Turn Me On, Dammit! (2011) User Reviews

Short but good

[ladulaser · 7/10 · 10 December 2011]

I happened to read the more negative review further down, and thought I had to post some input. If you live in Scandinavia and a "youth movie" comes out in your own language, you're bound to think the pace is wrong, the acting is poor and that the story isn't believable.

As I live in Sweden I couldn't sense anything wrong with the dialog, thought the acting was good and nothing sounded unnatural. I bet if Espen down here went and saw a similar Swedish movie like Lina's Kvällsbok or Sandor Slash Ida, he wouldn't find them as awkward as I did.

So maybe Norwegian and Swedish scriptwriters should just start sending their scripts across the border, shoot their movies in the other country with foreign actors/actresses, and then market it through local media as the new hot movie from the neighbor country :) Personally, I read about the film in Ottar, the member newspaper for RFSU (the Swedish "National Association for Sexual Enlightenment").

The movie was a little short though, only 72 minutes. I think they could've thrown in more of those embarrassing comic relief scenes, you'll understand what I mean if you go and see it!

Cool Film with an Awesome Score

[Apex_P38 · 7/10 · 1 April 2012]

Like any other Indie Teen Movie about Sex,"Turn Me On Dammit!" is a movie about a fifteen year old girl named Alma who's hormones are out of control and desperately wants to experience sex for the first time.

Living in a very dull small Norwegian town, Alma can only daydream about Arthur (The guy at her school she crushes on) and make calls to phone sex lines just so she can pleasure herself. Basically, her life is very mono-sexual. At a party one night, Alma finds herself suddenly alone with Arthur, who out of nowhere ends up exposing himself to her and pokes her on her thigh with it. As she under reacts in her own way though still freaked out about it, Alma makes the mistake to run off and tell her "friend" who also secretly crushes on Arthur and out of jealousy ends up telling the entire school for her own benefit. As a result Alma becomes an outcast at school and no one would talk to her. To make matters worse her mother finds out about her phone sex calls and becomes aware of Alma's sexual frustration that is out of control. As Alma does her best to live life as best as she can life closes in on her as she struggles to deal with her new found solitude.

This is a very funny and cool movie that I truly enjoyed watching. It has a great young cast, along with a very honest storyline. The cinematography is simple. The color palette on this film is superb which nicely paints a picture. Filled with an awesome score of eclectic acoustic tunes, this is truly a nice simple movie to chill out to. I personally wished it been a little longer but still works out for what it is.

Overall, don't just watch this movie expecting just to see teen sex. You'll probably be somewhat disappointed if you do. This is a movie about a teenager coping with her sexual frustration at home and finding a way to deal with her public humiliation at the same time. Give it a chance, you might just enjoy yourself. 7 out of 10

A Different Kind of Sex Comedy

[FilmPulse · 6/10 · 8 May 2012]

The concept of the adolescent sex comedy is not something movie goers haven't seen before, but the Norwegian film Turn Me On, Dammit! does offer a new perspective on a popular, yet critically maligned sub-genre. The film features everything one might expect from a sex comedy. Awkward moments, a few shocks, and several scenes of tenderness, however the thing that sets this film apart from the American Pies, is that the horny teenager in this film is a female.

The film focuses on Alma, a 15-year-old girl who lives in the small town of Skoddeheimen, and is in a constant state of fantasy, daydreaming about sleeping with nearly every man she lays eyes on. To suppress her urges, she becomes slightly addicted to calling phone sex lines, although she realizes they are a poor substitute for real human affection. She lives with her mother, who doesn't exactly know how to cope with her daughter's budding sexuality, and has difficulty approaching the subject. Alma is also in love with her neighbor Arthur, but after an incident at a party involving him, she misses her shot and becomes the school's pariah.

Adapted from a novel by Olaug Nilssen, and written and directed by Jannicke Systad, the most interesting part of Turn Me On, Dammit! is the simple fact that there's a female lead. Too often in American cinema we only see boys as dorky, sex-obsessed virgins. In our sexually repressed society, it's easy to forget that girls get horny too, and that's exactly what this film explores.

