Who payed the critics

It is a performances centric movie

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Absolutely the worst movie.

I'm going to add my two cents. There seems to be a divided response to this film depending on whether you're used to European film-making or Hollywood gore and special effects. Villmark is more akin to a suspense film than most American horror movies, so I can understand that some viewers felt disappointed (not me, I enjoy trying to figure a movie out and not always knowing what to expect).The movie starts out with a group of young people joining Gunnar, who runs a successful outdoor adventure TV program. He invites the four of them on a trip where they'll be exposed to the same hardships the show subjects its contestants to as a type of proving ground to see if they have what it takes for the job. They drive into the wilderness (filmed in a beautiful, remote part of Norway called Sogndal) and Gunnar turns out to be a control freak, obsessed with the idea of forcing the four young recruits to prove their mettle surviving in the wilderness. The director, Pål Øie, does an excellent job keeping the viewer on edge and recreating the sense of isolation and unease that comes from being alone in a dark, overgrown forest far from civilization. The soundtrack is excellent and contributes to the suspense of the film. The acting is very good - Kristoffer Joner (Lasse) does an outstanding job as the headstrong film-maker who butts heads with Gunnar and challenges his authority and Eva Röse (Elin) puts in a great performance as the gorgeous, loyal confidante to Gunnar.The movie builds to a climax but ultimately the viewer is let down by an irrational and hastily-conceived plot. The twist at the end should have made it more interesting but no explanation is ever given as to who the gate-keeper really is, why he killed the German couple or why he would try to kill Per, Gunnar, Elin and Sara. We're only treated to a fleeting glimpse of him at the outset of the film and the director makes no attempt to develop the character.I would have preferred an oh-so-predictable ending with a ghost or some kind of evil creature instead of being served this nonsense. Really, that the police would think a German tourist could survive for 30 years alone in the Norwegian woods without a big RV or a GPS tracker, amazes me!

Same concept, different country … Quite too many nowadays horror movies seem to revolve on friends or colleagues going into the woods for camping and/or team building activities but end up encountering 'something' evil (and mostly unseen) that gradually thins out the group's original number. This film is the Norwegian attempt at making a sinister backwoods mystery thriller. "Villmark", which is a so much cooler sounding title than the boring international title "Dark Woods", does benefice from a more ominous atmosphere and gloomier filming locations than most films in this trend, but eventually the lack of excitement reduces it yet another mildly disappointing genre effort. The script (too) patiently takes the time to introduce the characters and allow the camera to atmospherically swift through the eerie Kaupanger forests. More particularly the sober lake in the middle of the nearly impenetrable woods is impressively illustrated as the sixth main character in the story. The slow approach results in a handful of powerfully tense and creepy moments, but the film sadly fails to deliver REAL horror. The characters are slightly more likable than your average dim-witted American teen camper, but still they make one too many stupid decision when in peril and they stick around for far too long in an obviously life-threatening place. No matter how badly you want to work for a wealthy TV-producer, if you stumble upon a random corpse in a lake or become tied up over an ant-hill, you get the hell out of the woods! The arrogant and cocky producer Gunnar is working on a new reality-TV formula and engages four of his docile employees to test the idea and scout the locations. Gunnar turns out to be a sadist and manipulating dictator and even forbids the others to call the police when they discover the corpse of a drowned woman in the lake. But the woman's death wasn't accidental, as something malignant seems to dwell the lake area ever since a German army plane crashed down there during the War. The grim photography and unsettling musical score are clearly the biggest trumps "Villmark" has to offer, as the story and especially the frights are extremely mundane and unspectacular. The climax sequences try really hard to be intellectual and innovating, but it's not likely to impress anyone with a slight bit of horror experience. The comparisons with "Blair Witch Project" and "The Evil Dead" don't make too much sense, except of course for the forestry setting. There are, thankfully, no shaky camera movements but regrettably also no gory make-up effects.

I have just finished watching Villmark (Dark Woods) on DVD. A friend of mine has had the movie for quite a long time, and even though Norwegian media gave the movie a very good rating, I've always been reluctant to watch Norwegian movies. They tend to get overrated in the media since Norway don't produce that many movies.But this movie was well worth the time, and it surprised me in a good way. The location for the movie is great, it's an average looking Norwegian forest, and that just bring more to the "horror" part, since most Norwegians are familiar with hiking in the wilderness. You will have this movie in the back of your head the next time you're in the forests.You are also kept in suspense throughout the whole movie, always expecting something to jump out from the shadows, which happens a few times, and scares you good. As for the acting, these are all more or less top actors in Norway, some more seasoned that others. And overall they do a very good job at it. It's not Oscar material but it's very satisfactory.

Villmark is a low budget horror movie from Norway similar to "Blair Witch...". The movie is based more on suspense than gore, unlike for example Evil Dead 1. The story is not very original and deep, we've seen it a couple of times before. The actors do a good job (Eva Röse is hot!) and I could relate to the characters (maybe because I'm a nordic guy). They are not totally stupid like in some bad Hollywood horror flicks.There are some quite scary moments, but the ending could have had more punch after all that build up. Also I didn't get the final twist with the guy by the road. Who was he? A nazi? Overall, I liked this movie better then BWP. Rating 7 / 10.