Viking Wolf

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.

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.

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 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.

Worst ive seen coming outta my countrys film-''industry'', it lacks so much, and that maybe due to the fact that the plot idea couldve been an international blockbuster...

allthough im negative in the start, you will be awarded with some decent and scenic natural camerashoots of norwegian environment, you will be amazed by the quality on the special effects, especially the werewolf, and the wound makeup of the victims...

but the way they tell this story is a cathastrophee en masse', the cast of actors look like theyve forgotten their lines and stutters till full stop, so the script must be a failure, and the willingness of the director to do tiring retakes till the product is perfect are totally absent. The '' cut and glue'' guy on the production line appears not to have been at the actual shooting scenes, and have done the matter just reading the screenplay...

so with a fair amount of goodwill i wont offer more than a 4 outta 10 for this film, i agree with loads of the reviews ive seen on the olin'e, a no recommend from the grumpy old man.