Summary:
A law student at a morgue begins to discover clues that implicate him as the lead suspect in a series of grotesque murders.
My Thoughts:
A buddy of mine recommended this film saying that it wasn’t the greatest thing he’d ever seen, but he thought I might like it because of my love of horror flicks. At a glance, I thought I might enjoy this film: the plot revolves around a weird serial killer (necrophilia is involved), and the cast is stacked with some of my favorite stars like Ewan McGregor (“Doctor Sleep”), Josh Brolin (“No Country for Old Men”), and Brad Dourif (“Exorcist III: Legion”). As the film began, I quickly realized I wouldn’t like this film very much; what this movie considers scary feels very dated, and while the mystery of who exactly is the killer keeps you guessing until the end, I was never invested in the storyline; I simply couldn’t bring myself to care about anything that was going on. The characters weren’t unlikeable, but neither were they likeable; the dialogue wasn’t horrendous in most scenes, but it never sounded completely natural; the acting from practically everyone involved was fine, but at the same time, almost everyone had a few cringeworthy moments. When a film is this middling in every aspect, the overall result is less middling and more so an undeniable failure.
“Explanations are just a fiction to make us feel safe.”
Martin (McGregor) is a law student that takes a job at a morgue as a night watchman. While Martin is there, a series of murders take place and Inspector Cray (Nick Nolte, “Cape Fear”) is tasked to find the killer. Martin’s friends James (Brolin) and Marie (Lauren Graham, “Bad Santa”), and his girlfriend Katherine (Patricia Arquette, “A Nightmare on Elm Street III: Dream Warriors”) all take keen interest in the case. Soon clues begin to point to Martin as the lead suspect, and he must rush to figure out who the real killer is.
This movie is actually a remake, and Ole Bornedal directed both versions (much like Michael Haneke directed “Funny Games (97)” and “Funny Games (07)”). I didn’t know this was a remake before I watched it, and I may go back and watch the original Denmark film (“Nightwatch (1994)”) at some point because I think the concept is really cool. The idea of a morgue watchman is being framed for murder, and he has to puzzle out who is really killing someone feels somewhat like Hitchcock’s wrong man movies (“North by Northwest”, “The 39 Steps”); I also think the setting, and the way the Ole Bornedal directs creates an atmosphere that feels much Dario Argento and John Carpenter giallo/slasher films. From what I can tell, this was Bornedal’s first venture into American cinema, and even the greatest of foreign directors sometimes struggle to make the transition from their native language, and Bornedal is no Bergman (“The Serpent’s Egg”) or Fellini (“Fellini’s Casanova”). So, though this film was pretty rough, I honestly haven’t written Bornedal or this story off completely.
Another issue that this film might’ve run into was finding a singular storyline to rely on. I read on IMDb that the original cut of this film was two and a half hours long, and that there were quite a few subplots cut before the theatrical cut was released (including, apparently, a double wedding?). That both baffles me and doesn’t surprise me in the least. It baffles me because I couldn’t imagine watching this movie for another fifty minutes on top of the already bloated runtime, yet it doesn’t surprise me because the middle of this movie tries so hard to confuse the viewer as to who the killer is that things become almost nonsensical (while still, somehow, remaining boring). The first hour of the film just tries to give us too many red herrings while awkwardly setting up characters; the dialogue comes off as stilted and sometimes laughable and the acting from almost everyone in this A-list cast is middling at best.
Verdict:
I hate to say it because I know this film was recommended to me, but I really didn’t feel anything while watching this film other than slightly bored. I suppose what scares one person is wholly different from whatever scares me, but I found this movie to be a rather dull serial killer flick. Sure, it had some cool ideas, but I won’t be recommending this film anytime soon; in fact I’ll probably forget it by the time this review posts (I’m writing this review January 12th, January 2020- this review isn’t posting until sometime in October 2020).
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