WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
I can’t pretend it isn’t complicated trying to watch and analyse films from an area rather than a single country. With Celtic horror it was a little easier through the similarities between them and English horror in general. However, when looking at 5 different countries, there becomes fewer similarities – other than the fact that I don’t think I found a single of them scary…
Child Eater (Iceland)
OK, so this film is a little bit of a cheat as it’s credited as being America and Iceland but I lost the film I really wanted to cover in Grafir & Bein (Grave & Bones). For what comes across as a reasonably intense beginning, this film does drag a little once it gets started. It actually reminds me a little of the first Jeepers Creepers film. Actually, it reminds me a lot of Jeepers Creepers in general as the main antagonist eats the eyes of children in order to improve his own eye sight! I’ll be honest, and it possibly sounds like more of a dig than I mean it to be but I feel like the film would have been a lot better if it was solely made by the Icelandic.
The Mare (Norway)
For a film that starts off so intensely, setting you up for a horrific assault on the senses – it really does slow down a lot! There are moments where, like the lead character of Liam, you can’t tell if he’s dreaming or if it’s real. Especially when it comes to his grandma as she is already down right creepy and I’m almost certain she’s been trying to kill him all along. All in all, I think it is supposed to be a story of a boy finding out what really happened to his mother with a few bumps in the night along the way because don’t get me wrong, it may be a little slow going but it does have its moments.
Black Circle (Sweden)
I’ll be completely honest with you, I don’t exactly understand this film. The write-up talks about a cult but there’s absolutely no cultist involvement whatsoever. I don’t know if someone got confused between cults and witches… if that’s what we are meant to believe Lena, Victor and Selma are – not 100% certain on that fact either. In a way the film reminded me a little bit of The Twilight Zone because it opens and closes like the narrator has put the viewer into a trace and what they have just watched isn’t actually real. Actually, be warned there is an optical illusion so you may feel a little bit dizzy before the film even properly begins.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Story (Finland)
We always love a Christmas based horror film right? Well, I do anyway and what I like even more about this is that instead of playing on the usual Krampus is bad, Santa is good – because let’s face it its been done before – Santa is the bad guy; in truth, with the horns, they have made him look a little like Krampus. In my opinion, a horror film is supposed to be at least remotely scary or creepy. The creepiest thing about this film is the naked old men posing as Santa’s elves.
Breeder (Denmark)
I feel like I’m being really critical of these Scandinavian horror films but I genuinely expected so much more from this film. For example, I expected more suspense and for Mia to be trapped alone a lot longer than she was. Maybe from the description I imaged something along the lines of the blood farm in Blade: Trinity (those who have seen the film have the image in there head right now…). For a film that’s supposed to be about a ‘mad’ scientist experimenting on women in order to extend life, there’s actually a lot of science-y stuff that happens. Also, there’s a lot of threatened violence but not a lot of actual violence. Now, I’m not saying that violence is a mark of a good horror film but it’s rare to not have at least a little bit.
Trollhunter (Norway)
I want to start this off with a positive and a negative. Positive: we all know I love a found-footage film. Negative: the only version I could find is f***ing dubbed! I hate dubbing, I know that seems like an overreaction but there’s something about it that slightly takes me out of the film. I can’t decide if I feel like the trolls are shown too early but it drastically improves the film once they are revealed, mainly because it’s actually pretty slow going. I’ll be honest, yes there is a written breakdown at the beginning and end of this film but I feel like there is no resolution at the end at all. OK, they chase after the troll….but what happens?
