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Post by slayrrr666 on Oct 22, 2010 10:30:48 GMT -5
Another of the sister threads to the Mexican horror thread, this one dedicated to horror from Norway.
So, how many Norwegian horrors have you seen?
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Post by Fenril on Oct 22, 2010 11:59:26 GMT -5
- Fritt Vilt (2006; aka Cold prey. Dir. Roar Uthaug). A slasher movie set in an abandoned sky resort. Very good, with well-staged stalk sequences, the requisite gore and nudity (well, not that much nudity, since it takes place in subzero weather), and a fairly scary killer. There is a sequel which I haven't seen but hear it's just as good and takes place in an hospital.
- Naboer (2005; aka Next door. Dir. Pål Sletaune). After a huge fight with his girlfriend, a man starts frequenting his next-door neighbor and soon starts a dangerous sadomasochistic game with her, as well as her sister and their shared boyfriend. But things are not quite what they seem. Disturbing thriller as only the europeans can make it; I found the last twist fairly predictable, but still recommend it, especially to exploitation fans.
There's also the fantasy film Sofies verden (1999; aka Sophie's world), but I wouldn't call it horror.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Oct 25, 2010 10:50:23 GMT -5
Unfortunately, I can't say I've seen any from here, though I do know of them. I've been waiting a while for Dead Snow, which sounds right up my alley.
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Post by Fenril on Oct 25, 2010 13:52:50 GMT -5
Dead snow just got released here; the one with nazi zombies, right?
Haven't yet seen it.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Oct 26, 2010 11:30:13 GMT -5
Yeah, that's the one. Død snø was what I was referring to.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jul 20, 2011 10:24:00 GMT -5
I guess this is pretty close, though not technically (officially it's Iceland) but I know the co-production is Norway so it'll go here: Harpoon: Whale Watching Massacre.
Overall, I wouldn't say it's all that bad, and it definitely has it's good moments (including the initial sweep of the boat where they take over, it's pretty creative and unexpected, making for a pretty nifty sequence) the gore is definitely good enough when we get to see it as far too often they attack with some object that forces the victim out of the camera's eye-view and then we turn to see the aftermath, at least giving us something but the majority of the time, it's not really much of anything good. As well, the plot makes very little sense (Why'd we spend ten minutes in the opening music club when they're not important to the plot, no one we met there is involved in the rest of the film or why we've been wasting that time to start with? Or even why they're going out to kill them?) which makes for a very jarring experience.
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Post by Fenril on Aug 22, 2012 18:14:23 GMT -5
- Trolljegeren [aka Trollhunter]. A group of university students document a mysterious man rumored to be an illegal bear hunter; to their surprise, he's actually a Troll hunter working for the norwegian goverment. Because see, these creatures long asociated with scandinavian lore are in fact wild (and giant) creatures that assorted goverments try to keep under check and a secret from the public at large. But lately, the trolls have been itchier than usual, as if they were up to something....
While more fantasy / action than horror, I think this counts as a creature feature, as it introduces a new kind of monster to modern movies. Regardless, I enjoyed this one. The script cleverly blends faitytale motifs with modern (as in, cynical) sensibilities, and is one of the few "found footage" movies that justifies the use of this format --like in the uruguayan "La casa muda" it even takes advantage of that format for a memorable setpiece: a tense chase through the woods at night, where the Troll remains hidden from the audience until the camera switches to nocturne vision and reveals that he's inches away from the cameraman...
Can't really think of any major complains here. The ending does leave a couple loose threads, but in this case it seems to be intentional: it makes us realize that we only know as much as the characters themselves did.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Aug 23, 2012 10:57:35 GMT -5
I've seen that on TV here but can't bring myself to watch it. Is it really worth a look?
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Post by Fenril on Aug 27, 2012 18:48:35 GMT -5
It's entertaining enough and it runs at a fairly quick pace, I'd say. It may not be the best monster movie ever made, but it's a decent enough entry.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Oct 8, 2012 10:37:37 GMT -5
Well, as I said earlier it's been playing on TV here, so I was able to catch it over the weekend and is now my first official 'true' Norwegian horror, Trollhunter (Trolljegeren).
