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The stage curtains open ...

"Nightwatch" is one of those dark, brooding horror thrillers that grabs you from the first minute and doesn't let you go. A young Ewan McGregor plays the part of Martin Bells, a college student looking for an easy job where he can spend most of his time studying and reading. What he gets is anything but!

Martin Bells is the new night watchman at a hospital morgue, surrounded by haunting images, pictures and human cadavers. Active at the same time, is a serial killer - who takes his victim's eyes as sort of a trophy, his signature. Unfortunately for Martin, their two paths cross when the killer is looking to pin the murders on someone else - and Martin fits the bill. Nick Nolte plays a morbid, shady detective working the case, and Josh Brolin as Martin's perverted, thrill seeking friend.

The killer, at least to me, wasn't too hard to figure out, but the acting and story was developed very well keeping you engaged and interested. The cinematography was pretty good with striking visuals and dark overtones. The morgue really plays out as a character of its own, having a major role in the film's outcome. I really liked Ewan McGregor in this film. He played the part very convincingly, showing flashes of a great career ahead of him. Also fun to see in this movie, was an early supporting role by John C. Reilly.

I would definitely recommend this one. If you like dark, twisted thrillers, this is a good one for you. It is a bit predictable, but still a good movie. It's not the best of its genre, but you could do a lot worse than spend 90 minutes of your time watching "Nightwatch".

Student Ewan McGregor gets himself a part time job in a morgue, he presumes this will give him some quiet time as he studies for his degree. However, in this morgue the dead don't rest easy- it would appear that a serial killer who also indulges in necrophilia is making occasional visits. Could this just be paranoia on McGregor's part? It would appear not as he soon becomes chief suspect...

This promising premise is let down, in part, through the unsure direction of Ole Bornedal. The film begins in a vein not dissimilar to that of Se7en and seems to be setting up for a serial killer/thriller style. This soon changes to an approach more suited to teen slashers and then switches to a horror style before seeming to flick between them at will. This mix doesn't gel well at all and leaves the film feeling a little lost at times.

Josh Brolin who plays Ewan McGregor's friend in the film plays a character you feel like you have seen a hundred times before in teen slashers: plays by his own rules, pretty unlikeable but has his good side and you have your suspicions about him by the first scene. Ewan McGregor gets the paranoia spot on but is by and large quite forgettable, the same could be aimed at Patricia Arquette.

For its faults, there is still enough on offer to merit a watch. The scenes which take a more horror style approach work very well in the morgue and do give quite a tense atmosphere at times. Also, Nick Nolte turns in an eye-catching and enjoyable performance despite playing a role which you feel he could do in his sleep (he's playing a gruff detective). And Brad Dourif is perfectly cast as the creepy duty doctor, his knowing performance raises a smile.

The film has enough to keep you watching to its conclusion but will leave you disappointed at not being able to fully deliver on what could've been a very affecting thriller.

It´s a pretty long time ago since I have seen Ole Bornedal´s original from 1994, so I can´t remember several details, but I think he has done good work with his remake: the atmosphere is creepy and nightmarish, the cast featuring Ewan McGregor, Patricia Arquette, Josh Brolin and especially Nick Nolte does a solid job. My favorite performances however come from two supporting actors: the one is Brad Dourif playing a weird autopsy doctor, the other is the uncredited John C. Reilly, who is still one of the most underrated great actors in my opinion! All in all director Ole Bornedal has made a well done remake, which is probably no revolutionary film , but in comparison to Gus Van Sant´s awful "Psycho"-rip off a real masterpiece!!!

***SPOILERS*** Nick Nolte for all intents and purposes looking like Boris Karloff as the Frankenstein monster but without the use of makeup is police inspector Thomas Cray who's in charge of a special police task force trying to find and capture, dead or alive, a serial killer. The killer for some weird reason has a habit of cutting out the eyes of his dead victims, all women, and then raping their corpses. It seems that the killer wants to quit the business of serial killing but at the same time wants the police and the law to leave him alone and stop hunting him down so he can enjoy his retirement.

This sets up the story for young law student Martin Bell, Ewan McGeror, who just got a job at the local medical examiner building as a night watchman where all the recent murder victims of the killers are kept. The killer plans to frame young Martin as can then be free from being tracked down and arrested for the crimes that Martin will be jailed for.

"Nightwatch" has it's share of cheap thrills and a number of twists and turns in it's story but their very unconvincing in how the killer, who you can spot almost as soon as you see him, is so hard for the police to find when his actions are so insane and weird just like those of the murderer.

