Bag det stille ydre (2005)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

Martin Schmidt

Writer:

Dennis Jürgensen (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 May 2005 (Denmark)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A young couple and their daughter move into an old house hanted by spirits.

Plot Keywords:

Fireplace | Sacrifice | Psychology | Haunted House | Ghost

Cast

Anne Birgitte Lind	...	Signe
Jakob Cedergren	...	Tommy
Dejan Cukic	...	David
Andrea Vagn Jensen	...	Marianne
Lykke Sand Michelsen	...	Sara
Laura Christensen	...	Jane
Rebecca Løgstrup	...	Bianca
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Per Andersen	...	Martin
Albert Bendix	...	Hans Nielsen
Zlatko Buric	...	Drago
Ole Drost	...	Olav
Jan Hertz	...	Ejendomsmægler
Tine Høst	...	Cykelpige
Pelle Kastrup	...	Oliver
Pittie Kristiansen	...	Nabo
Pernilla Larsson	...	Moren
Ronya Lina Larsson	...	Døv Pige
Thure Lindhardt	...	Charlie
Lis Lindstad	...	Nabo
Jens Okking	...	Politibetjent
Morten Suurballe	...	Anders Svendsen
Christina Therms	...	Marcella
Daniel Faber Therms	...	Benjamin

Also Known As:

Forglem mig ej (Denmark) (working title)
Restless Souls (International: English title)

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Color:

Color

Certification:

Germany:16

Company:

Wise Guy Productions

Trivia:

The house seen in the movie is shot on two different locations. The one focusing on the house and the other, focusing on the great lake.

A Reasonable Ghost Story

When Signe (Anne Birgitte Lind) and her workaholic husband Tommy (Jakob Cedergren) visit a house for sale in Glamstrup, they immediately like it and a couple of days later they buy it. They move with their daughter Bianca (Rebecca Løgstrup) and befriend their neighbors Marianne (Andrea Vagn Jensen) and her husband David (Dejan Cukic) that live on the other side of the street. While Tommy is working, Signe notes that weird things happen in the living room, with a black cat appearing, the fireplace firing alone and fruits getting rotten while Bianca plays and talks to her imaginary friend Oliver. Further, she discovers that the siblings Jane and Oliver died three years ago in a fire in another neighborhood in Glamstrup. She decides to call the medium Anders Svendsen (Morten Suurballe) to solve the mystery and he communicates with the spirits of the dead that are trapped in the spot and he tries to guide them to another world. When Marianne offers a job to Signe, she hires the teenager nanny Sarah (Lykke Sand Michelsen) that flirts with David. Meanwhile Tommy travels to Aalborg and meets the structural engineer that built the living room using material recovered from the fire where the siblings died. Further, he finds that on the next day is the three year anniversary of the tragedy. He decides to return to Glamstrup, but his car has a mechanical problem and she is stranded in Aalborg. Meanwhile Signe unravels a dark secret about the death of Jane and Oliver.

"Bag Det Stille Ydre" is a reasonable ghost story, with a promising beginning but a disappointing conclusion. Danish cinema has no tradition in horror movies, but the director Martin Schmidt succeeds with this very low-budget and low-paced movie, blending the genre with drama and thriller and keeping the unsolved mystery to the very end. Unfortunately the conclusion is weak, and I was disappointed since I expected a better resolution of the plot. The unknown cast has good performances, highlighting Anne Birgitte Lind and Andrea Vagn Jensen, and the sexy Lykke Sand Michelsen is a very gorgeous young woman. I have no connections with the director or cast, but I believe that fans of movies like "Haunted" (1995), "The Sixth Sense" (1999), "El Espinazo del Diablo" (2001) and "The Others" (2001) may give a chance to "Bag Det Stille Ydre" and they may have a pleasant surprise. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Almas Penadas" ("Restless Souls")