Viking Wolf

As this Norwegian film opens we are told how, almost a thousand years ago, Viking raiders heading south to Normandy. In a monastery they find a fearsome wolf like 'hell hound'. They take it with them as they return... none of the Vikings survive and the creature swims ashore. In the present day teenage girl Thale, and her family, have just moved to the remote Norwegian town where her mother, Liv, has joined the local police. One evening Thale sneaks out of her house to attend a beach party. Another girl is attacked and dragged off by a creature, Thale is scratched. Liv leads the investigation and soon finds what appears to be a wolf's claw. When the body is found it appears to have been attacked by a large, savage animal. An eccentric hunter turns up claiming the creature is in fact a werewolf!

I thought this was a decent enough addition to the werewolf genre. The prologue made it clear that this was going to be a werewolf film from the opening scene. Part of me would have preferred that information to come out a bit later but it didn't matter too much as it wasn't long before we knew what had attacked the girl. Apart from explaining how werewolves originally came to be in Scandinavia it didn't try to add anything to the established lore. The plot borrows from other films; most obviously 'An American Werewolf in London' but also from less obvious sources... I'm sure the hunter was inspired by Quint from 'Jaws'. The effects are decent enough and the acting was solid. The big question about any horror film is 'Is it scary?' unfortunately for the most part it isn't. While we see a bit of the aftermath of attacks the makers seemed a bit squeamish about showing the gory attacks. Overall a decent enough addition to the genre that fans of werewolf movies are likely to enjoy. Even if they don't rate it amongst the best they are unlikely to consider it one of the worst.

These comments are based on watching the film in Norwegian with English subtitles.

I had to create an IMDB account just to write this review.

Like a few other people the harsh reviews on this are just weird. Is it a game changer in the genre? No. Is it decent and watchable, for me, absolutely. Liv Mjönes gives another solid performance as the new to the town police officer. It clips along at a decent pace. Are there flaws, sure. It could have spent a bit more time building tension or back story. Thankfully the CGI was better than expected. Would be set up well for a second movie.

I would definitely watch it again, especially with family members who are easily scared & miss out on these type of movies.

What could be lurking in the dense forest or in old shafts?

As a child you have a thriving imagination when it comes to monsters, as an adult you have often seen the real monster.

But that's not what this is about, it's about classic stuff woven into the icy mythology of the Vikings.

What initially creates an eerie, cold atmosphere later turns out to be a rather bland filmed story with sometimes strange moments.

A big problem here are the effects, often the scenes are completely ridiculously exaggerated.

Almost an embarrassing battle record.

Unfortunately, the short scary moments cannot carry a whole film.

A real shame.

I have to hand it to the norwegians, they always seem to have some of the best movies and this is no different. It was fun and intriging to watch. The cast were pretty good though I cant compare them to other films that they were in., but from what i can see here they were great. This movie is all about a young girl named Thale. One day after hanging out with friends by the bay, she is attacked along with others, that one bite changes her, and not for the best. What we come to is a stand off with other wolves. There is quite a bit of blood shed as a warning but I liked the mystery of it all and the atmosphere built up worked. Overall an enjoyable norwegian thriller.

I love a good werewolf movie so was interested to see what this one was like.

My overall impression was that it paid homage to the classic "An American Werewolf In London" film, one of the best werewolf movies ever made. It's got the same love and loss theme, and I'm sure the writers intentionally did this, reinventing the film 40 years on.

Yes, I agree, the werewolf CGI was poor - a sign of a low budget - and who cares? If you focus on the story, it's hardly a major distraction. And the slight twist on the werewolf myth was clever - no lunar changes from man to beast and back again. It's a one-way trip.

It feels like the film takes place over a few days or so, making it quite believable that the investigation turned from a hunt for a wolf to a gory bloodbath once the young girl herself turned after being bitten. There's no time for police reinforcements, etc. It's a small, relatively remote, blue-collar town forced to confront the fact that werewolves are real. There's no time for them to get their head around it - they're literally at the mercy of events.

And the ending was good enough, leaving you to consider what you would do as a mother faced with that choice.

I enjoyed it - the pace was great and there was no unnecessary exposition and very little side-story padding. Just a straight out werewolf movie.

Worth watching.