Villmark

Some people outside of Norway(its made there) think this is made as a copy to "Blair witch project". It is in fact a movie that does homage to the first horror film made in Norway "De dødes tjern"1957 ("lake of the dead"). Norway has lots of forests so Horror in the forest is common.

The movie starts of good with a group of young people getting a job in the woods. An older man, their employer goes with them. The first day they find a body in the lake.......

without telling to much I can say it builds up quite nicely but does not follow through. The ending is so so. Ok effort though. It is not low budget, its normal budget. In Norway we don`t waste our money on flashy CGI and effects, but use time on developing the story and characters instead.

Score 6\10

I've just watched this movie on television in accordance of a friend of mine. There are a few words to be said about this making. At first it was really interesting to watch this movie, due to its great and fabulous pictures: the norwegian landscape (really nice), the setting (deep dark woods, a fairy lake, a tent and an old wooden house). Furtheron the choice of the cast is fulfilling the dark and frightening atmosphere which the spectator is demanding to watch. The story, set into this setting is very similar to "The blair witch project", even if the norwegian poster of the comment in front doesn't think so. For me and my friend, it seemed to be like this. The most fascinating fact, on my opinion, is the ending. I don't know which alternate endings are on the DVD, but on the TV-version the ending isn't fix. It's up to the spectator, to interprete why these strange happenings occurred in this small part of norway. Very annoying was the dumb acting of the protagonists like in other films: blair witch project, return of the living dead, dawn of the dead .... But maybe, they have to act likethis. I think I will never understand, why people have to switch in strange situations and leave tents, houses and so on. This is why I voted this movie with 8 out of 10 points. I'm still fascinated.

A frightening Norwegian Thriller

8/10 Author: Ajit Tiwari from India 26 December 2011

Scandinavian cinema has always been a different genre. the depiction of character, the screenplay, subtleness etc. are always top notch.

A perfect example is Villmark (2003) AKA Dark Woods a creepy Norwegian horror or more than a horror.

Set in the Norwegian landscape, a TV crew and their fanatic boss want to shoot a show to survive in the wilds which will eventually make a mark in Reality television history. He (Gunnar) has gathered a production team of four people. The team goes to Gunnar's log cabin where he used to spend summers as a kid. And soon the crew has to survive the thrill, horror, suspicion and mistrust.

The choice of the cast is fantastic and we see some amazing performances which will keep the adrenaline up and frightening atmosphere almost up to the mark.

However there are some resemblances with "The Blair witch project", but it's original and scary enough, screenplay is far from clichés.

European movies more open to interpretation and not made for certain targeted audiences. It's up to the viewer, to read between the lines and understand the happenings.

An astonishing thriller.

My Vote 7.1/10

I have just finished watching Villmark (Dark Woods) on DVD. A friend of mine has had the movie for quite a long time, and even though Norwegian media gave the movie a very good rating, I've always been reluctant to watch Norwegian movies. They tend to get overrated in the media since Norway don't produce that many movies.

But this movie was well worth the time, and it surprised me in a good way. The location for the movie is great, it's an average looking Norwegian forest, and that just bring more to the "horror" part, since most Norwegians are familiar with hiking in the wilderness. You will have this movie in the back of your head the next time you're in the forests.

You are also kept in suspense throughout the whole movie, always expecting something to jump out from the shadows, which happens a few times, and scares you good. As for the acting, these are all more or less top actors in Norway, some more seasoned that others. And overall they do a very good job at it. It's not Oscar material but it's very satisfactory.

"Villmark" is a pretty good Norwegian horror.It manages to be both interesting and suspenseful,so I enjoyed it.A five people go along on a trip with two leaders into the wilderness.One day,two of the guys are sent out by the group leader Gunnar to go fish in a stream.In a nearby lake they find a drowned body of young woman.Soon they are all stalked by something evil lurking in the dark woods."Villmark" is a creepy and suspenseful horror film.The photography of dark Norwegian woods is astounding and creates a feeling of total dread and hopelessness.The soundtrack is really eerie and the acting is excellent.There is not much gore,but I don't care.Overall,"Villmark" is an enjoyable piece of horror that creeped me out.Highly recommended.