New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

After a suitably creepy orientation tour by the outgoing night watchman, Martin is left to his studies in the grim surroundings, which play enough tricks on his mind that when things actually do begin to go wrong, the viewer isn't quite sure if perhaps Martin isn't having some job-related delusions. For it's not long until both James and Detective Cray enter into Martin's nighttime world, and the film hits its full stride shortly after. To say much more would not only spoil the plot, but would also take away from some of the more unsettling stylistic elements of the film, which would be doubly unfair to those who have not yet caught this unusual horror film.

The cast is uniformly excellent, with Ewan McGregor and, surprisingly, Patricia Arquette particular standouts. Nick Nolte also does an excellent turn as the detective who seems nearly as bizarre as the serial killer he's chasing. But the real star of the film is the atmosphere conjured by Bornedal and cinematographer Dan Laustsen, who create a netherworld of discomfiting sounds and disturbing shadows within the confines of the dilapidated morgue. Even the scenes that happen in other venues have some of the same slightly distorted, not-quite-real quality to them, and even mundane settings such as a laundromat suddenly seem to be filled with menace. All combine to make the film a lot better than your average art-house horror flick, and as that may seem like damning with faint praise, I'll go one better and say that Nightwatch can hold its own amongst the upper echelon of current horror film goodies. It's certainly worth your while to pick it up from your local video emporium, or catch it next time it plays on premium cable. And you'll have the added bonus of being able to impress your more artsy-fartsy film-fan friends with your choice of a flick with bona fide art-house credentials.

Can't be bad.

I see by the shadows falling from my bust of Pallas that our time is up. Until next time, then, when we will once again venture Beyond the Slimy Wall.

Continued:       1       2