User reviews

I remember seeing this film when I was a kid and I remembered that it scared the sleep out of me and surely tributed to my current horror fetish. But over the years it seems to have vanished from everybody's minds, into that vast oblivion where only Danish horror films can go. Anyway, imagine my thrill when I happened to find the film on a crappy VHS in a just as crappy local videostore. I got it, went home, let it lay there on the kitchen table until day fell into darkness and further into night. You might call this over-the-top expectations or something, but I was a bit frustrated when the credits had rolled.

"Sidste time" comes off extremely ambitious in one sense and I can't really understand what the negative criticism, dismissing the film as a "standard" or "routine" slasher, because I have NEVER seen a film like "Sidste time". It has a fundamental difference towards other films and the closest thing I can compare it to is the odd and mysterious tone of Lucio Fulci's old masterpiece "The Beyond". While I understand the criticism in itself, yes we suffer from some seriously lame characters carrying out some equally lame dialogs while getting killed off one by one (again), I have a hard time making sense out of the critics missing the weirdness of the film. Because it's in the fundamental weirdness that "Sidste time" collects it's points. The film does start out as a standard piece, but pretty soon you realize that we have no idea what's going on. As if in an episode of Twilight Zone, the characters find themselves stuck in a parallel dimension... or is it the sadistic, blood thirsty TV-show that is a demonizing illusion? Just how much power is contained within the dice of the very satanic Mickey Holm? Or is it just a ghost story? Or are the kids going mad? We don't know, all we can do is ask ourselves the same thing as the film's Augusta, "Why is everything so strange?" It's a heartache to understand what a sensation this film COULD have been. Because as long as the film rely on it's spooky atmosphere and the horrific notion that anything can happen in this pseudo school of horror, it's one of the most haunting slashers I've seen, and probably the best (or is it "the only GOOD"?) Scandinavian horror film ever produced. But quite often this excitement is ruined by your average stupid screenplay of characters spontaneously running away and other unlikely, moronic things. Not to mention what I've already mentioned, that is to say lame and predictable dialogs.

We have good actors, we have a nice dash against media exploitation and we have a sensational engine of suspense being expanded too often. If we had a screenplay that could make the different elements of the film work better together (as it is now, it does a worse job than the kids in the film) and crunch in unpredictable turns of terror, we would have a sensational masterpiece of horror. I never asked for a new "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or a fancy "Dawn of the Dead" with Ving Rhames. I'd donate MONEY, though, to see an understandable remake of "Sidste time". Because it could be marvelous.

PS Schmidt and Jürgensen should be given some credit though, since they were two Danes trying to wake the slasher genre to life a year before Wes Craven actually did it.