While attempting to do a report on a hunter illegally poaching in the Norwegian countryside, a group of students finds he's really a Troll-hunter for the government trying to curtain their sudden rise in activity and document his journey to find out why.
Incidentally, I found this to be an utterly and immensely entertaining effort, with hardly anything not to like about it. Displaying a sense of nationalistic pride that's incredibly refreshing and a joy to behold, the use of a creature that is wholly their own and speaks to their culture and history makes for a unique feel to this as the complete realism this handles their existence in a modern world is a special touch. In addition, the fact that we're given a truly impressive amount of info on not only their biology but also their behavior and methods for interacting with their world is pretty fun, and there's even a slew of different types that are spread throughout, making for some nice differences between the varieties featured as well as providing the film with numerous incredible scenes of interaction and confrontation with the hunter and his query. These scenes are nothing short of spectacular, with near-flawless special effects to make them come alive and look and act realistically, and even some are quite shocking and creepy. The shaking camera/found footage aspect isn't a complete annoyance (several of the scenes are questionable as to their inclusion) but thankfully it's kept short until it gets to the ending which is way too abrupt and ends on a puzzling note, but otherwise this was a lot of fun and really entertaining.
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Post by Fenril on Oct 8, 2012 21:06:45 GMT -5
Glad to hear you liked this one as well, and I agree with your comments.
I, too thought the ending could have been better, but I guess the little joke shortly before the credits was enough for me, and finished the whole thing on a very entertaining note.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Oct 9, 2012 10:25:36 GMT -5
Yeah, I was surprised at how good it really was, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Oct 16, 2012 10:59:26 GMT -5
So, it seems to be that there's another Norwegian horror effort on TV, and thankfully it's one I've been waiting for, Dead Snow (aka Død snø).
Taking a ski trip into the Norwegian wilderness, a group of friends find the relaxing trip interrupted by a horde of Nazi zombies looking to recover their stolen goods uncovered by the group and must try to get away from the situation alive.
Quite frankly, this was worth the time to wait as this is one of the greater zombie efforts ever. There's just so much to like about this one that it's hard to pick a spot to start with, but what must be mentioned first is the blood and gore. This one has so much that it could rival the all-time greats in the genre, all the while done with hardly any biting of their flesh to do so. The bloodbath that ensues from this one is a combination of defensive tactics against the zombies and their methods of capturing the group, both of which results in an impressive display of carving, butchering and bloodletting that leaves this film drenched in splatter. From a body drawn and quartered to hatchet decapitations, stabbings or simple slicings done to every part of the body, chainsaw dismembering and much, much more, as a splatterfest this truly delivers. That leaves this with a lot of action that's utterly enjoyable and keeps it moving along at a frantic pace so as not to be completely dull, the comedy is interjected at the right moments to add brevity to the situation and off course the over-the-top nature of the film is entirely engrossing, which when added with the wintery setting and fine suspense, provides this with plenty of great points. The one minor flaw here is that the zombies don't behave like typical zombies and instead tend to run around, wield tools and have a slasher-villain sense of the dramatics rather than like mindless hordes, but it's a completely forgivable offense that doesn't interrupt the good will established within.
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Post by Fenril on Nov 17, 2012 22:04:35 GMT -5
- Fritt Vilt II (aka Cold prey 2). An understaffed and about to be shut down hospital receives an unexpected patient: exhausted Janicke, the final girl of the previous movie. Unfortunately, the maniac that killed her friends isn't quite as dead as he seemed, nor has he lost one bit of his bloodlust. And he's already hot on her trail...
An excellent sequel that manages to be even better than the original, still borrowing from the best american slashers, and for once using the fact that it's a sequel to actually build up the killer's backstory (more to the point, this time there is an actual story, and it's even used to justify some of the crazier twists). It defies some old stock clichés (the police actually show up halfway through, the main character(s) actually try to finish off the killer whenever they have him knocked out cold...) while still revelling in others (the cops in question are incredibly easy to scare and prove thoroughly useless, there is a gratuitous shower scene that doesn't even show anything...); and then there's the gory kills, this time presented with just the right amount of dark humor. All in all, an immensely entertaining movie.
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