Midsommer (2003) User Reviews

Entertaining, but not a movie to remember

[FreeAll · 7/10 · 28 January 2003]

I have just come back from the cinema, where there was a first premiere on Midsommer.

Before the movie I thought that this would be one of the bad teenage horror movies. The trailer gave me the impression that I would expect something like a Friday 13th without the splatter effects. That wasn't what I got.

There was a lot of scary effects, and they worked very well. Thumbs up for the sound editing, as you could hear they had been working a lot on it. The plot was kind of straight forward from what you would expect in a teen horror. In the first scene one of the kids kills herself, and over the movie you try to figure out why.

Where the movie lagged was specially in the ending. It seems that they tried to copy Scream too much in a way. Through the film there haven't been any action scenes, but in the end it all goes too much action, and the plot reveals itself too fast. Also, some of the young actors could have had more experience, but they had chosen a nice lead with Kristian Leth and also Tuva Novotny who plays the mysterious Swede are doing a great job.

All in all not a movie you would remember in some years, but very much entertaining. Should be seen in the cinema, so you don't lose too much of the sound quality and loudness.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Danish cinema...

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 5/10 · 25 October 2004]

Midsummer(or Midsommer, as it is called in Danish). What an astoundingly unremarkable attempt at a horror flick. Danish films are very rarely any good at all, and our horror films are probably the biggest embarrassments. I decided to check this film out, as a friend of mine had it, and I could borrow it for free. I knew pretty much what the film was about, and was aware that it wasn't particularly good. When I sat down to see it, I immediately had the same gut feeling that I usually have when I (attempt to) watch a Danish film. This film never really got my interest, and certainly didn't keep it at any point. The plot is poor, and the way it evolved was so clichéd and predictable. In fact, the whole film was predictable and dull. The acting is bad. Nothing else to say. It is just plain bad. The characters are poorly written, even more poorly developed and paper-thin. They are stereotypical as well. The script is incredibly poor, and the shocks are cheap. The film seems overly loud, and about half of the scenes involve the characters drinking alcohol. Are we supposed to care if these people live or die? All they do is drink. Their actions didn't seem to make sense half of the time, either. I barely payed attention to the film, but I could make out that much. I'm not entirely sure how it ends, and frankly, I don't care the least bit. One to avoid. I recommend this only to big fans of Danish films(which would have to be Danish people who can't speak English, since everyone else prefer to watch films that involve actual talent in their production). 5/10

Entertaining, but not a movie to remember

[FreeAll · 7/10 · 28 January 2003]

I have just come back from the cinema, where there was a first premiere on Midsommer.

Before the movie I thought that this would be one of the bad teenage horror movies. The trailer gave me the impression that I would expect something like a Friday 13th without the splatter effects. That wasn't what I got.

There was a lot of scary effects, and they worked very well. Thumbs up for the sound editing, as you could hear they had been working a lot on it. The plot was kinda straight forward from what you would expect in a teen horror. In the first scene one of the kids kills herself, and over the movie you try to figure out why.

Where the movie lagged was specially in the ending. It seems that they tried to copy Scream too much in a way. Through the film there haven't been any action scenes, but in the end it all goes too much action, and the plot reveals itself too fast. Also, some of the young actors could have had more experience, but they had chosen a nice lead with Kristian Leth and also Tuva Novotny who plays the mysterious Swede are doing a great job.

All in all not a movie you would remember in some years, but very much entertaining. Should be seen in the cinema, so you don't lose too much of the sound quality and loudness.

Something memorable? Not in this one

[filmfreak-5 · 31 August 2003]

***MILD SPOILERS*** I watched this movie cause it was announced to be like a new milestone in danish horror, but it is quite a let-down.

The film is in itself ok, has a lot of nice ideas. But honestly, the quija boards are a thing of the past and by no means scary anymore. There's so many cliches in this film, a list would be going too far.

There's also a couple of very annoying characters aswell, especially the smart*** "Mark" played by equally annoying Jon Lange - I've seen a couple of other flicks with this guy and he isn't acting, he is being himself - nothing more, nothing less....to see him shot in the gutt in the end actually made me cheer...I was waiting for that....kinda cruel thing to say, but nevertheless true..

Anyway, a mediocre film, nothing more, nothing less.. And I kinda got my eyes opened for Laura Christensen who is becoming kind of a babe - Saw her in Von Trier's "Kingdom" years ago, but she sure developed in all good ways of the word...Yummi!

Danish scary movie disappointment

[chillpetter · 3/10 · 26 February 2004]

**SPOILERS HEREIN**

It is not often I see scary movies, and if I do, I try to keep out of the scandinavian region, unless someone really convince me it is a good movie. E.g. Villmark, which was a good movie. I was not forced to see this movie, but I didn't really have anything else to do, so I watched it with an open mind.

