Almost unbelievable that this and Mario Bava's Black Sunday (1960) are supposedly based on the same source material - you certainly wouldn't notice much in common between these two unless you knew about it already. The Bava flick is a classic in its own right as some kind of Universal gothic throwback put into visual overdrive, kinda trashy in a good way. This russian adaptation is hands down the superior film overall though, excelling in terms of no-frills oldschool linear storytelling, mood and atmosphere with the overall feel of an ancient folktale, the likes of which i'd expect most out of classic japanese cinema. Both its story and eerie atmosphere remind me a lot of Kaneto Shindo's 1968 horror masterpiece *Kuroneko*. The oldschool practical effects, although dated, look just plain gorgeous and the eponymous creature, during its short screen time, looks actually kind of adorable.