Nattevagten (1994)

Director:

Ole Bornedal

Writer:

Ole Bornedal (writer)

Release Date:

25 February 1994 (Denmark)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

De søger en nattevagt, Martin er ikke mørkeræd, han har kun et problem... han får jobbet !

Plot:

In order to finance his law studies, Martin starts as a night watchman in a mortuary. When the victims...

Plot Keywords:

Female Frontal Nudity | Wrongly Accused | Female Nudity | Cult Favorite | Barefoot

Awards:

10 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau	...	Martin
Sofie Gråbøl	...	Kalinka
Kim Bodnia	...	Jens
Lotte Andersen	...	Lotte
Ulf Pilgaard	...	Inspector Wörmer
Rikke Louise Andersson	...	Joyce
Stig Hoffmeyer	...	Rolf
Gyrd Løfquist	...	The Old Nightwatch
Niels Anders Thorn	...	The Doctor
Leif Adolfsson	...	Theater Instructor
Henrik Fiig	...	Actor
Jesper Hyldegaard	...	Bar Guest
Ulrich Thomsen	...	Pub Thug #1
Christian Friis	...	Pub Thug #2 (as Chris Friis)
Peter Rygaard	...	Servant

Also Known As:

Nightwatch

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

France:-12 | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Norway:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Company:

Thura Film

Quotes:

Martin: You know what Hans Christian Andersen did? Every time he had masturbated he wrote a little X in his diary
Jens: If I had written down an X every time I had masturbated, there wouldn't be any pencils left in the whole wide world

Movie Connections:

References Psycho (1960)

One of the few Danish horror movies, and one of the only worth watching too.

With an impressive entry like 'Nightwatch', it seems sorta strange that horror more than 10 years later still is an unlikely genre in Denmark. And a bit more strange, how come that the few who has challenged the genre since haven't managed to top this film on any level? Yup, I will make the statement that, along with the 70's trash classick 'The Sinful Dwarf', 'Nightwatch' Danish produced horror movie worth watching! It is equally some kind of a landmark that kickstarted a new wave of creativities in Danish movie which certainly was required. The premise is of law-student Martin (Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau) who get a night job as a watchman in a mortuary. Furthermore he is also playing a rather sick game with his amoral buddy Jens (Kim Bodnia) and during the working routines he befriends an older police inspector (Ulf Pilgaard). After struggling with getting used to the creepy atmosphere at the morgue Martin suddenly face a problem. A must-wanted killer with a lust for corpses obviously make pranks in the basement and use it too stash his prey as well. And even worse, he want Martin to take the trash for his crimes and does everything in his power to terrorize him from distance. A very neat and original murder mystery with undertones of Hitchcock and Argento, that unfolds very surprising and satisfying. And spiced with some well fitting unnerving moments that truly can wrap moral issues to the edge. The young cast features several upcoming stars and veteran Pilgaard in greatest moment of all time. Sort Sol makes the soundtrack. Ole Bornedal would later remake his own movie in a English language version, but the least said about that the better. Watch the real deal instead.