Residents of the village where the film “Village of the Damned” was filmed spoke about their troubles

It all started with a two-minute story that was shown on the federal television channel. We were talking about the filming of the film “Village of the Damned.”

“A horror film without scenery is being filmed in the Ashinsky district. An ancient wooden church in the village of Muratovka became a film set,” the report was announced.

According to the author of the story, the genre of the film is horror: “The church, built in the 19th century, has long been terrifying with its appearance. Even nature itself chills the blood, a chill runs down the spine and goosebumps throughout the body.”

“Nobody notified us about the filming,” says a local resident. – We arrived in the evening and left in the morning. And my friends live opposite the church. So they noticed that the light was on near the temple, and they set up a tent there. Tourists probably thought. The church is old, people often come here from other cities. And when we found out that the film “Village of the Damned” was filmed there, we were stunned. The movie is about horror: according to the plot, a human hand and some kind of mucus were found in a church. It is not normal. On TV they also showed our local resident, 90-year-old Afanasy Shalupov. In the video he said: “There is no one, there is no one left, everyone has left.” How is this not left? We’re still living.

Nikolai Chvanov was the first to make a fuss. The man is from Muratovka. His father lives in the village. “Who authorized filming with such a title? “There is nothing sacred left,” Chvanov was indignant. – This is a village with history, but like most villages it is now in decline and ruin. We are not against the filming, we are against the title.”

Old-timers of Muratovka supported their fellow countryman.

– Why didn’t they film something beautiful? – one of the local residents is surprised. “We have such nature, the club has been renovated, the ground has been paved, the kids are playing, the lighting there is good. The village itself was once held in high esteem, it fed everyone, there was agriculture, fields…

At this point, the interlocutor stops short: “It’s true that after perestroika there was nothing left. And almost all the young people left. We have a lot of devastation. Abandoned houses, a kindergarten, a store. But the forests and pond have been preserved. People from all over the area come here for hunting and fishing. Well, what the hell are we?”

The ruined church that attracted the director looks truly terrifying. Photographer Maria Machinskaya, whose photographs ended up in the Abandoned Places public, shared her impressions: “In a few years, the story about her will remain only in photographs.”

“The church is wooden, it collapsed long ago,” the woman adds. – In 1929 it was closed and looted, crosses and bells were thrown down. At one time grain was stored there. Later, we decided to make a horse yard. They drove the horses in, they went crazy there, screaming and neighing. As a result, they gave up on the temple. It is useless to restore. Although the church has stood for so many years and does not fall. It just tilted in one direction, so people are afraid to go there in case it collapses. But nevertheless, this is a holy place, let it live out its life.

“The school burned down, the bus was cancelled”

In neighboring villages they now make fun of the residents of Muratovka, calling them “damned.” “Have you been to that village? So find out how people live. The name “cursed” seems to have been invented specifically for this day,” Chelyabinsk residents write on social networks.

The head of the Muratovsky cultural center, Leniza Bocharnikova, tells how life is in the village.

– There is no connection, you can’t get through here. The provider refused us, they say the village is unprofitable. Population less than 100 people. Mostly retirees and a few working families. There is no Internet either. “Everyone set their own plates,” Leniza began. – There are not many children in the village, about 7-8 people. There was a school, but it burned down. We built a small one for primary classes. Over time, the number of children became fewer and the teachers grew older. One retired, the second got sick and died. There was no one to teach the children. Now all the children go to the neighboring village of Eral. We decided that it was cheaper to transport than to run a school here.

Children from Muratovka are transported by a school bus. But public transport does not go to the village.

– This is our problem. We asked for a bus to come to us at least once a week, and they answered: there is a school bus, use it. But he runs from September to May, he’s not there in the summer,” the interlocutor sighs. – The roads are not being repaired either. Nearby is the Bashkir village of Tekeeva, the birthplace of Salavat Yulaev. It’s convenient for us to go there to the hospital or to the market. But in winter no one cleans the road, we can’t get to them. We have such snowstorms that you can’t get through anything. This year I doubt we will be able to get out of here. We were warned that the roads were unlikely to be cleaned. And there is no opportunity to move somewhere.

In Muratovka there is not only no communication, roads and transport, but also no shops. The fact that there was a grocery store here is reminiscent of a destroyed brick building with a sign “Store”.

– A woman sells groceries at home. She organized something like a stall,” the woman reports. – The assortment there is poor. Mainly bread, canned food, loose or packaged items. No matter how many times I’ve visited, there’s not much product. It happens that she doesn’t have time to go to the neighboring village to buy groceries, and then the shelves are empty. She also keeps a cow and sells milk. So in the village, few people can afford livestock: there are no tractors, there is nothing to mow, and there is no strength.

But the FAP, oddly enough, is available. The only problem is with the paramedic. Due to the lack of public transport, the doctor is an infrequent visitor to the village.

– The medical office is located in the library building. The paramedic complains that the canopy is in disrepair. He is afraid that the roof might collapse and crush the sick. She herself lives in Yerala. He comes here by school bus. In the summer she has something to ride. At this time, she is forced to take vacation or sick leave. So we are without a doctor almost the entire summer. A social worker whose husband works in Kropachevo helps out. People order him medicine.

Of course, there is no gas in the village either. In winter, houses are heated with wood. The tap water flows rusty. “Apparently, not quite drinkable, technical. But thank God, at least there is one,” says Leniza.

On the positive side, the village has a club and a library.

– We are trying to entertain the population. We run handicraft clubs and hold holidays, such as village day. Of the permanent residents, a maximum of 8-9 people go to the club,” adds the interlocutor. – We have a vocal group “Russian Soul”, it consists of five people: pensioners, a librarian and me. We sing, perform at festivals in our region, we even went to Chelyabinsk. We spin as best we can. I’m not complaining about the salary. I get twenty. My husband makes good money. My children left here. But the youngest serves in the presidential regiment.

– Do people go to the library?

– They do, there are regular readers. We work together with the librarian, she helps me, I help her. We organize events and invite people. The library was somehow connected to the Internet. We bought a TV and a printer. The House of Culture also bought us equipment for the vocal group: a speaker and microphones. So you learned the history of our village. Well, what the hell are we? But that’s what they call us now. The husband went to work, and there they told him: this one came from the village of the damned.

This week, locals were thinking of holding a meeting of residents to draw up an official letter demanding the film’s name be changed.

– The head of the district stopped us. He said that he was being summoned to the prosecutor’s office about this case. Apparently they are figuring out something. Perhaps we’ll get together a little later. Otherwise the nickname will now stick to us. And so we barely survive, now we’ve become part of history. This is just what we needed…

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The producer of the film company that is making the film, Maxim Gabula, believes that the residents needlessly stirred up the scandal: “The village of Muratovka has nothing to do with the film. The filming location was chosen for one reason – there was only one destroyed wooden church in the Urals. There are stone ones and some others, but no wooden ones. There were no occult things or desecration in the church. This is just the site of a mysterious incident that environmentalists are investigating. There are no scarecrows or monsters. It simply creates a depressing atmosphere where a person struggles with internal nightmares. We did not photograph the village itself or the local residents. Only the forest and the church appear in the picture. In fact, we immortalized this church in the film. Nobody cared about her before.”