Nightwatch - Il guardiano di notte

As Michael Haneke did with his FUNNY GAMES, Ole Bornedal directed his own remake, and as Haneke, in the US. There is of course a bit of Hollywood trademark - music, filming, actors -, to attract audiences, the bulk of them, but the DNA remains the same. It could have been better from the original, but also far far worse. Also some lines here, graphic lines, may let you think about the Italian giallos from the sixties and seventies. But that's my own opinion.

***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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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.