Monday, October 27, 2014

October Movie Challenge: Nochnoy dozor / Night Watch (2004)

October Movie Challenge: Nochnoy dozor / Night Watch (2004)

Nochnoy dozor (Ночной дозор) or "Night Watch" is a kick-ass Russian film about vampires, monsters and things that go bump in the night.  It was subtitled, which I prefer over dubing, but it was not a big deal.

In the movie the forces of Light and Darkness waged a war back in the Middle Ages. They soon realized that the war would destroy everyone on both sides. They made a truce that would not interfere with each other unless required to keep the balance.  The side of Light became known as Night Watch and the darkness became Day Watch.  Otherkin could choose which ever side they wanted.

The movie deals with the mostly now bureaucratic Night Watch as the hunt down a vampire feeding without a license.  They hunt him down, but in the process discover two things. The hunter, a recently turned vampire himself named Anton discovers a woman under a terrible dark curse and a boy being drawn to the vampires.

I don't want to ruin it because it is worth watching.
There is a bleakness mixed with decadence here that I think you could only get in Moscow. Maybe Bangkok or Hong Kong too, or Detroit in 10 more years.  There is something very, very Russian to this that gives the movie such a great vibe.
I never knew if Anton was just going to up and die at any point or not, that's how bad he looked through it all.

There is a sequel, Day Watch.  I really need to see that one now too.


Tally so far:  34 Total Watched / 22 New

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.


2 comments:

Jeremy Patrick said...

I really like Night Watch too. I have to warn you, the sequel was a disappointment to me, with some really weird (and hard to follow) plot points.

JB said...

I own both and think they're fantastic bits of horror/fantasy. In some ways, it's more WoD than WoD.

They're based on a Russian fantasy trilogy, but the 3rd book has not yet been made into a film (and might not be, if I remember right).