Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre (2009)

An epic tale about a group of whale watchers, whose ship breaks down and they get picked up by a whale fisher vessel. The Fishbillies on the vessel has just gone bust, and everything goes out of control.

Director:

Júlíus Kemp

Writer:

Sjón Sigurdsson

Stars:

Pihla Viitala, Nae, Terence Anderson

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pihla Viitala	...	Annette
Nae	...	Endo (as Nae Yuuki)
Terence Anderson	...	Leon
Miranda Hennessy	...	Marie-Anne
Helgi Björnsson	...	Tryggvi
Guðrún Gísladóttir	...	Mamma
Stefán Jónsson	...	Siggi
Aymen Hamdouchi	...	Jean Francois
Snorri Engilbertsson	...	Anton
Gunnar Hansen	...	Captain Pétur
Thor Kristjansson	...	Bjorn (as Thorvaldur David Kristjansson)
Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir	...	Hannah Traschle
Carlos Takeshi	...	Nobuyoshi
Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir	...	Helga
Hanna María Karlsdóttir	...	Signy

Storyline

An epic tale about a group of whale watchers, whose ship breaks down and they get picked up by a whale fisher vessel. The Fishbillies on the vessel has just gone bust, and everything goes out of control.

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Plot Keywords:

animal in title | place name in title | murder | homosexual | death | 

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Taglines:

Hunting humans in the cold Icelandic waters

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for bloody violence, language, some nudity and drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Iceland

Language:

English Icelandic Japanese French

Release Date:

4 September 2009 (Iceland)

Also Known As:

Harpoon

Filming Locations:

Reykjavík, Iceland

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Icelandic Filmcompany,Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME),Solar Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gunnar Hansen portrays Captain Pétur but during post-production, his voice was dubbed.

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Quotes

Mamma: Sing sing sing like a whale

User Reviews

Great Title. Terrible Movie.

Around twenty minutes into this movie I started to wonder if "Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre" was meant to be a dark comedy. After all, how could this be a serious horror movie when it included scenes such as a traumatised woman singing Björk's "It's Oh So Quiet" over the loudspeakers of a ship whilst a tragedy occurs on the deck? Or the moment in the movie where the scene suddenly changes to a group of people discussing their love for whales? But if it's a comedy, where are all of the scenes designed to make you laugh - or at least smile? It's almost as though the scriptwriter was as confused about the movie they were making as I was about the movie I was watching.

Obviously "Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre" is a homage to the far superior "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" - the original Leatherface (Gunner Hansen) even shows up here. However, everything that "Texas" did right, "Reykjavik" does wrong and then some. The victims here are some of the most one-dimensional stereotypes you could ever assemble from the loud, drunk Frenchman to the Japanese tourists with their camera gear, and none of them are particularly sympathetic or appealing. The only exception is a young black American man (portrayed by an actor in serious need of accent training) whose sexuality prompts one of the most unrealistic dialogue exchanges i've heard (and that's before you take into account the fact that this exchange takes place whilst the two characters are running for their lives from insane whalers). I'm not even sure who was supposed to be the main character in this movie which shows how problematic the story was.

This already unsteady boat is further sunk by gaping holes in logic which will leave you scratching your head in disbelief. For example, early in the movie we're introduced to a character whose presence seems to indicate that our victims have been lured into a trap. However, their fate actually has nothing to do with him but rather an unfortunate (and highly unlikely) accident. This is indicative of the poorly written script in which strangers suddenly and inexplicably relate their life stories to one another merely for the purpose of giving the audience some back-story, or act out of character to set up a specific plot point (see the crazy sequence of events which begins with the line "Your father was a real kamikaze!" for evidence of this).

There is only one death scene that is of any interest and the villains aren't terribly memorable. Whilst it's exciting to see a slasher movie emerge from somewhere other than America, I can't recommend "Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre" due to its many, many flaws. You would be advised not to waste your time and to instead watch a movie like 2006's "Severance" which manages to be both funny and frightening - two things which "Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre" completely fails to be.