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Nightwatch More at IMDbPro »Nattevagten (original title)

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30 reviews in total

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44 out of 52 people found the following review useful:
A flawless thriller that would've made Hitchcock proud, 1 August 2005

Author: Potty-Man from Israel

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.

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34 out of 43 people found the following review useful:
Superior thriller, consistent sense of dread keeps you on edge, 9 October 2001

Author: hippiedj from Palm Desert, California

Miramax made a huge mistake keeping this film from distribution in order to make an American version. Though I can only imagine how much more horrible the situation would have been if Nattevagten would have been dubbed in English!

This is a thriller that has it all: tense atmosphere guaranteed to give you the creeps, characters with believable quirks (though I doubt a prostitute would actually try to bury her face in a guy's lap in a crowded restaurant), and twists that were not actually expected or used as a weak plot point (Malice was a film that tried to throw the audience off and just wasted our time).

Martin (Nikolaj Waldau) takes on a night watchman job at a morgue to help pay for his law education, doesn't fully appreciate his relationship with his girlfriend (Sofie Graaboel) thanks in part to his jerky friend (Kim Bodnia) who keeps pulling Martin into silly bets. The loser has to get married, a rather interesting comment on the worth of relationships (something I believe the doomed moths trapped in a light fixture represent, along with other obvious meanings). Once at work, immediately things take on an eerie bent with Martin staring at himself in a glass window and out into the dark halls, his apprehension at having to use a key that's on the other end of a room full of corpses (that's one question I had, would they REALLY put that key there? Oh well, it DID make it more creepy!), and a body that tends to move around.

Turns out much of this is because of part of a bet gone basically wrong, but figuring out the complexities of the name switch pot point and the prostitute's connection to the killer makes for fun sorting! The climax tends to fall into some minor cliche with the heros being hogtied (with the time it took to do that the killer could have easily killed them), but the snappy pace keeps you from picking it apart as you are watching.

I was also impressed by the fact that not the entire cast was made up of youthful characters, and even reversed the sex appeal factor by not having a usual love scene--this time you basically get to see a rather naked Martin instead of the typical "let's try to find a way to get some breasts in here and there" scheme.

I was very impressed that Anchor Bay has released Nightwatch/Nattevagten in Danish with English subtitles, giving the film the respect it deserves. For those who gripe that subtitles are annoying, all I can say to you is that you are either lazy or need to brush up on your reading skills. I find that if I am absorbed in a good film I don't even realize I'm reading subtitles, it just works naturally. I was still engrossed in this film and was affected by its scary nature. It is quite astounding how superior and effective this film is when compared to 1998's remake, which director Ole Bornedal must have done with some hesitance.

At the time of writing these comments I haven't heard the DVD's audio commentary by Ole Bornedal (and I hear it's a rather honest commentary from him too), so I don't know if this matter is dealt with, but I noticed at one point the subtitles for Martin say "If this were a movie it would be called 'The Nightguard'...." So, then why is the English title Nightwatch?

Anyway, this is one thriller that succeeds practically on every level and people need to seek this one out! With all the processed Hollywood drek being pumped out every week in theatres and video, you owe it to yourself to go out and look for something NOT on the top hits list. Most likely this original Danish filming of Nightwatch won't easily be found as a rental, but I can assure you it's worth the purchase!

When you hear a foreign film is being remade for American audiences, see that foreign version first! It's amazing how many Americanized versions have fallen flat and yet Hollywood still chucks 'em out. So, while you can, for instance, see the foreign version of Insomnia before the American one surfaces....

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11 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Superior serial-killing!, 2 December 2007

Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls

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!

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12 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Excellent Danish thriller, 24 October 2006
Author: Camera Obscura from The Dutch Mountains

NIGHTWATCH (Ole Bornedal - Denmark 1994).

Danish writer-director Bornedal made an extremely suspenseful film about young law student Martin (Nikolaj Coaster Waldau) in Copenhagen who takes a job as the nightwatchman at a mortuary. A serial killer is lose on the streets, leaving behind a string of scalped female victims. Soon after Martin started his new job, one of the victims is brought in. That's when Martin meets homicide detective Peter Wörmer (Ulf Pilgaard). When one night one of the victims in the morgue is molested, Martin being the nightwatchman is suspected and soon finds himself trapped in a carefully planned frame-up.

Suspenseful, black humour, some necrophilia, this is superior genre movie-making. Bornedal goes for an ultra-realistic style and certainly employs some very skillfull set-ups that will have you on the edge of your seat. The performances are all-round perfect. In fact, I cannot recall a genre film of this kind with so many impressive performances. Superior scripting and character development by Bornedal helps this, but exceptional nevertheless. Kim Bodnia's role as Martin best friend Jens Arkiel got him noticed and he would later star in an equally impressive role in PUSHER (1996). Bornedal also directed an inferior American remake in 1997 starring Ewan McGregor.

Camera Obscura --- 9/10

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12 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
better than the remake, 2 December 2003
Author: qtaran111 from London, England

This is a great little film, with some genuinely creepy moments. Yes it is fairly predictable and not exactly original. However it makes up for its unoriginality with good acting and competant directing. The close-up of Ulf Pilgaard's (Inspector Wörmer) face when he realises that Sofie Gråbøl (Kalinka) was at the murder scene is both funny and terrifying as he weighs up his options. Anyway it is far superior to the US remake (it seems as though people are split on this: generally Americans like the remake, Europeans like the original). Stick with the original, 7/10.