The movie was okay, I guess. But, when I see scary movies, I expect the scary stuff to have a logical answer to it, and that went all wrong in this movie. No person could have turned those lights on and off, and who believes that there are ghosts? This movie is maybe good if you are 12 or so, but for me it was really a disappointment after seeing a lots of good action comedies from Denmark lately. 4/10

Danish scary movie disappointment

[chillpetter · 3/10 · 26 February 2004]

**SPOILERS HEREIN**

It is not often I see scary movies, and if I do, I try to keep out of the Scandinavian region, unless someone really convince me it is a good movie. E.g. Villmark, which was a good movie. I was not forced to see this movie, but I didn't really have anything else to do, so I watched it with an open mind.

The movie was okay, I guess. But, when I see scary movies, I expect the scary stuff to have a logical answer to it, and that went all wrong in this movie. No person could have turned those lights on and off, and who believes that there are ghosts? This movie is maybe good if you are 12 or so, but for me it was really a disappointment after seeing a lots of good action comedies from Denmark lately. 4/10

Great if you need a nap

[kjones-66399 · 2/10 · 27 July 2019]

Literally the worst movie I have ever seen. So slow. So underwhelming. I'll never get those 3 hours of my life back. I have to give the cinematography credit, though. It was gorgeous. If the movie was a set of still images I'd give it a 10.

Yet another great danish movie..

[crashban2 · 9/10 · 7 August 2003]

Yes the danes has made many great movies the last years. This one was creepy, and gave me chills several times. I don't know why, but very visual mainstream american horror movies never does that. Midsommer has a great story, excellent filming and sound and some very talented young actors.

I would suggest this for everyone who likes to get scared.. :)

Blimey

[charliegalloway · 1/10 · 13 December 2020]

It's like The Wicker Man , except it's the worst film I have ever seen and The Wicker Man is a great film .

Worth a look - if not for Tuva Novotny

[gabriel-59 · 26 February 2003]

Midsommer is one of the better danish thrillers. Its got okay acting, a nice music score and great locations. The story is actually pretty good and managed to surprise me in the ending, even though the story caused a deja vu. Its like you have seen it all before. None the less it was very well put together. Worth a look! If not for Tuva Novotny. She is one of scandinavias most beautiful women - and she can act!

Pubic hair eating horror

[suzistringeris · 2/10 · 30 July 2022]

It's funny. A bunch of silly Americans go to a Swedish commune and unwittingly eat each other and drink a murky looking liquid they should never have touched. The singing and dancing is giddy and fun. Overall I wouldn't call this a horror film.

One of the few really bad movies I've ever seen

[alexfullspeed · 1/10 · 5 November 2020]

A. Waste. Of. Time. If you are a junkey you might enjoy this huge BS

Depraved

[jeffrsprague · 2/10 · 19 June 2021]

Worst. B&B. Ever. 0 stars on Yelp.

Good concept poorly executed. I think it's trying to be an "artsy", psychological, horror film, but it's just disturbing - but not in a good way.

The first half is so boring you actually start hoping something depraved will happen just to break the endless monotony.

The second half serves up the depravity in spades. You pretty much know how it's going to go and you wish it would just hurry up and end the pain.

I honestly cannot think of one good thing to say or how this movie adds to our world or cinematic culture in any positive way.

I'll give it two stars for an interesting idea and its choice of end music. Everything else is a complete waste of time and sensibility. I pity all those involved with making or funding this ridiculous excuse for "entertainment".

A Nordic version of the Haunted House Film

[emreyanik · 8/10 · 14 March 2006]

Carsten Myllerup uses the classical haunted house plot to create a Nordic version of the horror genre without exposing the audience to gory scenes and exaggerated sound effects. As a replacement the movie offers a more humanitarian atmosphere which bounces between joyful images of youth, nature, friendship and love in contrast with dark and depressive ones supported with claustrophobic close-ups, confusing landscapes and thematic music. Appearing symbols like the boat waiting at the bottom of the cliff, the leading deer and themes of spirituality vs. rationality, urban vs. provincial life at different layers of the movie gives it a richer and deeper understanding.

Wish I could give negative stars. Terrible.

[kark-98186 · 1/10 · 29 April 2023]

Do not give up two hours of your life for this pile of "you know what." This film is a perfect example of a filmmaker trying too hard to be weird. I was intrigued with the basic premise of the film and the up and coming cast.

As someone who enjoys avant-garde, art house movies I wanted to give this one a shot. The film is full of misogyny, pointless violence, cheesy "special effects" and gratuitous poorly executed gore. It was so bad, it almost felt like a parody/ comedy. There is absolutely no story line, plot, or character development. The set and costume design fed in to traditional stereotypes. It's just a bunch of mishmash that goes nowhere to nowhere, from start to finish.

