Nakani

Premiering in a Swiss Festival, "Nakani" is an alarming and clever look at a Canadian Native Indiginous Legend. The legend of the Nahanni Valley, or the 'Valley of the Headless Men'.

There is an atmosphere of degeneration from the full color, glossy 4K, 2:35 aspect ratio that then descends into a desaturated, dull, 4:3 aspect ratio, as the story progresses into the unknown.

On the screen, the trees are sun-soaked and bright green, the water is clear - full of sound and life, but once the characters cross the river by the waterfall, everything changes. It is very subtle, but as a viewer, you suddenly realise that something isn't right. The sky clouds over into a constant grey, the leaves on the trees drop off in the middle of summer, and the branches become naked and twisted. The world is deteriorating along with the characters.

The film relys on tension and ambiguous confusion to create the horror. Shadows, sounds and hints of something keep you from looking away. Sure, there some jumps scares, but these are used sparingly. It relys instead, on slow realisations and the hair on your neck slowly standing up.

The end of this film is excruciating and gives you a jolt scare, so effective, that you jump right out of your seat.

This is good storytelling and good scares with the startling realisation of what nakani actually is, and that the characters never even had a chance.

Moral?? Don't go into the woods when the local tribe tells you not to!!

I love horror movies! And I loved this! There are very few horror films that can immerse an audience into a world, and sustain it for 2 hours.

I loved watching this, because I didn't know what to expect. It avoided formula, and made its own thing. Thats what I loved.

It strived to intensify, rather than terrify. To magnify rather than horrify. And by doing that, it created a sense of being totally out of the ordinary. Then when the moments of terror and horror hit, they explode out! It was great!

There was a rising sense of dread, until nakani is revealed, and I jumped right out of seat! Turn left, turn right...you can't get out! Those of you that have seen this movie know exactly the scene I'm talking about.

I left the theatre feeling totally satisfied as a film goer and horror movie lover.

I didn't understand this movie. It just didn't make sense. I kept waiting for it to start, and it wasn't scarey. Where were the people that got killed? It didn't show anyone getting killed by the monster, they just vanished. What the heck is that? The monster was always out of focus, or hiding in the dark and I wanted to see it! This was meh for me.

...comes to the screen. First seen at limited engagements for 5 showings only, the reaction from audiences was varied. Many enjoyed it immensely for some very spooky stuff, while others thought it mediocre and too experimental.

This reviewer enjoyed it very much, and had all of the elements required to tell an excellent ghost story.

While its premise was simple, there was a very complex idea that made it a refreshing experiment in cinema storytelling. There were many new faces on the screen, and some very effective use of the camera, that made Nakani a very dark and troubling addition to the genre.

An indigenous native legend comes to the screen, with some very genuine scares, and tension filled scenes. An excellent build up that led to a very unsettling conclusion.

Good horror. 7/10.

Watching Nakani was kind of like getting lost while backpacking -- a little creepy, but mostly frustrating and sometimes terrifying. The ending was great, the last ten minutes were truly terrifying; other than that, I can only say that it was a good film. But when nakani is finally revealed/known? It becomes something close to greatness.