El viaje

A slapstick, melodramatic, over the top, theatrical, comedy thriller bloodbath - knifing, shooting, strangling, drowning and mowing its way through so much flesh it would make Takeshi Miike proud.

I wasn't so sure after the first scene seemed pretty cheesy..,and i nearly ditched the movie. But glad I didn't. A cool rollercoaster ride as a married couple with a grudge try to kill each other. The various characters that came along were an added boost in the second half. All around a fun gory movie.

I had the opportunity to sit down and watch the 2021 Norwegian movie "I Onde Dager" (aka "The Trip"), and needed no persuasion to do so. Why? Well, solely because it was a Norwegian movie that I hadn't already seen. And no, I hadn't heard about the movie prior to sitting down for watching it, so I wasn't really sure what I was in for here.

I have to say that writers Tommy Wirkola, Nick Ball and John Niven definitely managed to churn out a storyline that proved to be entertaining. And it was a storyline that combined elements from various genres of movies, from dark comedy, horror/thriller and action in a very fulfilling manner. So thumbs up to the writers for their collaborative achievement here.

There was a good flow and pacing to the story, which meant that there weren't really any dull moments throughout the course of the entire movie. Director Tommy Wirkola definitely had a knack for setting up the scenes and piling gradually on to the storyline.

The cast ensemble for "I Onde Dager" was great. I was only familiar with Noomi Rapace here, but they had an abundance of good performers in the movie. I will also say that Aksel Hennie, Atle Antonsen, Christian Rubeck and André Eriksen put on great performances and added a lot to the movie.

I was genuinely entertained by what director Tommy Wirkola delivered with "I Onde Dager", and this is certainly a movie that I can warmly recommend you sit down to watch.

My rating of "I Onde Dager" lands on a well-deserved seven out of ten stars.

At no point did I ever really know where this movie was going, and I appreciate that. There were a few funny moments, a lot of top notch gore, and decent acting.

Lisa and Lars have been going through a rough patch in their marriage. They decide to spend some time together at Lars's father's lakeside cabin to patch things up... except that neither intends to do that; they each plan to murder the other for the insurance money! It won't be as easy as either of them think with each gaining the upper hand at times. Then a treat emerges that endangers both of them; Petter, Dave and Roy, a trio of escaped killers were hiding in the attic and now plan to do unpleasant things to Lisa and Lars. Things are about to get nasty.

If you like your comedy pitch black then this is for you. The plot may not have great depth but serves to first put the leads at each other's throats before introducing a threat to them both. The earlier scenes in the cabin are laugh out loud funny. This means when the unpleasantness in the basement starts it is quite a shock as it threatens to go into 'Straw Dogs' territory. The humour does return; much of it at the same time as we witness wince inducing violence. The various weapons employed are quite original as well as guaranteeing a lot of gory damage. The cast is solid; most obviously Noomi Rapace and Aksel Hennie as Lisa and Lars respectively. The setting was great; scenic and remote enough to mean we can believe the activities won't be seen or heard by others. Overall I'd definitely recommend this to fans of gory comedies; it was even better than I'd hoped.

These comments are based on watching the film in Norwegian with English subtitles.