While there were certainly some embarrassing and uncomfortable moments in the film, it would be unfair to compare it to the sex comedies of America, because rather than focusing on the outlandish, this film takes a much more grounded approach. The comedy is less gross-out sight gags, and more dialogue-driven and situational.

The bleak backdrop of the one-horse town the characters live in is just enough to give the film that Euro-indie feel that we are all becoming accustomed to. Those viewers that grew up in small towns will also appreciate the stagnant feeling the characters all seem to share regarding the town.

While the majority of the film was charming, there weren't too many laugh out loud moments. Although some of the jokes may have been lost in translation, overall it was not a very funny movie. That's not to say it wasn't entertaining, just don't expect a laugh riot.

The film's climax also left something to be desired. The majority of the film moved at a relatively slow pace, then when Alma hit her lowest point, she inexplicably does a 180 and everything is sunshine and rainbows once again. One could argue this sentiment, but I would have liked to have seen a stronger resolution between Alma and her mother, and be given more inner dialogue from her explaining why she was feeling better about life.

Although Norway seems to be cranking out high quality movies left and right these days, most of them are gritty crime stories, so it's refreshing to see a more light-hearted film come our way. Turn Me On, Dammit! is a charming, yet slightly flawed coming of age story that will entertain some, and outrage others (Republicans, I'm looking at you.) Adam FilmPulse.net

amazing!!!!

[actingforkids · 14 August 2011]

i saw this movie in nyc for the film festival. this is one beautiful movie. i wish i could describe the beautiful, daring way the filmmakers captured the story and the scenery. it is very hard to watch movies that have good acting but this film certainly does. i couldn't believe it when the director said these actors had never done this before. i was completely surprised. funny that she also said the leading girl had not told her parents yet! very good thing it was such a wonderful job of acting or she might have been busted.

i also loved the humor, especially from the mother. I thought it was great how the sisters and friends are so ridiculous and yet sad and delightful. great job very good! thank you for being a voice that has some unique style!i hope the film will be able to play in America? are there plans for that? anymore film festivals? i also hope there is a way that i can purchase this film.

Meet the wildest Alma since 1966

[gizmomogwai · 7/10 · 17 November 2012]

The first film I've seen from Norway, Turn Me On, Dammit! is a comedy about a 15-year-old girl named Alma with raging hormones. She masturbates, she fantasizes, she calls phone sex lines (creating a steep bill for her poor mother) and she steals a porn mag from her workplace (she only got the job to pay her phone bill). She seems unable to tell the difference between her fantasies and reality, becoming an outcast when she tells everyone Artur, a boy she likes, poked her with his penis at a party. Surprisingly, it turns out she does know what's real and what isn't, because he really did that.

Turn Me On, Dammit! might be funnier in Norwegian than English. The two parts I found particularly funny are when she frankly explains the phone bill to her shocked mother, and the ending where she asks her if Artur can sleep over (her mother says no). The whole film has a quirky feel to it, though, and never stops being entertaining. With a little colour and some brutal honesty, Turn Me On, Dammit! is worth a look.

Strange but Great

[thekeks · 7/10 · 25 August 2014]

This film is definitely quite interesting. It's not appropriate as a family film, but I think the title suggests that. Much of the film carries a sexual context to it, but unlike many films and TV programmes, it's not over-the-top or unnecessary, but fits the plot appropriately.

The film manages to take one very strange, small, and extremely socially inappropriate action from one character and make an entire plot out of it. This takes a lot of creativity and I don't think I've seen that done as well as in this film. With just a few words about this film, I usually can convey enough about the entire plot to get someone interested in it.

The film also manages to present well the negative feelings some people get when they've lived in a small village for a long time. From the beginning of the film, the characters express a form of hatred for their village, which is definitely a feeling many villagers have.

Although I wouldn't say the film is one of the best I've watched, it manages to be mentioned by me a lot as "the weirdest film I've ever seen." It's definitely worth watching, especially if you're interested in something unconventional.

slow Norwegian indie

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 18 August 2013]

In small town Norway, 15-year-old Alma is obsessed with sex and approaches classmate Artur which leads to her being ostracized. This indie is a bit slow. The lead is 18 year old newcomer Helene Bergsholm. She has the advantage and disadvantage of being a nobody. She looks real if a little bit old for the role. She lacks the skills to truly inject the needed emotional turmoil. It is interesting to have girls be sexually inquisitive and there is plenty of quirkiness in this coming-of-age film.

