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''Dark Woods'' (, lit. "Wilderness") is a 2003 Norwegian
horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...
directed by Pål Øie. The tagline—""—translates to "They should've stayed away from that lake". The theatrical premiere sold 150 000 tickets in Norway, and was therefore picked up for a
German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...
release by Atlas Film + Medien, and a
Chinese language Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39& ...
release in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
by Horng En Culture. The film received two nominations for the
Amanda award The Amanda Award () is an award given annually at the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund, Norway, to promote and improve Norwegian film. The award originated in 1985, and has since 2005 been exclusively a film award (not telev ...
in the categories of best Norwegian film and best male actor (
Kristoffer Joner Kristoffer Joner (born 19 September 1972) is a Norwegian actor. He is best known for his roles in '' Villmark'' and '' The Man Who Loved Yngve''. He was a part of Rogaland Teater when he was 14 years of age until his early 20s. He was one of th ...
), though it did not win in any of the categories. A sequel, ''
Villmark Asylum ''Villmark Asylum'' () is a Norwegian horror movie released in 2015. The movie was released to an American audience through Amazon Prime in 2018. Plot An abandoned sanatorium is decaying in a remote forest in the mountains, where an older janitor ...
'', was released in October 2015, which was set in the defunct sanatorium
Harastølen Harastølen, formerly Lyster Sanatorium, was a tuberculosis sanatorium and later psychiatric hospital in Norway established in 1902, located on a remote hill some 500 metres above Lustrafjorden in Luster, Norway, Luster, Sogn. A 5,000 square metre ...
.


Plot

The broadcasting company, ''Real TV,'' plans to head into the woods to film a
reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 199 ...
series where contestants try to survive in the wilderness without aid for four days. Before the filming, in an effort to create bonds between the members of Real TV's production team, Gunnar—the boss—decides that they should try the experience for themselves. Four individuals in total—friends Lasse and Per, Swedish girl Elin, new girl Sara—make up Gunnar's production crew. Gunnar visits a log house where he used to spend his summers as a child to put his new hires to the test. The cabin is set far from civilization, tucked up in the shadowy, eerie woods. The group must survive a weekend while foraging for sustenance from the natural world—neither cigarettes nor cell phones are permitted. The gang is put to the test when Lasse and Per discover a lifeless body in a lake close to the cottage. Gunnar advises them to continue their weekend without telling Sara and Elin about what they discovered. However, the group encounters more incidents resulting in suspicion, skepticism, and accusations.


Production

''Dark Woods'', being Pål Øie's first full-length film, was recorded over the course of 24 days in September 2002 in
Kaupanger Kaupanger is a village situated along the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the municipality of Sogndal in Vestland county, Norway. It sits along the Norwegian National Road 5, about southeast of the municipal centre of Sogndalsfjøra and a ...
,
Sogn Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway (''Vestlandet''). It is located in the county of Vestland, surrounding the Sognefjord, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestra ...
. The script was written in close association with Christopher Grøndahl, with notable input from the actors during the filming, especially
Kristoffer Joner Kristoffer Joner (born 19 September 1972) is a Norwegian actor. He is best known for his roles in '' Villmark'' and '' The Man Who Loved Yngve''. He was a part of Rogaland Teater when he was 14 years of age until his early 20s. He was one of th ...
. The film cost approximately 10 million
Norwegian krone The krone (, currency sign, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); ISO 4217, code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is the currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including List of possessions of Norway, overseas territories and dependencies). It was t ...
r to make.


Release

''Dark Woods'' was pre-screened to friends of the director in
Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...
ahead of the theatrical release—21 February 2003. The film was released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
on 10 September 2003 by Scanbox Entertainment, and was later rereleased on DVD and
Video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...
in 2014 by
Warner Bros. Entertainment Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
, with plans for
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
in 2015.


Reception

The German
TV Spielfilm ''TV Spielfilm'' is a biweekly German programme guide which has been published regularly since 1990. The focus is on the presentation of feature films in the programme. Until 2005, the publishing group Verlagsgruppe Milchstrasse was the publis ...
described the film as "creepier than real reality TV", commending the film's atmosphere, characters and scares. Birger Vestmo of Filmpolitiet likewise praised the atmosphere of the film, in addition to the actors' performance, noting that they actually seem scared, and that their dialogue appeared natural. Conversely, he felt the story lacking, remarking that the film started to become boring halfway through, with the characters wandering aimlessly through the woods. In a survey conducted in October 2008 by
Dagbladet () is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally it was considered the main liberal newspaper of Norway, with a ...
to commemorate the theatrical premiere of the horror film ''
Cold Prey 2 ''Cold Prey 2'' () is a 2008 Norwegian slasher film directed by Mats Stenberg. It is the sequel to the 2006 film '' Cold Prey'' (''Fritt Vilt''), and was written by Roar Uthaug and again stars Ingrid Bolsø Berdal in the leading role. The film pi ...
'', readers were asked to select the "scariest Norwegian horror movie". ''Dark Woods'' won with 41% of the vote, outcompeting ''
Cold Prey ''Cold Prey'' (, lit. "Open season (hunting), Open Season") is a 2006 Norwegian slasher film directed by Roar Uthaug. It premiered in Norway on October 13, 2006, and was the 9th highest-grossing film of the year in Norway. It was followed by ''Co ...
'''s 32% and ''
Lake of the Dead ''Lake of the Dead'' (Norwegian title: , also known as Lake of the Damned) is a 1958 Norwegian mystery horror film directed by Kåre Bergstrøm. The film stars Henki Kolstad, Henny Moan and Georg Richter. In 2019, a remake named '' Lake of De ...
'''s 21%.


Legacy

In later retrospectives of the "horror boom" in Norwegian film, characterised by the use of natural environments like mountains and forests, ''Dark Woods'' has been seen as instrumental in its genesis.


References


External links

* {{IMDb title, 0356176, Villmark
Dark Woods
at
Cineuropa Cineuropa is an online information portal dedicated to the promotion of European cinema. It publishes daily news, reviews, interviews, and industry reports and maintains a database of information. It is available in four languages: English, Fre ...
2003 films 2003 horror films Norwegian horror films 2000s Norwegian-language films Norwegian slasher films 2000s slasher films