folklore, and different cultural influences. This was a lot of fun.