Denmark, 2023
Review:
JA Kerswell
Note: spoilers for NIGHTWATCH (1994) ahead
A 30-years-later sequel to the breakout 1994 Danish thriller hit that goes the full masked slasher whodunnit route in its second half. The daughter of the couple terrorised in the first film decides to confront her parents’ attacker after finding out he survived and has been confined to a mental hospital ever since. However, her quest for truth and healing reawakens an evil that results in a new killing spree. As quirky as the first film, it leans more heavily into the subgenre’s conventions with its extended cat-and-mouse climax. It also features a killer wearing perhaps the most inappropriate footwear in slasher villain history.
Whilst mourning the suicide of her mother, pathology college student Emma (Fanny Leander Bornedal - the daughter of the director) discovers that before she was born her parents - Martin (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Kalinka (Sofie Gråbøl - who only returns via photographs) - narrowly survived being killed by serial killer Detective Wörmer (Ulf Pilgaard) at the city morgue. Without telling her father, Emma takes up the night watch position at the same facility where her father had worked as a student all those years ago to investigate. There she unveils further details about Wörmer; a necrophile who had scalped women and had been intent on framing her father for his crimes. She also discovers the intense trauma her mother had been subjected to and believes it had driven her to her death.
Bluffing her way into the sprawling psychiatric unit where Wörmer has been held for the past 30 years, Emma confronts the now-blind and seemingly decrepit killer. She films this on her phone with the intent on showing her father to exorcise his fears; who, also still haunted by past events, has become a shell of his former self. After her cover is blown, Wörmer’s psychiatrist Gunver (Sonja Richter) confronts Emma. Originally threatening to call the police, Gunver softens when she discovers the young woman and her father’s connection to Wörmer. She also lets slip that her patient had a son, who may also still be traumatised by what happened 30 years ago.
Emma’s visit has unintended consequences after the previously near-catatonic Wörmer is seemingly revitalised. However, it is someone else wearing a mask - made from a mould of his face - that starts a new killing spree; targeting those close to Emma and Martin and especially those with a connection to the events in the first film …
The original NIGHTWATCH remains the most popular Danish horror thriller of all time in its native country. Released a couple of years before SCREAM (1996) it shares some similarities with the subgenre and was clearly influenced by North American movies more than conventional Danish film. However, as much of its focus is given to the questionable morality mind games between Martin and his friend Jens (Kim Bodnia) as its thriller elements. An irony is that Dimension head honcho Harvey Weinstein heavily re-edited and insisted on reshoots for the Ewan McGregor starring 1997 US remake (also helmed by Bornedal) to make it more like SCREAM (including a new opening murder).
Although the original was clearly influenced by US thrillers, the sequel expands this further by more explicitly referencing masked slasher movies. Although it would be a mistake to expect it to be shorn of the eccentricities of the original - it also shares its sense of the absurd and stretching of credulity that is almost reminiscent of the wackier gialli. One of the film’s most interesting aspects is the idea of murder by proxy - although, somewhat disappointingly, it more-or-less abandons this aspect by the midway point.
It hits many of the same beats as the first film - with almost virtual recreations of scenes - with Emma making the same strides as Martin did 30 years before in her role as a nightwatch. However, the film’s closing third is pure slasher movie. Especially the extended game of cat-and-mouse by the box-cutter-wielding killer in and around the most deserted-looking hospital since Michael Myers went looking for Laurie Strode in HALLOWEEN II (1981).
Perhaps Bornedal had been tempted to revisit the events in the first film after the huge success of the Jamie Lee Curtis starring HALLOWEEN sequels (2018-2022) - which also explore themes around generational trauma. Coster-Waldau - probably best known for his role as Jamie Lannister in GAME OF THRONES (2011-2019) - returns and the juxtaposition between the immature, care-free student from the first film and the broken man he has become provides the film’s most affecting element. Also making a return appearance is Bodina as Jens - along with the character of Lotte (his girlfriend in the first film) who is played by a different actress (Vibeke Hastrup). Pilgaard is excellent in another welcome return role as the diabolic and creepy-assed Wörmer.
NIGHTWATCH: DEMONS ARE FOREVER was released to Danish screens just ahead of Christmas in December 2023 to mixed reviews. Although the naysaying of some critics that it takes the slasher route in its second half will, of course, be exactly what attracts readers of this site. However, it failed to attract the same kind of audience or crossover attraction as the first film - although it has been released to English-speaking territories on the Shudder channel.
Ahead of watching this, it is worth reacquainting yourself with the original (or watching it for the first time) to catch all the references the sequel makes to its predecessor.
BODY COUNT 5:
Female 3 / Male 2
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Trailer for NIGHTWATCH: DEMONS ARE FOREVER (2023)