I read the book(as well as just about everything else by Dennis that I've gotten my hands on, and, more to the point, eyes pointed towards) before seeing the film, and enjoyed it as I tend to with his writings, so I will be drawing comparisons between the two. While this is not a flawless adaptation(and if you have to go with one or the other, this would not be my choice), it is definitely worth watching for us who seek out his work, and much more satisfying than Backstabbed, the other effort by DJ and Martin Schmidt. Almost everything about this is in varying degrees... including how closely translated the novel(which, I understand, was published at the same time as this was released, with Jürgensen doing it and the script, rather than it being something of his that someone picked up and turned into a movie... I'm not complaining, I was delighted by both) is, which is at times a curse(as it can come off forced), sometimes a blessing(a lot of it really works, I'm not sure I agree with the taking out of all that was so... although there are *clear* moments where what was herein surpassed the text). Let's talk acting; not everyone nails it. Andersson, as Inga, is by far, in my opinion, the one that comes the closest and feels the most genuine, and almost all of the time that has her on-screen is better for it. Bille, as Kenneth, also almost gets it right, at many points. Oksen does pretty good. In the other end of the spectrum, sadly, is Jensen. I like him, I do, but he just does not sell it, I never really believed he was Taus(perhaps he spoke too much... a little joke for the Danish readers...yes, it *was* a joke); I don't know if he's just too far from that type in general, but here, he comes off much more like his character in The Lost Spring(maybe he was still stuck on that?). I personally don't care for how Augusta was done... she looked far more like a mental patient than what I pictured from her description by Dennis, and I didn't always buy her as scared of everything(meanwhile, some of the eye-stuff... great!). Bo Larsen is fine, he's just... well, twice as old as his character seems to be supposed to be. The effects aren't all magnificent, but there are some absolutely excellent ones in there, and really not that many downright poor ones... if really any at all. The direction is mixed... I don't know how wise one particular decision made was, that again differs from DJ's words(I'll take this opportunity to point out that I'm actually *not* just blindly proposing that everything be taken from there and put up on the screen, they are different mediums and what works in one does not in the other, and this does have things that are not in the other, which are *spot-on*), which may count as a spoiler, so I'm not saying it here, but you'll find out from viewing(and hey, if not, feel free to ask me). However, I cannot claim that this didn't make me jump, every single time it tried to(and this wasn't my first viewing), and the ending, whilst admittedly abrupt, was marvelously effective. The cinematography and editing are masterful at select instances. The weirdness and wondering what exactly *is* going on is stronger in, yeah... but it does come across here, and is engaging(as is the feature as a whole). If you're into Dennis Jürgensen and his stuff, I would not hesitate to place this on your "must watch" list immediately. The DVD has a five-six minutes long interview with both him and Martin, and it's not bad at all. It's also got a commentary track, which is quite informational and a listen that is unlikely to disappoint. I recommend this to anyone who fits into aforementioned group, and those who are otherwise interested in this... for the actors, the genre of horror or Schmidt. 7/10

Although I shouldn't really comment too much on a film I haven't seen in many years, I still want to recommend this film to fans of horror movies. I remember all too well when I saw this in the theatre that I was totally "creeped" out.

The plot, as I remember it, concerns some kids who stay late at their school. For some reason they are locked in and there's someone in the school with them, killing them off one by one.

I remember very well the final plot point, and it was a bit of a disappointment, but up until then the film completely had me hooked, scaring me quite a bit. I recommend horror fans try and locate this film, as I will definitely do.

Nowadays Hollywood is remaking Japanese horror movies that continually disappoint. Maybe, since they can't have an original idea to save their life, they should check out more Scandinavian thrillers for a breath of fresh air.

The movie is about a tv-show which is called "Sidste time". It`s a documentary show that shows the cruelty and reality of the world. The host of the show, Micky Holm, are always trying to get the best real-life story before anyone else. Seven students is trapped in their school building. They sees Micky`s face on a tv-screen in their classroom with his show "Sidste time". He is filming outside the school. The students finds a dead body in the classroom and gets really scared. They`re trying to get out, but every door and window is closed. They screams and knocks on the windows, but no-one can hear them. Soon, they`re being killed one by one. But who is the killer? Is it one of the students? And what has Micky Holm to do with all this? The movie is really scary!!!! I still can`t understand it! It`s a bit confusing, but a great horror movie.

In the wake of "Nattevagten" came this drearily routine slasher movie, written by novelist Dennis Jürgensen, which depicts a bunch of kids trapped in their school with a serial killer (yawn!). Meanwhile, a tabloid TV crew covers events from outside. Apart from a few grisly murders, including one gruesomely inventive scene involving a face and a hot-plate, film has nothing to recommend it, with barely credible performances and awfully predictable shock scenes.

Won´t scare anyone who has ever seen a real horror movie, but might appeal to the "Scream/I know what you did.../Urban Legend" crowd. Followed by a similar Schmidt/Jürgensen collaboration, "Mørkeleg".

