3/10
Brutally dull and slow paced...
27 July 2024
I knew that this movie existed as a novel, but I wasn't aware that they had filmed it, prior to actually stumbling upon it by random chance here in 2024. And of course, I opted to watch it, as I knew it was a zombie movie of sorts. I just didn't know what I was getting into here, as I haven't read the novel.

The storyline in "Håndtering Av Udøde" (aka "Handling the Undead"), as written by Thea Hvistendahl and John Ajvide Lindqvist utterly failed to properly entertain me, and it was quite a struggle to sit through 97 minutes of this slow paced nonsense. This movie is definitely not one that will easily find a place with the general audience, as it is somewhat of an acquired taste to watch.

It is a rather slow paced narrative that drives the movie. And you have to wait almost through half of the movie before something starts to happen. And I have to say that by then it was a bit too little, too late.

I was expecting this to be a horror movie, given the movie's title and the fact that there was an inverted cross on the movie's cover. Right, well the inverted cross on the cover of the movie makes no sense. For shock value perhaps? But it definitely had nothing to do with the contents of the storyline. And "Håndtering Av Udøde" proved to be a drama, not a horror movie.

Granted, while I do have John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel on the shelf in my collection of zombie books, I haven't read it yet. So I don't know how true this 2024 movie is to the source material in the novel. But I assume that the writer didn't make too many big changes, as he was also co-writing the screenplay for the movie. But then again, I am only speculating here.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, and while the movie's narrative was rubbish, then I will say that the acting performances were actually good.

The music in the movie was pretty good. It was a rather atmospheric and moody score that worked well, and would have worked even better, if the movie's narrative actually had proper contents and pacing.

The effects in the movie, while rather sparse and simplistic, actually worked well enough in favor of the movie. Don't go expecting a traditional zombie movie here, loaded with blood and gore.

The scene with the bunny can prove a bit overwhelming for some audience members, I suppose, as it was rather brutal.

"Håndtering Av Udøde" was a swing and a miss of a movie. It was a boring, slow paced movie that made little sense, and proven even less entertaining. This is hardly a movie that I would recommend you to waste your time, money and effort on. Nor is it a movie that will ever grace my screen a second time. When the movie came to an end, after a rather prolonged runtime, I have to say that I was left with an overwhelming sensation of 'what did I just sit through, and more importantly why did I endure it?'

It was as if director Thea Hvistendahl was going for a direction that favored artistic approach over entertainment value. I am sure that there is a particular avantgarde audience out there that will enjoy this movie. I just happened to not be a part of that particular target audience.

My rating of "Håndtering Av Udøde" lands on a very generous three out of ten stars.
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