There is one hilarious joke of people calling Alma a name. I'm sure there are a whole bunch of Norwegian jokes that I missed. The name they call Alma made me laugh, and I smile every time I saw it. It's so childishly moronic that it's funny.

Just cute

[ofumalow · 5/10 · 4 July 2018]

This is a well-shot and well-acted film, but despite starting out very promisingly (and having a very short runtime), it runs out of steam much too soon. The mild outrageousness of the premise (being from a horny teenage girl's perspective) only goes so far, because the plot is so miniscule and underdeveloped--once our heroine is shunned at school for saying her popular crush object did something inappropriate (which he did, but publicly denies), nothing else of note happens. The deadpan, humorous view of boring rural life is likable, as are the performers. Still, there's only enough material here for a fine 20-minute short--at feature length (albeit barely), it's stretched very thin, and as a result the end result feels inconsequential. I hope the director and cast go on to bigger and better (-written) things, as they have talent, but this is like a short story printed in extra-large typeface in order to be marketed as a novel.

Get Poked.

[johno-21 · 10/10 · 8 February 2012]

I recently saw this at the 2012 Palm Springs International Film Festival. This is a low budget, quirky, coming-of-age Norwegian comedy from a writer/director (Jannicke Systad Jabobsen), known for making shorts and documentaries, who is making her feature film debut using mostly untrained actors and the results are hilarious and charming. Alma (Helen Bergsholm) is a 15 year old living in a small rural Norwegian town called "Skaddeheimen" who has discovered self-gratification and phone sex. She, like her friends, long to leave the town they live in and go to a big city like Oslo as one of her friends older sister Maria (Julia Bach-Wiig) has. Alma has a crush on Artur (Matais Myren) but when he makes an offensive move toward her outdoors at a community dance, she flees inside to describe it to her best friends Saralou (Malin Bjørhoude) and Ingrid (Beate Støfring). They don't believe her story, and Artur of course denies it, so she becomes ostracized by the whole school and loses all her friends. Her mother (Henriette Steenstrup) is beside herself with Alma's fascination with sex but devises ways to put up with it. Director Jacobsen co-wrote the very funny script along with Olaug Nilssen adapted from Nilssen's novel. Excellent soundtrack music from Ginge Anvk, nicely edited by Zaklina Stojcevska with beautiful cinematography from Marianne Bakke this film comes together and delivers a smart and witty comedy. The casting is perfect and Bergsholm, who was 17 when this was filmed, playing the 15 year old lead is outstanding in her debut acting performance. She is both poised and comedic and pulls off her role with genuine charm and skill. I'll look for a future for her and for director Jacobsen. I would highly recommend this film and give it my highest rating of 10 out of 10.

Turned On

[sol- · 6/10 · 16 April 2016]

Known to the English-speaking world as 'Turn Me On, Dammit!', this comedy-drama blend from Norway focuses on a sexually frustrated teenage girl who feels repressed by her outskirts town. She daydreams on a regular basis, often losing herself in fantasies (including a lesbian love scene with her best friend's sister!) so when a boy who she fancies "pokes" her with his manhood and then later denies it, the question arises of whether or she imagined it all. Promising all this might sound, the film does not really play around with the ambiguity of whether or not the poke actually occurred. She is always convinced that it did happen (even if we as viewers have our doubts) and the film instead focuses her ostracism at school as a result of the dispute over whether she was poked. Add in some nosy neighbours and the film has quite a bit to offer in terms of showing how suffocating a small town environment is, especially when everyone knows you and you have a reputation. Intelligent as this may be though, it is rather tame for a movie that opens with a daring scene in which the "almost sixteen" year old protagonist's dog watches with interest as she pleasures herself during phone sex. This is, in fact, the film's chief pitfall in a way as it delivers its best scene way too early in the piece. That said, the film is frequently funny and it consistently works as a comedy even if it is lightweight on explicit content and raunchiness. Several of her fantasies (especially those involving her boss) are laugh-out-loud funny and the film ends on a pitch perfect comical note. Great final line.

light Norwegian comedy

[billcr12 · 5/10 · 23 December 2011]

Alma is a high school girl in this offbeat comedy from Norway. It is apparent from the opening scene where the lead is on the floor next to a phone masturbating that this is very different from most teen films. Mom comes home and Alma hangs up from the sex hot line. She later explains the phone bill, telling her mother that she is horny; this is obviously told from a woman's perspective, the director is Jannicke Systad Jacobsen.

