Vikingulven

There aren't many good werewolf movies, this Norwegian attempt is at least watchable, but I can't speak about any significant satisfaction with myself. Although there are some pretty cruel things happening in the second half, the impact on me was minimal. On top of that, the hairy monster looks very CGI. If I have to look back at recent werewolf films, last year's Eight for Silver was much better. (2023.02.04)

After a long time, a solid werewolf horror film with Norwegian mythology. The film is set in the Norwegian town of Nybo, where a young girl moves in with her police officer mother to start a new life, only to soon feel the horror very keenly when she and her classmates are attacked by a "wolf". At first the film feels like a Norwegian crime drama, where instead of the hunt for a killer, we have the hunt for unknown beasts. We also have a predator expert who points out that it's a lycan. The film feels very authentic and the you get the feeling that this could easily happen, even though you know it is fantasy and myth. This is what the Norwegians are good at. I liked the wolf’s background from the Viking period and the whole mythology around Lycans is explained nicely. I also have praise appreciate the look of the werewolf itself – the Norwegians have their own interpretation on it, so it looks more like a wild wolf, but with the characteristics of a werewolf. Finally, we get a proper monster that that makes a mockery all the stuffed animals we've seen over the last few years. The film also has decent performances, nice Norwegian scenery, and decently brutal shots of mutilated corpses. The sequence in the cave doesn't lack for great atmosphere either, and the finale in the streets is delicious – though I could have imagined a much bigger carnage. Good for me, a fan of werewolf and animal horror shouldn't grumble too much, among genre relatives this is definitely above average. Viewers uninterested in material only focused on the script and ignore the rest will be disappointed. And good for them! 7/10. (2023.02.03)

At first glance, the combination of werewolf horror with Norwegian production seems very appealing, but after watching it, I have to say that I found Viking Wolf a disappointment that smelled of awfully untapped potential. The intro lured me in nicely, only to then spend about half the running time waiting for the werewolf to actually show up at all, having probably dismantled many a skilled visual effects artist and a better version of the script while tearing people and animals apart. In some places the film seemed very unfinished and nonsensical (the line with the werewolf hunter goes nowhere, for example). Besides, it was hard to sympathise with the main character, who vehemently tries to make the viewer like her. The gradual transformation, which was better than the werewolf itself, and the sisterly relationship invited comparisons to Ginger Snaps, but the that one had a more eerie atmosphere and visuals. Too bad, there was probably a bad full moon constellation in the production of the film! (2023.02.12)