Villmark 2

Imagine Death Ship (2002) and Session 9 (2001) blended together. My favorite part of the film was the beginning. The story begins immediately. You get brief introductions to the characters and learn more as things progress.

Nicely filmed, directed, and the acting was fine. Locations interior and exterior were well utilized.

The first half of the film does keep you guessing a little - trying to figure out exactly what type of film this will be. The second half of the film continues through well-trodden territory with NO surprises.

Apparently, this was sold as a sequel. I haven't seen the first film, but it doesn't seem to be referenced at all. This movie is it's own thing. Not original at all....but a decent creepy sanatorium crawl.

I usually am extremely fond of Norwegian movies because they are detailed and the acting is very good no matter if they are in Norwegian or English. Their plots are complex, but are very logical...THIS film only reflects SOME of those qualities.

The characters are solid and very well acted for a horror film, but aspects of the characters are not clearly defined and aspects of their personal details are NEVER related to their part of the film. A good example is Frank's persistent cough which is emphasized throughout the film, but never relates to anything in the plot.

The biggest failing of the storyline is that NOTHING is ever explained! The place was abandoned for years and yet it is never explained why there are still patients and staff still there? The reappearing nurse has a functioning crow's beak growing out of her forehead and it is never explained. The janitor is simply a caretaker yet he performs surgery and yet that is never explained.

The film ends with two questions: 1. What the hell just happened. And 2. Why the hell did I watch it to the end!

FYI if you can't suspend disbelief for an hour or two (as evident in the low ratings), don't bother watching horror movies. This was very well done. The pace is perfect. It keeps you guessing just enough, but not so much that you lose interest 30 minutes in. It's like, Is everyone seeing ghosts? Or going insane? Is it hallucinations? Is that person up to something? I dunno if I trust her. Wtf is that?? Who is that supposed to be! It's good enough I didn't catch myself perusing memes during it. For one, abandoned insane asylum? Yea alright. Two, gorgeous scenes and a beautiful giant building falling apart? Uh, ya. In the absolute middle of nowhere mountain forest with an old bomb siren and creepy caretaker? I'm in. Cliché, maybe. But again, relax and pretend you're in for the ride and not to pick it apart. Maybe it's been done a bunch before, but that's because it works. There are locations, people and situations that are just inherently scary. Look past it and enjoy yourself.

I gave this film a two, and considering the photography, lighting and set design/location are all pure tens, that speaks volumes for the rest of this film.

The script and editing is on the level of something you'd expect from a kindergarten child, the acting is horrendous most of the time and the entire film is completely disjointed. The plot, where there is one, suffers from lack of logic, and the characters behave in a way no human ever would.

It has everything you'd expect from the worst of Jean Rollin, except the humor and playfulness. It's just not good.

I'd love to edit this film down to about five-six minutes and use that footage for a music video, but the film as it is is just junk.

The music incidentally is distracting as all hell.

I was lucky enough to catch an outdoor screening of this in the Norwegian woods. Sadly, despite the name of the movie, it's not really much about the woods this time around.

In this movie a crew of people are doing tests and gathering samples of an old asylum/hospital that is to be torn down. The big building is in the middle of nowhere, as it was built for avoiding the spread of tuberculosis. The janitor who has been in charge of the place is a bit difficult to work with, and therein starts the movie's conflict.

I actually liked the way that it tied into the first Villmark movie. It's only indirectly, but it's enough so that you get a bit extra from this movie if you have seen the first one. On the surface there's the fact that the hospital uses the lake from the first movie as its water supply, and that the janitor in this movie appears also in Villmark. But they also refer a bit to the WW2-history that is mentioned in the first movie.

The make up (or SFX?) in this movie were also quite nice, though I won't go into further details because of spoilers.

Now, did I like this movie? No. It does a lot of things correctly, like the setting and the make up, as mentioned. However, unlike the first movie, you barley get to know any of the characters, so when things start happening, you don't really care. There are some jump scare, but the movie doesn't really manage to build much tension. An emotional bond with the character's would have helped immensely, but the movie's attempt to give you brief glimpses into who these guys are, fails miserably. There's also a lot of poor/strange decisions (like in many horror movies).

I hated the ending of the previous film, but this movie's ending is actually alright.