Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever (2023)

Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever (Danish: Nattevagten – Dæmoner går i arv) is a psychological horror film directed by Danish writer Ole Bornedal. It premiered at the BFI London Film Festival 2023 in the ‘Cult’ section and was released in German cinemas on 16 May the following year. The film picks up three decades after its predecessor Nightwatch, which marked the breakthrough of Bornedal and lead actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in 1994. Bornedal’s daughter Fanny Bornedal now plays the lead role as Coster-Waldau’s film daughter.

If ever, Coster-Waldau completed his acting training in 1993. The following year, he became a star in his home country with the lead role in the film Nightwatch. The thriller, which became a surprise hit in Denmark, was adapted for the Hollywood screen in 1997 by Ole Bornedal with Ewan McGregor in the lead role… for anyone wondering!

Indeed, many people who are not familiar with the original version must be wondering what connection this film has with Ewan McGregor. Well, now you know!

Coster-Waldau first came to international attention in 2001 with the role of Staff Sergeant Gary Ivan Gordon in Black Hawk Down, although most people know him primarily for his role as Jaime Lannister in the fantasy series Game of Thrones. Of that character, he said: ‘What’s not to love about Jaime? As an actor, I couldn’t have asked for a better role.

In 2013, Coster-Waldau starred alongside Jessica Chastain in the very bad Canadian horror film Mama. Well, not everyone thinks so, given that the film topped the film charts in the US and Germany. I’m amazed!

Coming back to this film, the suspense is good, but the coherence less so. A good film, but disappointing, because it could have been excellent.

It’s often said that Americans always make useless remakes, but it never occurs to us that some directors want to remake their own films in the USA. Michael Haneke‘s Funny Games is a good example (also released in 1997 and remade in 2008) and Erik Van Looy‘s The Loft (2008 & 2014) is another.

The director has picked up on the atmosphere of the first film, but the surprise is gone and the story is less complex. I wonder if there’s going to be another remake? Why did you want to take the first one and make a sequel?

Sometimes sequels work.
But that’s not always the case. There are direct sequels (Miss Congeniality, Scream, Jurassic Park, Jurassic World, Gremlins, Ghostbusters, 28 Days Later, Resident Evil…) and sometimes there’s a new opus that’s almost identical to the first, but simply with different actors, such as: Single White Female, Cruel Intentions, 8 MM, American Psycho, The Glass House, The Butterfly Effect, Final Destination, Wrong Turn, and so on.

Sometimes there are also male versions and a second female part, as in Scum (1979) and Scrubbers (1982). In short!

Nightwatch (1997) and its remake were very good. But here, you could say that it’s not so good, that the acting is more approximate than precise and the direction rather lacking. In fact, the story takes a very long time to get going. It’s a far cry from the original film, which was a real slap in the face. This is almost a run-of-the-mill film set in a morgue. Some people will be looking at their watches non-stop, impatient for it all to end. The subtitle ‘Legacy’ is clearly in name only.

However, this sequel uses the same codes as the first to make a film that is a pleasure to watch. While the protagonist is abysmal in her egocentricity and total lack of common sense and humanity, stupidly reminding the various characters of past traumas, we do appreciate the rest of the cast (most of the survivors of the first instalment have returned for this new opus).

As for the story, it’s pretty well written, with plenty of scary scenes, without going overboard. Let’s just say it’s a real thriller and hardly a horror film. OK, there’s some haemoglobin, but it’s mainly used for make-up and concealment, with the psychopath smearing it all over his face…

The plot is chilling, hiding the identity of the villain until the very last moment.

There’s a magnificent reunion scene in a psychiatric hospital between our nightlight and her family’s perverse former tormentor! The actress (yes, the director’s daughter) has neither incredible charisma nor exceptional charm. But she’s still a good actress.

The weakness lies in not revealing the motivations of this twisted family, which makes their actions completely meaningless. It’s a pity, because the film is as labyrinthine as the labyrinths of the Institute of Forensic Medicine.

It’s not a masterpiece, but fans of the first film and new fans of horror films can enjoy 2 hours of nostalgia and good scares. Despite the negative points I’ve listed, I really enjoyed it.