Skjult

We got wave of Norway horror films coming lately to us and most of them are pretty interesting. The same case is with this one which is a decent combination of psychological horror mixed with serial killer thriller and mystery. Good combination which keeps you without the answer until the end, but maybe even after that, depending on how you comprehended the whole idea. But it certainly keeps you entertained most of the time with tense scenes, good acting and some beautiful camera shots of the night. If you ask me, this movie needs more thorough work on the plot axis and kind of balance between questions and answers in the film where questions prevail in much greater number than answers until the end. All in all, interesting chiller for your favorite horror hours.

I expected to like this movie since I liked the movie "Villmark" by the same director, but sadly no. The main actor, the filming, the music and sound was good, but: The script was a mess, with people behaving and speaking illogicaly (not just horror-movie-illogicaly like "let's-go-into-the-dark-woods-to-look-for-our-missing-friends-despite-the-serial-killer-illogical), but unnatural in the contexts of the scene the characters are in the movie. The main character does things several times during the movie that in the real world would have gotten him arrested, but he is never arrested, his action seems at times to have no reason since they are rarely explained in the movie making the viewer have to guess time after time, the clues about what have happened and what is happening jumps back and forth between mystery/horror/occult/crime making the movie more confusing and messy than scary/thrilling. And people in this movie are EXTREMELY good at finding Kai Koss, even in the middle of the dark woods, while they at the same time seem to be unable to find the tip of their own nosees during daylight...

Guess that in the end this movie is an OK watch but it's also one that had some far more potential, if it had only tried to tell a better story with its movie.

I just don't like a mystery-thriller, in which we as the viewers know even less about the mystery of the whole story than the main character. It really should be a movie rule that the viewers always must know just as much about what is going on, as the main character. It makes things a whole lot more involving as well to watch and follow.

This movie just loves to mess with your mind. It's one of those movies in which you are never sure what is real and what is going on in the main characters mind. And the movie just never seems to get enough of this. It doesn't just make the movie complicated but it also makes it a bit of a mess. I honestly started loosing interest in this movie real fast. I just couldn't care anymore about the story or its characters, or were it was all heading toward. It's because you never really know whats real or not and what is the 'secret' the main character is carrying around with him. You could say that it's a movie that tries too hard to be clever and over-complicated with its story, while in fact the story just isn't powerful enough to fully achieve any of this. It also means that the movie trows in just too much stuff, which makes it all a bit of a mess in the long run. Was most of the stuff and mystery really necessary for the movie its plot? No, as it turns out in the end.

But it nevertheless remains still a well made and great looking Norwegian movie. There is basically just very little wrong with any of its acting, cinematography or visual directing. Its look is the foremost reason why the movie still somewhat works out because it manages to create a great, moody, almost horror-like atmosphere. The movie is also being listed as an horror, though honesty I would still call it more of a thriller than anything else really. There are scare moments in it and all and the atmosphere is kind of creepy but its story is just purely being a typical mystery-thriller one.

So despite all of the negativity and complaints I have toward this movie, I still consider it as a watchable enough one.

6/10

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Another horror/suspense Norwegian movie. Pretty much the opening sequence shows you events that make you think you have this movie all figured out, and believe me, you will be wrong. Skjult starts slowly and patiently evolving onto a dark, minimalist, very climatic film, which takes you in a descending ride to the characters' pasts and nightmares. And it all gets darker and wronger with every minute, and it's all bad, the story, the main character, his mother, his past and his present. Thumbs up to a very nice entertaining surprise. Finally when it has to resolve, (where many horror movies tend to slip), it resolves being consequent and sustaining the same atmosphere that has been developed throughout the entire film to wrap up a strong offer from northern Europe.

Skjult is an above average horror movie. The cinematography is just excellent especially for a horror movie. There are enough scares throughout to keep you firmly in your seat.

But is does follow the standard plot of a horror movie. A mystery, a lot of scares and then a big reveal in the end. But the pacing is quite good throughout. And the big reveal doesn't feels anticlimactic like it does in so many horror movies.

Technically the movie is very slick. Everybody has done a good job in acting but nothing really special. Overall a very satisfying horror movie.