The film-makers put two people into roles that would make you think that their the real killer of the people in the movie. One is so obvious that you just know that he didn't do it and is just a red herring put into the movie to get you and the police off the track of the real killer.

There's also a fact that he, the killer, once worked in the medical examiner's office some time ago and was dismissed for messing around with the corpses. All that is in the medical examiners record department which should have been a dead give away to everyone involved just too who he really is.

There's also some scenes in the movie that focus on a photo of Lewis Paine, thats pinned to the wall in the night watchman's office one of the people executed for the murder of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. This seems to indicate to the audience that he, or his ghost, may have something to do with the killings but in the end nothing ever comes of it and he's completely forgotten well before the movie is over.

There's also a very mixed-up sub-plot in the movie between Martin's friend James, Josh Brolin, and a hooker he picked up at the local bus station Joyce, Alix Koromzay,who he's trying to get Martin to have an affair with her. This moronic attempt by James is to give him a high since it seems that the normal high he used to get with women by having sex is no longer there and even having the hell beat out of him to get high doesn't work either.

Joyce's relations with Martin, which are almost next to nothing, has his girlfriend Kathy, Pat Arquette, leave him and in the end. Sure enough Joyce ends up being a victim of the on the loose serial killer and Martin, becomes the prime suspect just like the killer wanted in the crime.

The ending of "Nightwatch" had the usual damsel as well as good guy both in distress with the crazed killer having them both tied down on a table in the mortuary and about to cut both their skulls open with an electric slicer. It's then when the person who was made to look like the killer during the entire movie coming to their rescue, minus a thumb, blasting the real killer away and sending him to his just reward.

"Nightwatch" is a watchable horror/suspense movie but it's hard to take seriously at all due it it's very predictable and unconvincing story and the killer is so obvious that you can easily spot him well before the movie reveals his true identity.

Nightwatch is a 1997 American horror thriller film directed by Ole Bornedal and starring Ewan McGregor as law student Martin Bells, hired as a night watchman at a hospital morgue. Patricia Arquette, Josh Brolin and Nick Nolte also star. It was written by Bornedal and Steven Soderbergh. It is a remake of the Danish film Nattevagten (1994), which was also directed by Bornedal.

Nightwatch is an atmospheric little psycho-thriller from Denmark, although ultimately its far-fetched and the ending is unsatisfying. The director makes excellent use of cinematography and some disturbing sound effects (such as the amplified flapping of moths' wings) to show how our hero is overwhelmed by his cold, spacious workplace. Saddled with a nominally respectable cast, the film is labored in exposition, painting a luridly disturbing portrait of male aggression. And the dialogue contains odd shafts of insight. It's a visually effective and often scary film to watch, but the story is rather leaky so it begins to grow tiresome towards the end and the mystery elements of the film are rather predictable.

Well, lets just start of by saying this movie is no way near as good as the original movie "Nattevagten", of which this movie is a remake but it's still being a pretty good and fun whodunit to have a good time with.

Kind of weird to notice how different this movie is in atmosphere and approach, since it actually got directed by the same director who made the original, 3 years prior to this American remake. And it's not just different but also most definitely less effective. There is not as much tension and mystery in this one, also due to some pacing issues (it's too fast paced at times) and a poor buildup to things.

And all while this movie in essence is still being just like the original. Not much had been changed in its story really and I was therefore also quite surprised to find out Steven Soderbergh was involved with the writing. Guess it was an easy paycheck for him, since really not all that much had been changed or added to the movie, when compared to the original movie.

While the original was being a whole lot of different things, this movie is just being a more simple and more straightforward thriller, or rather said whodunit. So really, don't expect this movie to provide you with any horror but as a mystery/thriller, I can still see this movie entertaining a whole bunch of people out there, of course especially those who aren't familiar with the original movie already.

And really, the movie on its own is really being quite good and entertaining for what it is. It really doesn't handle everything well, mainly stuff concerning the earlier mentioned pacing and buildup to things but as a whole it's still being a better movie than just the average genre attempt. There are plenty of thrills and surprises in it, that help to keep you invested in the movie.

It also has a cast to die for. Really an all-star cast, of which some actors are better known now days as back then. Ewan McGregor plays the main lead, while the movie further more stars Patricia Arquette, Nick Nolte, a still very young looking Josh Brolin, Brad Dourif and John C. Reilly. Not that this movie features any of their best or most interesting and challenging performances but still, it's always good to see so many talented people together on screen.

A definitely good enough movie as a straightforward thriller.

7/10

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If you've seen Nightwatch & you liked it then you should go see the original version called Nattevagten - you'll be nothing less than thrilled! If Nightwatch is a 6 then Nattevagten is 9+!