Alma becomes a social outcast after accusing Artur, a classmate, of exposing himself and poking her in the thigh. His denials are believed and she escapes reality through fantasy, sexual and otherwise. even her best friends, Sara and Ingrid, doubt her story.

Helene Bergsholm is very likable in the lead role as Alma but I didn't laugh much and the premise wears thin quickly.

A surprisingly honest and beautiful film

[scissorbits · 8/10 · 23 April 2012]

This film deeply effected me since I had many experiences in the same flavor as Alma as a teenager, and to this day have never seen or read anything that describes the specific pain of those years until now.

I felt that this film very clearly and artistically outlined the double-standard that still exists, even in a relatively feminist country like Norway. Even 30 years after the sexual revolution of the 1960s, it is still taboo for young girls to be fascinated by their own pleasure and sexuality, even though it is expected for boys to experiment early and often.

This film tells a tale which is rarely told so honestly, and instead of painful its gorgeous, smart and funny, set in a beautiful landscape with a dreamy soundtrack. The film is shot in lush colors, with cute humor... well, I big dose of cute (which I am typically allergic to), but this film won me over, big time.

Elendig

[espenrefseth · 3/10 · 16 November 2011]

Increadably poor film. I had great expectations to the new youth film. The movie lacks theme. Or at least it is weak. The movement in this film is slow paced. It contains no warmth what so ever. I would expect to be familiar to the main characters. The acting was also poor. The actors are partly amateurs, but lines should be delivered more sharply and with passion and to be more believable. Time and space is out of range, the script gives little guidance. This film was originally a play. Viewers can more or less feel the lack of transformation to movie format. I am sorry Norwegian film. There are so many examples of better movies made. I would mention "Hodejegerne" and "Max Manus". They are action movies on a large scale budget. I would expect newness, sexiness, more interesting twists and turns. I don't like it, what do you think?

Bad

[A1l9i8m6 · 12 December 2018]

I take a vow not to watch a Norwegian comedy again...

Too much like the dull small town

[sharptongue · 3/10 · 8 June 2014]

Yet another example of "great ingredients poorly cooked".

The first reviewer pretty much nailed it. While I don't think the acting was all that bad, the boredom and relentless dullness of small-town 'life' pervades the mood to far too great an extent, utterly flattening the occasional moments of lightness and humour.

The lead actress is compelling, and her situation all too clearly elucidated. But notwithstanding a few outbursts at her mother, Alma is such a doormat. And she had every opportunity to encourage Artur, but failed to take them.

Anyone who grew up in an isolated small town could certainly relate to the situation. For me, there needed to be more humour and light relief to distract from the grinding dullness, which was much too realistic.

Alma manages to find a group of people, away from her small-town schoolmates, who lighten the mood. There should have been much more of this in the film, and it may have been bearable.

Honestly, more nudity and fewer 'strong sex scenes' (which were fairly muted) would have made TMOG more bearable. Perhaps in the sequel ?

Of course Helene Bergsholm's parents were told about everything Helene Bergsholm did in the film

[ReidRosefelt · 10/10 · 20 December 2011]

I don't know what to say about Minnie Long's comment that Helene Bergsholm hadn't told her parents about the scenes she plays in this film. She obviously thinks she heard it.

As the US publicist, let me tell you what happened in fact: when Helene was offered the role of Alma, director Jannicke Systad Jacobsen met with her and her parents in a hotel to have them read over the entire script, and, as Bergsholm was underage at the time, to give their consent. As anybody who has worked on a film knows, the film could never have been released without a signed document from the parents. It is very serious business what you depict sexually with minors on screen. And in particular, somebody like Helene, who is not a professional actor.

