A dystopian medical thriller in a short format for young viewers. 12 girls are trapped in a mansion, but why are they there, and is it for real? (Please note, this review may contain spoilers.) Scandinavian public broadcasters are required by law to offer programming for children and teens, including drama series. This is something…
In Norwegian cinemas now, the sequel fantasy blockbuster The Ash Lad 2. Do you know your Norwegian folk tales? Try to spot as many as you can in the film! Following the successfull original big budget mainstream Ash Lad from 2017 (original title; Askeladden), the sequel In Soria Moria Castle see Espen and Kristin embark…
Ghostly supernatural horror and Scandinavia’s biggest exploitation star are the key ingredients in Black Circle, a Swedish-Mexican film which goes retro in more than one way. It hits Swedish cinemas today. Black Circle (original title: Svart cirkel) is a story about two sisters and a mysterious vinyl record from the 1970s. When Celeste’s sister Isa…
Nordic mythology is rich, old and popular but has only served as foundation for Nordic fantasy movies to a limited extent. Border is the Swedish arthouse fantasy that takes troll mythology to another level. And that is not surprising, since the book that the film is based on was written by John Ajvide Lindqvist, author…
The Danish post-apocalyptic teen series The Rain is a success and was recently renewed for a third season. According to Netflix, The Rain is the biggest non-English language Netflix original series to date. Produced by the Danish company Miso Film (Danny’s Doomsday), The Rain has been seen by 30 million viewers across the world, making…
Norway’s first proper exploitation film, The Whore, will be re-released in Germany and Norway for its 10th anniversary, and for the first time in a high-def format. Directed in 2009 by underground genre director Reinert Kiil, The Whore was Norway’s first grindhouse exploitation film where it all came toghether; rape, revenge, blood, violence, sex, naked…
The producers of Valdemar brings you their latest film The Nest, which you can watch for free right here, right now. No ketchup or red paint was harmed in the making of this shlockbuster! The 26 minute amateur short film was shot over only two days on a budget of about 1000 SEK (110 euros)…
Documenting a region’s cinematic genre output is laborious but much needed, especially when certain genres need more attention in that region. Learn more about Spektakulärt, the updated book on Nordic science fiction films, TV and shorts, written and edited by Peter Öberg. In 2012, Peter Öberg published Science fiction så in i Norden, a comprehensive book…
The hard science fiction feature Aniara is a rare opportunity to see the future as it was envisioned in the 1950s. Rare in the sense that never before has a science fiction poem from Sweden been filmed. Here’s a gallery of alternate posters tested by the designers at Magnolia. Aniara adapts the 1956 poem by…
What does the world look like in 100 years from now? Swedish public broadcaster SVT and the Swedish Film Institute have teamed to develop and distribute six short films that suggest how we will live on Earth in 2121. That is also the umbrella title of the series of short films. 2121 will air on…
Netflix, the global VOD giant, releases The Rain 2 tomorrow. The second season of the Danish post-apocalyptic drama series actually started pre-production before it was commissioned by the distributor. The first season of the first ever original Danish series commissioned by the giant streamer premiered almost exactly a year ago. Tomorrow the second season will…
Coming to US theatres and on VOD on May 17th is the Swedish feature film Aniara, based on some of the most famous Swedish science fiction ever written. Originally a response to World War 2’s nuclear watershed and the Cold War, the story is still relevant in light of environmental disasters mankind may be facing.…
The semi-Norwegian horror feature Polaroid will be released on home video for the first time on May 17th. It’s origins are Norwegian and in spite of a troubled release, the director went on to bigger projects. In 2015, Lars Klevberg directed the 15 minute Norwegian film Polaroid, in which two young girls, both social media…
Very few Swedish cult films, if any at all, have been transformed into games, let alone physical board games. What may be a first is the Die Zombiejäger game, based on the 2005 low budget zombie film of the same name. Possibly Sweden’s first zombie movie, Die Zombiejäger (2005) shows us what could happen if Gothenburg was…
In 2012, Peter Öberg published Science fiction så in i Norden, a comprehensive list of all Nordic science fictions films. Now an updated sequel is here, Spektakulärt. If you want to educate yourself on Nordic science fiction films, there are only a few specialized sources you can turn to. Peter Öberg’s new book Spektakulärt is…
From the creators of Wither and Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich comes Myster Box, a horror short that you now can watch for free on Youtube. Having made the rounds on various film festivals last year, Mystery Box was released for free viewing on April 10th by way of the production company, Stockholm Syndrome Film.…
Nordic fantasy films that gets a sequel is a rare event, but the Danish Shamer’s Daughter franchise has achieved that with the first sequel now playing in Danish cinemas, and opening in Norway today. Following the success of the original film in 2015 (it sold 225.000 tickets in Denmark alone and was compared to Harry…
Last year’s Swedish monsters-on-the-loose feature film Operation Ragnarok hits DVD in about two weeks. Formerly known as Zone 261, Fredrik Hiller’s Operation Ragnarok (Swedish title: Operation Ragnarök) was met with mostly bad reviews when it was released in theatres a few months ago, but was predicted by many reviewers to have cult potential and will…
Was there a real Satan cult on the Danish island Anholt? Find out in the dockumentary/mockumentary The Island Of Lucifer which can be watched online from Vimeo now. Did you fail to get the limited edition DVD of The Island Of Lucifer (original title: Satankulten på Anholt)? Fear not, or rather, have fear when you…
A couple of weeks ago, on January 28th, the Swedish national film award Guldbaggen was given to the best Swedish films of 2018. Even though one of the most critically acclaimed films last year was a genre film, another genre film caused a small stir in the Swedish pop culture debate, simply for its nomination.…
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