Nightwatch (1994) is a mid-nineties thriller with Hitchcockian ambitions, that keeps the scares grounded in the creepy location and grim excesses of a slasher’s disturbed mind.
While a serial-killer terrorises, murdering and scalping, the women of the Copenhagen night, struggling law student Martin, the baby faced Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, takes a job as the night watchman at the local morgue.
Weaved into the mystery that sees Martin become the prime suspect, writer director Ole Bornedal contrives to muddy the waters of suspicion by starting a game of dare between Martin and his screwup best friend Jens, Kim Bodnia.
It’s a sub-plot designed to season the pot with possible suspects, and introduce some Freudian anxiety about settling down, but it doesn’t really work, in part because Jens’ behaviour towards Martin feels abusive. This could be hindsight informing my view but why would anyone tolerate Jens’ antics. It gets in the way of the films raison d’etre, a Psychoesque slasher film.
Darrin // Nightingale 