Interesting but not particularly profound nor funny

[grantss · 5/10 · 4 June 2016]

Set in Norway, a 15-year old girl, Anna, is growing up. Most particularly, her hormones and day-dreaming abilities are in overdrive. She fantasizes about nearly every boy or man she sees, with interesting results.

Despite its subject matter, movie is actually quite sweet and innocent, to a degree. Quite light-hearted and sometimes quite funny. However, in being so light-hearted, it fails to make a profound point at the end, so ends up not funny enough to be a comedy, and not profound enough to be a drama.

Good performances all round, especially from Helene Bergstrom in the lead role.

The humanization of the uncontrollable

[StevePulaski · 9/10 · 17 October 2012]

Alma is a fifteen year old girl living in Skoddeheimen, a fictional town in Norway, with her single mom and her best friend close by her side. Alma's biggest battle in her life is different from the battles we see in most young females' lives, especially in film, and it's with her raging hormones. She is beginning to become sexually awakened, and it becomes so consuming and so smothering that she can barely concentrate on anything else besides feeding her sexual desires.

And they are explicit. Writer/director Jannicke Systad Jacobsen doesn't turn Turn Me On, Dammit! into a shallow exploration of self-pleasure nor does she make it become so comedic that we laugh at the lead character, Alma (played perfectly by Helene Bergsholm) but more often wince and regard her story as depressing or possibly relatable. Her acts are not small, shoplifting pornographic magazines from the grocery store where she works and charging up a hefty bill from several phone sex lines. The opening scene even shows her in the middle of a masturbating act with the phone lying next to her.

The more definitive conflict in the film is the fact that Alma has mistaken an accidental gesture from her crush Artur (Matias Myren) as a sexually flirtatious act, bringing her embarrassment throughout her school. At home, her mother, played wonderfully by Henriette Steenstrup, becomes aware of the steps she takes to pleasure herself, but unable to process the ideas and the resources to help her combat this problem. It becomes so bad that Alma has begun to fantasize not only about being with her crush, but fantasizing about engaging in sex acts with other friends and even her boss. Again, these fantasies are not meant to provide the audience with comedy but poignant realism in the sexual awakening of young teenagers and how sometimes their thoughts are uncontrollable. At times we see the look in young Alma's eyes when she awakens from one of these fantasies and see she is not aroused by sometimes shocked and ashamed.

It was wise for Jacobsen to set her sights on a female lead. I've wearied of watching males in American films make choices for their own gain based on lust, greed, and hormones - also solely for comedic purposes. To see Turn Me On, Dammit! focus on the bitter side hormones play in the lives of teenagers in a raw form is intelligent and courageous. Had this been an American film, its subject matter most likely reduced to vast oversimplifications of the topic, the characters undeveloped and shortchanged, the depictions of steps for sexual gratification tasteless and filmed with smug undertones, and the aftertaste unremarkable and void of any truly impacting substance.

The film begins immediately, the plot and conflict turn up instantaneously, the characters quickly introduced and developed, and the film clocks in with seventy-one minutes well spent, not wasting a second in its goals to try and humanize the hormonal confusion and uncontrollable sexual tendencies of a young girl's pubescent beginnings. Turn Me On, Dammit! is something of a miracle. American cinema should begin, if not, continue to take notes from foreign cinema.

Starring: Helene Bergsholm, Henriette Steenstrup, Malin Bjørhovde, and Matias Myren. Directed by: Jannicke Systad Jacobsen.

Let me put it like this: it's not very good.

[Finfrosk86 · 4/10 · 13 June 2015]

If you want to see the disgusting limp dick of a yucky teenager, this is for you! Yeah, you get that here. Also some teenage boobs. (Pretty shocking for you Americans out there, yes?)

I am no big fan of Norwegian movies, aka movies from my home country. Why? Because so many of them are so lame.

My main gripe with this movie is that it is not well made. It's a little off for most of the time. The movie is just not very good. The story is weird, the direction is.. bland. I didn't like it.

The main girl is not that bad though, she does an alright job. But the acting in general is way to.. acty. (don't know if that's a word, but hey)

Daft Film

[svader · 2/10 · 21 February 2022]

15 year old being played by an actor who looks on their 20s.

