Vilsen

This Swedish film is set in the city of Gothenburg and opens with the discovery of a woman's body. She is found lying face-down with a symbol carved in her back; hers isn't the first body to be found in such a way. The police, led by Göran Lidman, have no real leads to go on. Former pastor Gabriella offers to help... she tells them the killings are the work of a cult called 'The Sons of God'. There are more deaths and Göran, Gabriella and those around them will face severe dangers before the cult attempts to carry out its awaited ritual on the day of a solar eclipse.

For the most part I rather enjoyed this film. It started off as a normal, if somewhat gory, murder mystery. For most of the film it was unclear whether the cult was a group of religiously deluded individuals or whether their evil, supernatural activities could ultimately succeed. This meant that until the denouement we have the usual sight of investigators following clues, meeting potential witnesses and comparing the events to a possibly linked crime spree in Finland. The ending is fairly shocking but ultimately a little disappointing. The acting is pretty solid and the effects are decent enough. Overall a decent enough mystery/horror; not really a must see but neither is it something to be avoided.

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

A Swedish policeaction-movie with supernatural elements. Does that sound like a good mix? Do you think twice about watching it? Don't miss this one, because this movie really delivers!

This is Rasmus Tirzitis directorial debut. His earlier work is a Star Wars fan-movie called "Threads of Destiny" Check it out on YouTube.

Vilsen (international title: "Ave Mater") contains what you'd expect... really scary scenes, action and we get to learn more about detective Lidmans personal life and the collaboration with his policepartner Nordström.

The pastor Gabriella (played superbly by Alexandra Zetterberg) does a really good job in her role.

The script is very well written and covers the story excitingly from start to the explosive finale.

You'd better not miss this one. And keep a look out for the upcoming works from Rasmus Tirzitis in the future.

No pun intended - and I totally get if this is not your cup of tea. Even if you think this is the worst thriller out there (which I think is wrong - or I would rather tell you that lucky for you, you have not watched a lot of movies). This is a decent effort into ritual killings and a lot of mayhem.

Police is not always up to the task at hand, when it comes to solve mass murder things. You have to dig the movie, the pace it takes and the violence it showcases (as in helping to move the story along - though I have seen way better ways of that being handled) ... not the greatest then, but far from the worst ... if you like crime thrillers, you may give this a try.

Incoherent plot, fight scenes coordinated by a sock puppet, more Scandi blah than Scandi noir it makes channel five hallmark crap look like die hard, don't watch it it's mince.

I got tired of watching terrible American and British (and Irish) horror flicks and thought I'd try some Scandinavian entries; surely countries that gave us writers like Ibsen and Strindberg, and masters of form like Bergman would have something wonderful (or at least good) to offer. Boy was I mistaken. The principle actor has all the charm of a motel room, the story is both boring and even incoherent, and the length of this non-masterpiece makes watching it drudgery. If you value your time, do not waste it on this flick..