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5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Get yourself a radio, 25 December 2009

Author: Grann-Bach (Grann-Bach@jubii.dk) from Denmark

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

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7 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
A bona fide MASTERPIECE!, 14 October 2007

Author: The_Void from Beverley Hills, England

Well, I've wanted to see this film for so long that I actually put off watching it when I first got myself a copy for fear that it might disappoint. It is my greatest pleasure, therefore, to state that Nightwatch did not in any way disappoint me! This film is an out and out masterpiece and by far and away the best film I've seen in some time! Nightwatch is an intriguing blend of slow burn horror and murder mystery that manages thrills and surprises throughout. Denmark is not a country that springs to mind when thinking about horror films, but that hasn't stopped director Ole Bornedal from giving the best directors that the genre has to offer a real run for their money! The plot centres on a morgue where a young law student named Martin has just taken a job smoking, drinking, listening to rock music…and checking up on the corpses at night. It just happens that around the same time there's a maniac going round bumping off prostitutes, and of course the bodies are being taken to the morgue where Martin works, and that's where his troubles start as he finds himself getting caught up in the investigation...

The plot runs rather slowly, but the director ensures that the film is always interesting. Nightwatch is predominantly a horror thriller, but there are also themes of romance and comedy thrown into the mix which help to ensure that the film always feels fresh. Nightwatch is very high quality too, the acting is superb and it's clear that the director values this art form as the attention to detail is stunning and there isn't a shot in the movie that feels wrong or out of place. The characters are the most interesting thing about the film; they're all well defined, and that's a huge positive since the story really relies on that. The way that the director keeps the action mysterious and brooding means that the audience is always expecting something to happen, which ensures that the film is always full of tension. The director throws in a lot of red herrings and leads the audience astray before unleashing a well worked and really quite shocking twist towards the end. Overall, Nightwatch is everything you could want a thriller to be and more. There's not a great deal of films out there that are good as this one – so if you're lucky enough to come across a copy of Nightwatch, make sure you don't pass it up!

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9 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
Superb serial killer thriller!, 20 August 2002
Author: Infofreak from Perth, Australia

'Nightwatch' is genuinely creepy Danish thriller full of suspense and interesting uncliched characters. Writer/director Ole Bornedal really knows how to hook a viewer by creating a likeable hero, then throwing him in the deep end. We really feel for Martin (Nikolaj Coster-Wadeu) and want to somehow see him get out of the dangerous mess he unexpectedly finds himself in! This movie has plenty of twists without getting gimmicky, and is helped enormously by the first rate cast of unknown (to an English language audience) actors, all of whom are well cast and convincing. One of the oddest things about this movie is that the American remake was not only inferior, but actually directed by Bornedal himself. American remakes of European movies are almost always poor, but this is one of the few examples of the same director being responsible for both. (One other springs to mind - George Sluizer's brilliant 'Spoorloos', remade by himself as the hugely disappointing 'The Vanishing'). Maybe this says a lot about Hollywood and the behind the scenes compromises movie audiences are rarely privy to. Anyway, steer clear of the crappy remake, and try to see this the superb original. Along with Amenabar's similarly taut and claustrophobic 'Tesis' it is one of the most effective and entertaining thrillers of the last decade.

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10 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Finally!, 19 July 2001
Author: McBuff from Slagelse, Denmark

After decades of gritty social realism, lamebrained comedies and pretentious art trash came this fullblooded genre movie with plenty of blood and guts, thrills and chills with a talented cast of newcomers and a few surprises from a wellknown veteran. Humorist, TV-writer and stage director Ole Bornedal made his feature directing debut with this serial killer thriller starring the excellent Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as law student Martin who takes a job as a night watchman at the city morgue. At the same time, he is playing a dangerous game of challenges with reckless buddy Jens (Kim Bodnia, in a starmaking performance). Eventually he develops a kinship with determined police inspector Wörmer (a welcome change-of-pace for comedian Ulf Pilgaard, who has never been better), who is hunting the serial killer. No further revelations here, but check it out for yourself, BEFORE or even INSTEAD of renting the US remake with Ewan McGregor and Nick Nolte. This one is the genuine article, stylish and scary, admittedly with the usual plot holes and flaws, but a winner all the way with a couple of great laughs to vent the tension. The songs performed by Sort Sol adds just the right touch. That´s Ulrich Thomsen (the speaker from FESTEN) as the bully in the bar, by the way. ***½

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9 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Over rated!!, 20 May 2006
Author: Rafael C.G. from Galicia (Spain)

Somebody wrote here: '(Most) US reviewers find this mediocre or 'not interesting' and suggest we should see the American remake. European reviewers all like it! I like it too' Oh well, I'm European... so what? I love GOOD cinema of any kind but sadly I got really disappointed with this over-rated and feeble thriller. The story is so obvious and cliché-ridden as any Hollywood mainstream movie of this type and in the last 30 minutes it's like an idiot-plot compendium. It begins promising enough, there are a couple of superb scary scenes in the first half, tons of creepy atmosphere along the way (great locations and camera-work) and some decent performances. But that's all. OK, if the point with this movie was character development it fails with this, too. There's not a single complex or even sympathetic character. And that slight social commentary is uninteresting because it doesn't match with the thriller elements at all.

I haven't seen the American remake and I don't feel like to do it after seeing this one.

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