For those of you who haven't seen either one of them go see Nattevagten first!

• MooseT, 27/06 - '99 (ddmmyy)

Any great expectations you may have for this film begin to fade after 20 minutes. The director succeeds in creating a fine eerie atmosphere with shots that linger just long enough to make you expect something to happen, and does nothing with it. The film soon throws away any attempt at a decent plot and unravels under it's own pseudo intellectualism. Ewan McGregor smirks so much (probably at his attempt at an american accent, Sean Connery anyone?) you think he's just walked off the set of Trainspotting with a stash of drugs. Nick Nolte hams his way through every scene looking like a part time drag queen and Josh Brolin seems to be lost in his characters confusing mood swings. As for the women in the film, they seem to lack any substance at all and are very one dimensional. The film fails in sustaining any interest, it skips over all of it's gaping plot holes and has an ending which is very unfulfilling.

College student Martin Bells (Ewan McGregor) is hopefully to make some money for himself by taking a job at the old city morgue. Which Martin thinks it's easy money until his graveyard shift turned into something else. A mysterious serial killer is been murdering unsuspected prostitutes but before he murders them... he makes them play dead. Now this murderer is been stalking Martin on his night shifts by playing sick mind games with the dead corpses.

Directed by Ole Bornedal made an predictable but fairly intriguing suspense-thriller. Which Bornedal remade his own film "Nattevagten" for Dimension Films. McGregor's American accent comes and goes but he is surrounded by a sharp supporting cast like Patricia Arquette as his worried girlfriend, Josh Brolin as Martin's daredevil buddy, Brad Dourif as a doctor and Nick Notle as a police detective. "Nightwatch" was set to release in the fall of 1996 but released instead limited in the spring of 1998. Which the film critics were not kind to it, since the identity of the villain was too easy to guess but the movie is oddly irresistible thanks to some suspense, Bornedal's stylish creepy mood and some light touches of humour. The look on McGregor's face, when his buddy scares him nearly to death in the morgue is priceless. Despite all it's flaws, this is worth a look. Written by the director and Oscar-Winner Steven Soderbergh (The Ocean Trilogy, Erin Brockovich, Solaris "2002"). John C. Reilly appears uncredited. Super 35. (*** 1/2 out of *****).

I haven't seen such a bad movie in a long time, actually i haven't seen such a bad movie ever. What have Miramax done with the original manuscript. This movie was one of the best ever, in the Danish version. But someone bought the rights to this movie, and tried to make a Hollywood version. But dear "Hollywood", you can't make a box-office hit if you first of all take the Danish humor away, and then take out some scenes from the movie, just because (my own opinion)you think it doesn't suits the American people. But 10 stars to the original version, and 1 (They didn't have 0 stars)star to the Hollywood version.

Nightwatch is the remake of the Danish hit 'Nattevagten' by the same director. It's almost identical to the original (camera shots etc.) but some (unnecessary?) scenes are left out.

Ewan McGregor has to carry this movie almost all on his own and does a splendid job as always. He's really the right man for the part. The other actors did an OK job too, although I'm not sure about Nolte's performance.

The atmosphere throughout the movie ( especially the first twenty minutes) can be described as asphyxiating and intensely claustrophobic. Add this up with the great filming locations and the very well-chosen music and you've got a great but strange movie. I can honestly say it's hard to classify Nightwatch...it's not a horror film nor is it a pure thriller. It's got it's very own style. I was pleasantly surprised by it because I didn't have any expectations( contrary to people who saw the original) but I feel it could've been a masterpiece instead of just a solid film. Can't really explain the details but some scenes felt like scenes from a B-film and some of the acting felt like that too.

The film genuinely gave me the creeps (not through cheap scares but through the atmosphere). It has one of the greatest build-ups of a horror(like) film I've ever seen. It reminded me about the well-constructed atmosphere in 1408. That movie wasn't as creepy as this one is but it made you feel uncomfortable before he even entered the room. And in a way Nightwatch is similar: I was very creep-ed out before anything had actually happened.

Recommended if you like alternative stuff. People who already thought Vacancy was scary should avoid this, or they'll probably suffer a heart-attack.

7/10

A law student, Martin, gets a part-time job doing the night shift at the morgue. The isolation and macabre nature of the facility initially spook him and he thinks maybe this isn't for him. Meanwhile, a serial killer is murdering women, an event that will become relevant to Martin when the victims end up in his morgue.

A US remake of the Danish film 'Nattevagten' (1994). Directed and co-written (with Steven Soderbergh) by Ole Bornedal who directed and wrote the original.

The original film was great, filled with tension and intrigue. The lonely night scenes were scary enough already before murders were added into the mix.