Much like "Backstabbed", this danish horror flick is a serious flaw. There are no remarkable scares, nothing you haven't seen before. The acting is bad, and the characters are unrealistic and predictable. They are what you might call "stereotypical" high school characters, not one of them is even a little bit interesting as a character or shows some unexpected sides - at least you would have expected the shy girl to go through some kind of development, but no, none at all. At least the ending is somewhat interesting - but ending with a twist is the only interesting thing about this movie, and even that is nothing new in itself. The popular horror concept of people being locked up together in some dangerous situation is an ideal foundation of a good horror movie, but this one failed to impress me.

This is a very subjective telling of the time I saw this movie.

I was little. I guess somewhere between 7 and 9 years old. Me and my brother were alone, we were going to rent a movie. My brother rented two movies, one of the Puppetmaster-movies and this: Den Sidste Time.

I don't remember much from Puppetmaster (although I have seen them all later in life) but "Den Sidste Time" really made an impression on me.

I remember being really scared, because I thought it was sooo creepy. It was the scariest thing I had even seen. When I saw it later in life, I didn't find it that scary, but I still think this is a cool horror movie.

The coolest thing with this movie is the atmosphere. It's claustrophobic, intense and pretty creepy. It is not a typical slasher, there are elements here that are pretty bizarre. I wouldn't say supernatural, but certainly strange. (This was also a big reason why I found it so scary when I was little, the mystery of it)

I think this is a cool and different, creepy horror flick.

I remember watching this movie in Berlin in 1995. I can't recall too many details, but I do remember that I was pleasantly surprised. It's a quite violent horror thriller that has a sufficiently intelligent plot along with the right amount of weirdness to really scare you. Sure beats all the American mainstream teenie-horror flicks that have been pouring out lately. This movies is a good example of the rising Danish film culture, it can hold its stake against "Nightwatch". See it if you get the chance!

Seven pupils of a school are told to school by mail, regarding their failed behavior. They met in the biology classroom. Suddenly the door is shot, the curtains going down. On a TV, their failure is mention and they have to find out a riddle: "A murdering has happened in this school, find the murder!" After talking about a legend about a teacher, murdered by pupils in the biology classroom, they find a hanged and heavy wounded man. Also they found out, that the TV was not plugged in.

During this time, Mickey Holm, a talkmaster of the Reality-Show "Sidste Time" gets a facsimile from the school. He and his team are going to the school, to film what happens. He is glad, because until this time, he had no material for the evening show.

The pupils try to leave the school, but all doors, windows are closed, nobody can hear them. One by one is found murdered. While the TV is showing the "Sidste Time"-team on the school playground, later also INSIDE the school building and showing the murdered pupils, the scary children don´t see anything of the team, looking on the same playground.

Rough pictures and scary atmosphere are great parts of this danish movie, in good tradition of "Nattevagten" ( or "Nightwatch" ). A school as death trap with a maniac murder and a situation of no escape, no matter what they do. The pupils do not stand together, because of their very different personalities.

The movie is very confusing, especially at the end. Did not figure it out yet, but it is one of the most interesting part of this movie. Alse a great example for danish cinema.

This is an excellent Danish horror movie. The writer Dennis is a genius and basically a Danish Stephen King. His great imagination and humour shines through in the twilight zone type of plot. People who say this is a routine slasher that is absolutely not true. The movie is filled with great philosophy in the dialogue. It is even political in many ways and pre-figures both Saw and uncensored news. The movie is totally excellent and people who say bad about it simply fails to appreciate the philosophy of the movie.

This movie is definitely the best within this area up to date! The story is very cool, supernatural but that just makes it even better. I must say, I was surprised, because I didn't think Denmark could make a film like this, but I guess we can! More of that kind please! It's a film you just have to see..

Yes, the Sidste Time's TV reporter wants a very big hit story. He is starting imagining... The students are arriving to the classroom. And in the end, when the last teenager girl is murdered, the TV reporter smiles. SO: he is only thinking! All of the horrific story is in his mind... But the plan will be turned into real life when the students arrives to the school. We don't know is anybody standing (or hanging) below the curtain but we can imagine that. A danish student told me the Sidste time is a big film in Denmark, and the story was published in book too.