Review of Hour of the Wolf (1968) by Patrick M — 04 Jan 2010
Bergman flirted with horror quite a bit during this period. In this tale of an artist whose personal demons may or may not be real, he tries his hand at both gothic and psychological horror. He shows quite an aptitude for it, with some of the most startling images of his career and a creepy surrealism, no doubt influenced by fellow Scandanavian Dreyer's Vampyr.
But Bergman takes a tongue-in-cheek approach that doesn't work for me. The film begins with sounds of the director talking and the crew at work, and the horror aspects are occasionally done over-the-top, as if to wink to the audience about how ridiculous it all is.
It's like Bergman is a bit afraid of committing to the genre. I would have preferred more sincerity. But it is generally compelling and Nykvist's work is amazing as always.
This review of Hour of the Wolf (1968) was written by Patrick M on 04 Jan 2010.
Hour of the Wolf has generally received very positive reviews.
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