You would think with the same director being involved the US version would be of the same quality but it strangely isn't. The tension and intrigue just aren't at the same level.

Overall, it's okay but rather watch the Danish original instead.

If you enjoy a darker thriller, or if you like a little suspense in a movie, Nightwatch will entertain you. Like Seven, some of the subject matter is a tad morbid. Fortunately, the plot is one that should interest most viewers. The actors give adequate performances. Nick Nolte does a fine job, and Ewan McGregor is great as usual. Patricia Arquette seems a little under-used, but oh well. This is not a perfect film, but anyone looking for a good mystery with some thrills should enjoy it. Especially spooky are all the scenes in the morgue where Ewan's character gets a job. Wow.

This was great material for horror and should have aimed higher and made it but for too superb an original. (I will look for it now ..) But no way were these 90 minutes wasted. The initial revelation of the killer's identity seemed pushed upon us too soon while the ending(s) as in multiple.... not soon enough. Yes plot holes, believability sporadic, over and under-acting, strange music-entertaining and enjoyable in varying degrees.

Nightwatch nails the atmosphere. Definitely an interesting premise, but it all falls apart the closer to the end you get. Which is too bad because I couldn't think of a better setup for an urban tale of paranoia. Alone in a creepy, isolated place. Especially given that before I was born - my dad was a security guard stationed at a mental hospital. Had to patrol the place, outside grounds at night. Do rounds. It was not his favorite job. A creepy story or two came from working there.

So as me and my father sat down for this - we were quite interesting in seeing where this story would go. There was so many possibilities, but that's where our interest left because soon this movie was settling into the comfortable groove of predictability with the cliché formula 'people dying and the main character is the chief suspect'. Sigh.

We meet this guy's best friend early on. He's semi-wacko at least from my perspective. He's wild, weird, unpredictable and gross. So naturally he's either a huge red herring or he just got my vote for the perverted sexual killer.

Things progress. We're given little snippets of factual information that pass as sly attempts at clues and then suddenly this best friend is mature, calm and in other words completely different than forty mins ago. So he takes a back seat in the race for the perverted sexual killer and we're left with finding out who is. When at this point the movie has worn out it's welcome the premise and atmosphere allowed.

I firmly believe this could have turned out better.

This film had lots of close-ups shots which I liked, which made it feel more intimate. Lovely camera movement and fantastic locations. It had a slight 'modern' noir look which was really nice. It has excellent sound design throughout. Almost nothing to even slightly complain about from the audio department. The story started so scary and horrible but slowly became an interesting murder mystery. The killer was revealed a little too early and this made the ending less exciting than it should be. I wish that there was more supernatural horror. Still enjoyable enough noir crime thriller with flaws.

I love movies, and I am very forgiving of most of them. (I usually like thriller/suspense movies.) But Nightwatch I gave a 1. I never give movies a 1. It's especially odd in this case as I usually LOVE Ewan McGregor. But even he (and all of it's other big-name stars) could not save this poorly written, badly executed, gross, retarded-plot movie.

A law student has a whacked out, bored best friend, a really nice but under-defined girlfriend, some sort of poorly outlined, difficult childhood past and then gets a job as a nightwatchman in a morgue to pay for school. (This involves checking to make sure that the bodies are okay each night.) The plot just gets worse from there. I won't go into details, but realize that it's set in a morgue (just go with that image for a second), involves really icky mental disorders, hookers, bored twenty-somethings and a serial killer.

Perhaps Nick Nolte's worst role EVER. Ewan McGregor just looks embarrassed, as do Josh Brolin and Patricia Arquette. Filled with gratuitous nastiness and gross-out violence, this movie, rather than being redeemed by such a good cast, serves only to add a black mark to their career resumes.

As I said, I love movies and rarely, rarely, rarely diss them this hard, but I honestly believe that this is the worst movie I have ever seen.

BRILLIANT, CHILLING, & INTRIGUING!

It is always a pleasure to watch Ewan McGregor work, as he fully immerses himself into his roles-truly becoming the character he plays. I can honestly say this is the first film in a LONG time that, well it scared the crap out of me. Amazingly written, cast, and filmed, I felt it achieved an ingenious atmosphere similar to that in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, which is imperative to the effect of a good suspense/thriller/horror film. One of my definite favourites, in case you couldn't tell =).

Cliche, misogynistic, very bloody -- only for hardened fans of the psycho-thriller. Ewan McGregor turns in his first disappointing performance, and Nolte seems more of a zombie than the corpses (this may have been a stylistic touch, but I'm more apt to believe his heart just wasn't in the role).