Nightwatch

1998 Mystery & Suspense

Like The Vanishing (1988 and 1993), Nightwatch is an English-language version of a foreign-made film with the original director hired to remake his own movie. Ole Bornedal was the writer-director of the suspenseful 1994 thriller, Nattevagten, which had no U.S. release immediately on the heels of its success in Denmark. For the second time around, Bornedal directed, but Steven Soderbergh wrote a new script based on Bornedal's original film. Both were produced by Michael Obel. Nattevagten was Bornedal's directorial debut, and reviews praised the film for the claustrophobic atmospherics and suspense generated from the very first establishing scene. For the 1998 English-language remake, the artistic elements of the original gave way to name actors, slicker production values, and the more conventional grindhouse genre approach, opening with a brutal prostitute murder in a pre-credit sequence. University student Martin (Ewan McGregor) ignores warnings to take a city-morgue night watchman job for extra cash. Odd happenings at the morgue are linked to a serial killer, and Inspector Thomas Cray (Nick Nolte) investigates. Soon Martin's girlfriend Katherine (Patricia Arquette) learns that Martin has become a key suspect. However, some might suspect Martin's edgy friend James (Josh Brolin). Brad Dourif fills the role of a doctor, and young Alix Koromzay portrays vulnerable teen hooker Joyce. more..

Director: Ole Bornedal

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Patricia Arquette, Nick Nolte, Josh Brolin, Alix Koromzay

Reviews

  • Nightwatch is more stylish and well-plotted than your typical slasher film, but it doesn't quite stand out in a world where the horrific has become routine.

    Dave Kehr - The Chicago Tribune

    19 January 2013

  • Danish writer-director Ole Bornedal delivers up a stylish thriller whose murky, shot-through-pond-scum cinematography is its most distinctive feature.

    Maitland McDonagh - TV Guide

    19 January 2013

  • It's a visually effective and often scary film to watch, but the story is so leaky that we finally just give up.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    19 January 2013

  • It's rough when it works and rough when it doesn't. Much of the first hour is made up of slow patches, while the last 20 minutes are ugly and terrifying.

    Mick LaSalle - The San Francisco Chronicle

    19 January 2013

  • Tasteless and without redeeming social value, and also dank with the stench of decomposition masked by not enough formaldehyde, Nightwatch is the best kind of movie pleasure, a completely guilty one.

    Stephen Hunter - The Washington Post

    19 January 2013

Awards

  • Best Feature Film

    Málaga International Week of Fantastic Cinema (1997)