Filming location

[semlan-29651 · 18 May 2019]

It says here this was filmed in Gustavsfors in Värmland but this is actually wrong. It was filmen in Gustavsfors Dalsland (Västra Götaland).

Ari Aster STOLE This Movie Plot

[andrew-warren-82759 · 10/10 · 9 March 2023]

From character names and original concepts, Midsommar by Ari Aster is a very entertaining movie, but it cannot be ignored that he STOLE multiple concepts and EVEN CHARACTER NAMES from this film. This is a disgraceful lack of respect for originality in the film industry and not enough people have spoken in regards to the similarities aside from Chris Stuckmann on YouTube.

Ari Aster is too talented of a filmmaker to be rehashing and adopting old scripts to an extensive lack of originality. I hope this film receives the credibility it deserves in regards to the plot and concept in the future. To Ari Aster: make more original films.

Great danish movie!

[linneanor · 31 January 2004]

I really enjoyed this one! it was very blair witch project when they ran around in the woods, but it wasn't like a big rip-off or something. Tuva Novotny is a very good actress and the other actors did a great job! a movie I recommend!

Surprisingly good Danish thriller

[general_bc · 9/10 · 22 February 2003]

If you expect a Hollywood-like `action & effect'-packed thriller, this is not the movie for you.

But it has an excellent storyline, good actors and actresses - even though most of these are debutants. Furthermore the effects are surprisingly well made, and I personally got quite a few shocks during this movie. See it. It's excellent!

Positive surprise

[Kenna! · 11 February 2003]

I caught a screening of this movie at the Gothenburg Film Festival, and I was pleasantly surprised.

I hadn't seen any trailers or anything and didn't know what to expect, except that it was a danish teen-movie. It turned out to be a rather scary little movie, avoiding the worst clichés (although it is nothing new, it twists and turns (except maybe for the ending) and never gets predictable or boring) and it's got beautiful photo and very good music (Carpark North) and sound.

I think the actors did a great job all over - but I can't guarantee anything since that may have something to do with me don't speaking danish... :o)

I would certainly recommend to see it in a theatre with 800 other people screamin' out loud as I did...

Danish film is surely among the best!

[Brian_denmark · 8/10 · 3 March 2003]

Yes, we have done it again! this time a teen movie, about the most comment things in the students life. An untop of that, the film contains a well preformed horror show, were you are not sitting on the cinema chair, more hen 20min of the film,

Okay, i know that i´m danish, and i´m prode of my country!!!!!!

Amazing acting by Tuva Novotny

[ebach · 10/10 · 23 February 2003]

I've seen this movie twice and it's good. It's not one of those movies where you leave the cinema absolutely amazed. But it was entertaining and scary, which was what I expected. The acting went from amazing to average/bad. A couple of the Danes, who had this movie as their debut movie, looked almost bad on the screen. You could easily see they almost didn't have an experience in the acting area. Lucky it wasn't any of the lead characters. The lead character which was played by Kristian Leth, was very good. He might not have been in a lot of movies, but he did the job very well. Laura Christensen wasn't too good in the beginning of the movie, but after some progress she started too become very good. The Swede, Per Oscarson, did a very good job, considering his rather small part. The one actress that really blew me away was the other Swede, Tuva Novotny, who plays Linn. She's an absolutely AMAZING actress. Which made a lot of the actors look so bad compared to her. Her character was fairly simple, but she still made her character one of the most interesting and enjoyable character. She's definitely an actress I will be looking out for. The movie itself was fairly good. It's main purpose was to be scary and that, I think, was succeded. I found myself being scared often. It's not a different scary movie, it's actually pretty much like any other scary movie, but I still think it made itself a tiny bit different in some way. I didn't become bored at all during the movie and I didn't regret spending my 2 x 7,5$ on this movie. But I most say, that Tuva Novotny's acting made the movie so much better. If she hadn't been in it, I probably wouldn't have gone in to see it for the second time.

Kristian Leth should get an Oscar!

[aleczandah · 12 February 2003]

Is Kristian Leth the greatest actor I have ever seen? Most probably - he puts people like Alan Rickman, Robert De Niro and Kevin Costner to shame!

The script stinks however, but amazingly Leth holds it all together - such is his brilliance. It certainly won't be too long until someone like Tarantino or Woo snaps this guy up.

Overall I'd give the film 8.9/10. Without Leth it probably would only receive 3.

Its a mesmerising bad trip

[Birchbeerandbananas · 27 May 2021]

Loved it but not for everyone. The constant electric awkward tension, the brutal lagom, the choreography, dark humour, the set design and artwork, the handclap from literally outerspace, the people doing wtf in the background literally all the time... others will surely let it go right over their heads. If you're down, its has so much to take in it is rich in detail but you need to have the right glasses. The weak points are the supporting American roles but that's ok.