Nightwatch

I haven't watched any other film by Bornedal(including the American remake, which I understand is inferior to this), but he certainly nailed this one. From start to finish, this establishes and maintains an atmosphere and crafts a tension so thick, you *can't* cut it with a knife, you'd need a razor-blade. The editing and cinematography, with only a handful of exceptions, are inspired, using light and darkness immensely well, and utterly terrifying the audience. This is marvelously well-shot. The plot is excellent, and the twist is unexpected and has a relatively subtle, yet nicely effective reveal. Granted, when you think it all through, you do have to accept one or two details that strain credulity. Still, this is exciting and creepy whenever it attempts to be, and the relatable story and credible, well-developed, human characters are the driving force of the movie. Inbetween the sequences of suspense - to keep it from overstimulating the audience - there is humor, and every joke and gag are funny, none fall flat or try too hard. The acting is impeccable, every performance is spot-on. While there are jump-scares, most of the build-up pays off, big time. The music is excellent, and contains a good bit of rock, as well as a cue that they must have composed with Psycho in mind. There is a lot of disturbing content, some sexuality(including in dialog), brief nudity and a little bloody violence in this. The DVD comes with a well-done half-hour long behind-the-scenes featurette that covers the majority of the areas of production, and the theatrical trailer. I recommend this to every fan of horror. 8/10

I recently watched the Danish film 🇩🇰 Nightwatch (1994) on Shudder. The storyline follows a bet between friends that spirals out of control. One of the friends, needing extra money, takes a job as a night watchman at a mortuary. When a string of bodies start pouring in from a serial killer, his behavior tied to the bet makes him look like a suspect. Can he convince the police he's not involved and clear his name?

This film is written and directed by Ole Bornedal (The Possession) and stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones), Sofie Gråbøl (Attachment), Kim Bodnia (Pusher), and Lotte Andersen (Little Big Girl).

This movie was so fun to watch unfold. It was entertaining to see a buddy film featuring a young Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) alongside the main character from Nicolas Refn's Pusher. Their acting was excellent, and they were unpredictable characters where anything could happen at any time. There was a "bad breath" sequence that was gross but hilarious and a Himalayas conversation that was brilliantly executed.

The storyline is smart, intricate, and well-written. How the bet between friends impacts the overall serial killer storyline is very clever, reminiscent of a giallo in some ways. However, the overnight "night watch" elements reminded me of Last Shift. The way everything weaves together into an ultimate whodunit with supernatural elements and a buddy picture is perfect. There's so much to like here.

In conclusion, Nightwatch is a unique and smart thriller with horror elements. I would rate it an 8/10 and highly recommend it.

Even though this is not a perfect movie, it still does nothing really wrong either and this movie is basically being a great example of how to do a great and effective, more classic type, of thriller.

The movie combines many different genre elements and it keeps throwing you around. Is it going to be a horror? Is it going to be psychological thriller? Is it going to be a thriller involving a serial killer? Every time you think you have the movie all figured out it does something new and surprising. So really, it's best to simply watch this movie, without knowing what it truly is going to be all about.

And the good news about the movie as well is that it handles all of its many different themes effectively. When the movie is supposed to be horror like it's being really horror like with its atmosphere and buildup and when the movie is supposed to be more thriller like it's really being suspenseful and mysterious. What I also liked was that the movie was having some clear Giallo genre movie elements in it but then again, every modern horror/thriller involving a killer is being in one way or another derivative of the classic Italian Giallo genre.

It really was foremost the atmosphere of the whole movie that kept it going and suspenseful and interesting. The story itself, when you really start to dissect it is being quite standard for its genre. Yet the movie still manages to surprise you, due to the way it handles certain scenes and its typical genre ingredients, such as the look and feeling it has to it.

The movie also truly benefits from it that it has some good and likable characters in it. No cocky kids, or persons who think they know best and are afraid of nothing but instead some real people, with real fears and emotions. Yes, it might be true that the characters feel that way simply just because this is a Danish production, which of course has a different approach and feeling to it than a more standardized and stylized Hollywood production. Or perhaps it's just all due to some great casting and performances by its actors. This actually was being one of Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau's very first movie roles and he now days has a pretty decent acting career, with already also movies such as "Black Hawk Down", "Kingdom of Heaven" and the television series "Game of Thrones" behind his name.

Guess there is still plenty of stuff you could complain about, such as the lack of blood and gore, while there was plenty of opportunity for it, or that the killer gets revealed far before the finale and end of the movie but that doesn't take away anything from the fact that this is simply being a very effective genre movie, that's perfectly watchable, even on repeated viewings.

8/10

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Nattevagten (1994) (aka Nightwatch) is a stylish thriller/horror from Denmark. I just finished watching it and I was blown away. It's the most edge-of-your-seat thriller I've seen since A Tale of Two Sisters. This guy, Ole Bornedal, plots like a devil! The way he sets everything up is masterful. The script is so tight, practically every element that's established is later on used. Reminded me of early Coen brothers scripts. It also provides the viewer with sufficient food for thought, what with its underlying themes about the connection between sex and death, man's self-destructive tendencies versus his instincts for survival and self-preservation, and more.

There are a lot of creepy sequences, and one or two boo moments. The soundtrack is excellent. There's one unforgettable scene where something hideous happens to the sounds of this cheery, boppin' Danish song that seems to repeat the same verse over and over again. The result is very disturbing.

The style contains a lot of Hitchcockian characteristics, and the movie is done so well that it would have made Hitchcock proud. Everything is pulled off perfectly, and not once do we hear the gears of the plot grinding.

Considering how little known this movie is, I was very pleasantly surprised. I highly recommend it.

P.S. The main actor has a striking resemblance to Ewan McGregor, who reprised the role in the American remake three years later.

You know how you often get extremely disappointed when you re-watch movies that petrified you as a kid and almost single-handedly were responsible for the development of your future phobias? Well, the Danish horror/suspense masterpiece "Nattevagten" is the symbolic exception that confirms the rule. More than a decade after its initially shocking & nightmarish impact, the film still is as unsettling as when it first came out. I saw this film shortly after its release in 1994, but most of the time my eyes & ears were covered by the sheets of my bed. In my defense, I was only 12 years old and the film is truly creepy! Although I now admit that the basic story and screenplay aren't entirely flawless, the atmosphere of "Nattevagten" is still indescribably tense and haunting. In order to make some extra money to finance his studies, 24-year-old Martin takes on a new job as the night watchman in the hospital's morgue. At the same time, however, the city is plagued by a maniacal serial killer who scalps his prostitute victims and drives the local police inspector Wörmer insane. Pretty soon the gruesomely deformed corpses end up in Martin's mortuary and he makes himself a suspect because of a series of strange betting games with his best friend Jens. Ole Bornedal's script isn't always 100% plausible and convincing, but at least it dares to feature some hugely controversial undertones (like necrophilia, religious blasphemy and under-aged prostitutes) and it patiently takes enough time to properly introduce the main characters and make them amiable. Some sequences are truly portentous and genuinely make the hairs on your arms & neck stand up straight, like when Martin hesitantly has to check out who set off the morgue's emergency alarm. There are several highlights of brilliant suspense in "Nattevagten", as well as prime examples of brilliant acting, beautiful art-direction and a truly peculiar sense of (pitch black) humor. There isn't that much gore or bloodshed in the film, but the few visceral moments are quite disturbing and in-your-face confronting. Great film, highly recommended to fans of superior horror cinema as well as the more established art-house fanatics. Also, Danish seems like a fascinating language to learn!