Review of Nightwatch (1997) by Christopher L — 07 Nov 2004

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Patricia Arquette, Josh Brolin, Lauren Graham, and Nick Nolte, with Brad Dourif, Alix Koromzay, and John C. Reilly.

Directed by Ole Bornedal.

Written by Ole Bornedal and Steven Soderbergh.

Rated [b]R[/b] (for strong, morbid violence, language, sexuality and some drug content).

Running time approximately 1 hour 41 minutes.

Now this is a thriller. Suspenseful, brilliantly crafted, wonderfully acted (exception: Patricia Arquette and her almost unbearably dull performance), and directed with a flashy sense of style. The atmosphere here is great, with shadows and creepy noises in the dark, flickering lights, it was just great. I haven't yet seen the original version of the film, released in 1994, but I will definitely have to. The story (a college student takes a part-time job as nightwatchman at a creepy morgue, while a serial killer is secretly plotting to pin all the murders on him) is very compelling, and the twists and turns are absolute perfection for a film like this. More people need to see this film. [b]***1/2 (out of ****) B+.

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