Yön saalistajat

Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space" has been generally regarded as the worst movie ever. I agreed, until I saw Visa Mäkinen's "Yön saalistajat" (Hunters of the Night). First of all, there are no hunters, nor night, in the movie. It is a story of a gold theft and the policemen trying to catch the thieves.

There's no coherence nor logic in the story. People seem to forget what they've just said, and there are some scenes that are totally irrelevant to the plot. The dialog is horrible ("He was too good to be so bad", says the master criminal "Reuna" (The Edge) after stabbing one of his own men), and the attempted erotics is just embarrassing to watch. Acting is non-existent, so is directing and editing. Every imaginable thing that can be done wrong is done wrong in this - this - thing. It is very hard to call it a movie.

Mäkinen is probably the all-time worst director in the world, and "Yön saalistajat" probably his worst (how he ever got the money to make more than one movie is a complete mystery). It is the only non-comedy he's ever made, and that's why it is probably his (unintentionally) funniest.

If you have masochist tendencies, watch this. Probably that's why I've seen it a several times. It does help if you know Finnish, but it is not required. Sometimes I am not so sure whether being a Finn is something you should be proud of. Confessing that this movie got funding from the National Movie Fund is one of those moments.

The best thing about camp films in general is that you know what to expect. It's like watching a professional wrestling match or a day time soap opera or a Jerry Springer show: you immediately can follow the skimpy plot, identify the cardboard characters, and watch in satisfaction while all the cliches are being fulfilled. However, at times, the director does something real unexpected. It may be something extraordinarily stupid, or something weird, or something insightful. The director Makinen is up there with the best camp directors, and this is his best movie.

In Yon saalistajat, everything seems to come together. There's nothing good about it, but still manages to be a coherent whole. Not once does the movie slow down - the action flows on and punches keep on coming.

The weirdest thing is that there's no sense of time: some characters seem to take months doing something while other characters have only spent one hour at a bar. This is partially due to Finnish summer where the sun never sets, so you don't experience the day turning into a night at all.

Finally: there is a plot, there, somewhere. You may have to watch the movie three times before you realize it, though.

Crime, murder, spy, sex, action, police, drugs.. everything U need for a great actionfilm. In this film, however, everything is mixed up and the result is weird, lousy failure. Extremely fun to watch when in the right mood. The VHS-cover proudly states: "Based on a story that could be true"... Don´t know if I should give 1 or 10 points, it was so funny!

Firstly to be said this not nearly as poor movie that some here are saying. It is not bad-bad movie it is good-bad movie... no it is excellent-bad movie. It got all the right (and wrong ingredients). There is real acting, hammy acting and no acting. Car chases, nude scenes, violence. There are multiple reasons to watch this film. Firstly it is unique piece of Finnish cinematography. Secondly this is quite entertaining movie. BTW actor playing character Reuna has also played former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari... My hat is off for director Visa Mäkinen. I strongly recommend to watch this movie and other movies by Visa Mäkinen.