Dark Woods ( no, Villmark) is a 2003

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

thriller/

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by . The tagline—""—translates to "They should've stayed away from that lake". The theatrical premiere sold 150 000 tickets in Norway, and was therefore picked up for a

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

release by , and a

Chinese language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...

release in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

by . to have re-introduced the thriller genre to Norwegian cinema. The film received two nominations for the Amanda award in the categories of best Norwegian film and best male actor (

Kristoffer Joner Kristoffer Joner (born 19 September 1972) is a Norwegian actor. He is best known for his roles in '' Villmark'' and ''The Man Who Loved Yngve''. He was a part of Rogaland Teater when he was 14 years of age until his early 20s. He was one of the f ...

), though it did not win in any of the categories. A sequel, , was released in October 2015.

Plot

The broadcasting company ''Real TV'' plan to head into the woods to film a

reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

series where contestants try to survive in the wilderness without aid for four days. Before the filming, in an effort to create bonds between the members of Real TV's production team, Gunnar—the boss—decides that they should try the experience for themselves.

Production

''Dark Woods'', being 's first full-length film, was recorded over the course of 24 days in September 2002 in

Kaupanger Kaupanger is a village situated along the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the municipality of Sogndal in Vestland county, Norway. It sits along the Norwegian National Road 5, about southeast of the municipal centre of Sogndalsfjøra and ab ...

Sogn Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway ''(Vestlandet)''. It is located in the county of Vestland, surrounding the Sognefjord, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestra ...

. The script was written in close association with , with notable input from the actors during the filming, especially

. The film cost approximately 10 million

Norwegian krone The krone (, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian crown in English. It is nominally subdivided into 100 ''� ...

r to make.

Release

''Dark Woods'' was pre-screened to friends of the director in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

ahead of the theatrical release—21 February 2003. The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

on 10 September 2003 by , and was later rereleased on DVD and

Video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

in 2014 by

Warner Bros. Entertainment Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

, with plans for

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

in 2015.

Reception

The German

TV Spielfilm ''TV Spielfilm'' is a biweekly German programme guide which has been published regularly since 1990. The focus is on the presentation of feature films in the programme. Until 2005, the publishing group Verlagsgruppe Milchstrasse was the publish ...

described the film as "creepier than real reality TV", commending the film's atmosphere, characters and scares. Birger Vestmo of likewise praised the atmosphere of the film, in addition to the actors' performance, noting that they actually seem scared, and that their dialogue appeared natural. Conversely, he felt the story lacking, remarking that the film started to become boring halfway through, with the characters wandering aimlessly through the woods. In a survey conducted in October 2008 by

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

to commemorate the theatrical premiere of the horror film ''

Cold Prey 2 ''Cold Prey 2: Resurrection'' ( no, Fritt Vilt II) is a 2008 Norwegian slasher film, directed by Mats Stenberg. It is the sequel to the highly successful ''Cold Prey'' (''Fritt Vilt''), and premiered in Norway on 10 October 2008. Written by Roar U ...

'', readers were asked to select the "scariest Norwegian horror movie". ''Dark Woods'' won with 41% of the vote, outcompeting ''

Cold Prey ''Cold Prey'' ( no, Fritt Vilt, lit. " Open Season") is a 2006 Norwegian slasher film directed by Roar Uthaug. It premiered in Norway on October 13, 2006, received positive reviews, and was hailed as one of the best modern Norwegian horror movies ...

'''s 32% and '' Lake of the Dead'''s 21%.

Legacy

In later retrospectives of the "horror boom" in Norwegian film, characterised by the use of natural environments like mountains and forests, ''Dark Woods'' has been seen as instrumental in its genesis.

References

External links

*
Dark Woods
at {{ill, Cineuropa, de 2003 films 2003 horror films Norwegian horror films 2000s Norwegian-language films Norwegian slasher films 2000s slasher films