Complete nonsense. Was t funny and not interesting. Artur is creepy. He wonders aroungmd with hunched up shoulders all film.

Not worth watching.

FINALLY a totally raw piece about horny teenage girls that's NOT GIRLS GONE WILD!

[yerkp670 · 10/10 · 27 February 2012]

This movie was awesome! I don't know if I've seen anything like it, ever. So real. I totally recommend it, especially if you're a young female like me. It'll make SO much sense to you.

Boys might not be as hip to it, but who really cares LOL. Honestly, though, teenage sexuality {especially for females in whom it's widely abject-ified} and sexual expression can bring up so much emotional baggage that I was afraid to watch this film at first. I'm so glad that I did though, because yes, it did address loaded topics yada yada yada, but with a lighthearted and humorous delivery. Beautiful landscapes, additionally.

AWESOME. WATCH IT! :)

creepy pedophile movie

[cellocolin · 2/10 · 22 May 2017]

Whoever made this definitely belongs in jail for sex crimes Nordic people have always been into some horrifying illegal content (see: color climax) and this case is no exception.

Take your kids to church, don't let them watch movies, it doesn't have to be Hollywood for it to be made by pedophiles (though those movies are too, ask Roseanne Barr or Elijah wood)

0 stars really, but IMDB removes all ratings below 2 from the algorithm.

This should gain more stars to be fair .

[salem-99226 · 10/10 · 14 June 2017]

This girl did nothing wrong , but the society and parent always didn't understand and treat us as children know noting about life and should have upper authority to told us what to do what not . Every normal person on her age had this experience of exposing his sex desires ,but when they grow start denied it , For the movie time line were interesting and surprise sometimes the story goes on the way I didn't expect . I personally when I was on her state , I always having this fantasies, and felt guilty about it because religion (and the stupid society ) . But this girls was way more brave then me since confess to her mother saying ( I love sex ) , her mother reactions remind me many parent reaction what they discover their boy watching Porn , it's like they living in denial not accepting fact their children grow up , rarely we found a parent understand this and give their sons freedom and experience life bu themselves .

Not a Real Movie

[woods-53683 · 2/10 · 16 September 2018]

Warning to American audiences -- this is not a real movie.

Meaning, "Turn Me On, Dammit!" is like a very good student film. But it falls woefully short of American moviemaking standards: the dialogue is dull, the plotting dull, extras stand around in meaningless clumps in larger scenes, so the directing is dull -- this is just minor-league in all cinematic senses.

It begins as though it will be a porno film; then that abates and it is just a routine teenage girl against her non-understanding mom, teenage girl against her boorish classmates, teenage girl against yada yada yada. Fortunately the actress is pretty when she does anything other than pouts. Her prettiness makes the whole thesis of her character unlikely, though, so the storyline never jells either.

Skip this one. --mw

A Thoughtful subversion of a well-told story, just what the film world needed!

[OrdinaryDay · 10/10 · 20 July 2013]

Let's face it, horny teenager movies are a dime a dozen. Don't get me wrong, I love them but when you pay to see one you know exactly what to expect: a formula plot about a bunch of high school misfits who start off the film unlucky in love, but through a series of often contrived incidents they all manage to 'score' by the end of the movie, humiliate the school bully and earn the respects of their peers. A great tale, but starting to get a little dog-eared.

How interesting then to get this quaint little film that subverts the story in innumerable ways. A lot of people misunderstand the sheer brilliance of this film, and assume that the fact that it inverts the genders of the characters, by making the female the lead, is what makes the film unique. That's not true in the slightest, by inverting the genders the film shows us that men and women are more alike than we might realise. Girls are not strange creatures from another planet, they just sometimes seem that way - which this film sets out to debunk.

At times funny, poignant and even sad, this film here is a beautiful poignant tale about growing up, and what makes it even more subversive is that it has the nerve to pretend to be a sex comedy. You can take the comedy out of the sex, but not vice versa, which this film powerfully demonstrates. Don't go in expecting American Pie, but rather American Pie meets American Beauty, with a bit of American Graffiti thrown in, all given a delicious Norwegian blend! Bon appetit!