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.

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.

The movie begins quite slow. For anyone who has seen the trailer - I kind of can imagine they might have issues with the pacing. You do expect this to be a bit over the top ... which it is, but much later on. And when it finally pulls out all the stops, it is quite the experience. Having said that, all the rewinding the movie does ... well it works the first time like a charm (even for most who have seen the trailer) ... but the second time it feels more like a cheat.

Now you can not be easily offended or faint of heart ... or having issues with blood and depictions of violence. Or quite the nasty humor if one likes to call it that. Nasty in an action kind of way. In a cut of something of someone else kind of way to be more exact. If you dig that ... go ahead and by all means cherish this ... especially the second half ... maybe rewrite the story yourself too ... no pun intended.

Up til then, you have to endure a bit of "build up" that could have been told a lot quicker and a lot shorter run time wise ... my 5 cents.

As someone who is not a huge fan of violence and gore I have to say that I was quite entertained with this crazy a** movie. The idea is so crazy it actually works! Obviously it's not a realistic movie but there's a lot of action and once you start watching it, it's hard to stop. Noomi Rapace is a very talented actress. She is doing an excellent job here!

If you enjoy dark humor, action movies and lots of violence and gore this movie is for you!