Hora

The DVD cover proudly exclaims that "Hora" is Norway's very first authentic grindhouse flick. OK, it's not an actual lie, but everyone who's only slightly into horror and exploitation know that the only genuine Scandinavian grindhouse film is "Thriller: A Grim Picture". That infamous classic, directed by Bo Arne Vibenius, is a Swedish effort but nevertheless an essential ancestor for "Hora". Furthermore this is the ultra-thin plot outline of "I Spit on your Grave" all over again. The young and aspiring writer, Rikke, heads out to the old and abandoned parental house in the remote Norwegian countryside. A girl, not even particularly beautiful one, all alone in a town full of sexually deviant yokels, that's just asking for trouble. After a couple of tense and unsettling encounters, three dimwits rape the poor girl and she plots an excruciatingly painful vengeance for all of them. End of plot. The character drawings in this film are hopelessly stereotypical. The lead punk is the girl's ex-boyfriend (from when they were 8 years old), the psychopath of the threesome is a police officer and the third one is a mentally retarded video store clerk with a passion of horror movies. The poor girl is beaten, carved up and viciously raped three times in a row, yet when she awakes from her state of shock, she promptly begins with the extracting of her revenge. Her killing spree is quite extreme, with buckets of fake blood and strawberry syrup. The description of the murders sound repulsive, but the make-up effects are so basic and amateurish that this film wouldn't even upset a small child. The film is only sick and mean-spirited in tone and in its references towards old classics, like for example the castration sequence. The main problem with "Hora" isn't necessarily the fact that it's derivative and unoriginal because, let's face it, nobody expects any kind of innovation in rape & revenge films. What I hated most about this were the pretentious and pseudo-artistic ambitions of writer/director Reinert Kiil. For some reason he thought he was making an experimental art-house masterpiece instead of an ordinary low-keyed exploitation flick, me thinks. The rape sequences are boring and wannabe artsy, without sound except for a really annoying buzzing. There are more oddities, like occasional switching to black & white photography and missing film spool messages. Another thing that struck me as really stupid was that every brand, whether appearing on a shopping bag or a beer can, is made blurry? Is that the opposite of product placement, perhaps? In short: I know the DVD cover of "Hora" looks cool and enticing (even fell for it myself), but it's truly an inferior film and a waste of time. If you do want to see a revival of the 70's rape & revenge genre that is truly raw, shocking, worthwhile and memorable, check out the Argentinean "I'll Never Die Alone".

How come that sometimes really bad movies get a world wide release? This flick is such an example. I have nothing against bad movies, mostly they are so bad that they become good but this here, no way. But I can guess after the release of Dead Snow coming from the same country and being a huge success in the genre everything made their will be released. It is stated as the first Norwegian grindhouse. No F***ing way. What we have here is a movie that rip off others. The so called grindhouse that is used is a copy

done in Death Proof and Planet Terror. At some moments the film reel is at his end, black screen or when they are making love you get an message, reel missing, sorry. Helloooooooooooooo, seen that and done better in Grindhouse. The story line, completely rip off of I Spit On Your Grave only that one is much better. And then for the use of slo-mo, remember They Call Me One Eye (Thriller: A Cruel Picture)when someone is hit, here we see the same but much worser. The first 45 minutes nothing happens and it's so slow that you want to push the fast forward. Even the nudity doesn't work, the rape scene is so worse. This is bad, really bad...a real whore in the scene.

This film should be banned. It's a copy of "I spit on your grave", with elements from "Last house on the left" cut into the mix. It takes plagiarism to a new level. I really hope whoever owns the rights to the films mentioned above sues Mr. Kiil for all he's worth, and then some... As if this is not enough, the entire film is poorly lit, shot on what appears to be hand-held DV cam, and some cheesy black and white "8mm"-filter has been applied here and there. The visual effects are less than awful, I've seen better on Sesame Street. The acting is non-existent, and the audio is muffled and poor. To make things worse (for those Scandinavians unfortunate enough to see this film) the actors speak a charming mix of Norwegian, Swedish, danish and bullshit.

DO NOT SEE THIS FILM!

The film has been told a lot of crap about. Much is probably because the close it has to I spit on your grave . But this film does not take more than the actual plot. So portrays the situation in the same way as ISOYG . Then you can throw -pip- at 90 % of the films coming out . The movie is really about, us as viewers . Why do we see this? And we know there comes a rape, why not turn off ? It gets a strange feeling up my body that says " I want the woman to be raped ." And this is where it stands out from all the other rape n revenge movies ever made. For me this was a masterpiece and is insanely proud that it comes from Norway . For who would have thought? I saw it for the first time during the screening at the cultural center in Oslo ( Chateauneuf ) . I had not heard of the movie or the director before. The screening was arranged through student radio , Radio Nova . There was strip show and very raw tens during the entire night. Some failed to see the movie finished, and one guy puked in the doorway. Causing even more power for me. Now it's been five years . And I saw it again . The film is almost gotten better through the years. All the complaints of the film is almost what I think is best with it. That is precisely why it was made . To make a tribute to all the -pip- movies in the same genre , but still ask the question to us , the audience . Why watch ?

The sequel was not as good although it seems more expensive and more professional. But it lacked that little edge. What it should have, is that it is Norway's most original film. And the best thing about the director is that he has not received money from the state to make a movie. Everything is self-funded. So you can probably safely be said he is the only one in the country who just work underground. And thus is the only one that can mirror Norway to the outside world within the genre. Keep on Kiil! Looking forward to the "house". You never know what this man comes with! But maybe if the government pays a film in the future we will see just -pip-. I think we need directors outside the system. I can't think of a better director to make a viking film one day. Bloody, messy, dirty and mean.

Hora (the Whore) was, as mentioned above, a best in test good meta film. Reinert Kiil definitely knew where he was going with this. Isabel Vibe, porn chick, delivers, (she never did make a bad performance, did she? I mean, shes the best porn star acting in a motion picture... and Gaute Næsheim is believable as the retarded Ronny. Kenneth Falkenberg and Jørgen Langhelle perform to the excellent of their roles. It was shot with approximatively 240 000 Kr (50 000 dollars) of budget in a 10 days at a cabin in Oslo. Its Norways most talked about strait to DVD movies of all times. What did Kiil do wrong? Nothing!!!! A 27 year old man with love to the cinema. And the Whore shows that! I read that a other guy said that this movie is a copy of i spit on your grave. Have you watch the film???? the Movie is so far away from ISOYG! Its like saying that Possidon avenger is a copy of Titanic just because they have a boat in them! the Movie Hora is going to rock Norway and make a land mark on how bad Norwegian films are. There are no directors in Norway b-side Bent Hamer and Caprino (RIP) who have had soul and class in there films. I feel that Reinert is the next big director out there.

Last but not... the Whore is now one of my favorite films of all time. it was like when Bad Taste was on the TV. I loved it and I knew that Jackson was in Hollywood pretty soon!

Ps. Sorry my bad bad English! I'm getting better every day!