Other movies in this series:
none

Rish's Reviews
Night Watch, or Nochnoy dozor is, I believe, the first Russian film reviewed on the Horror Film Compendium. I wasn't sure I wanted to go to it (it was playing at the Los Angeles Film Festival), but tyranist urged me to go to this. I went, having not seen a trailer or a synopsis, based on his recommendation. I probably would have stayed away without it.
I haven't the ability to fully convey the plot of this movie. It's a Fantasy/Action/Horror film, set in Moscow, with two supernatural armies, one that works by day and one that works by night, fighting for, against, and among the normal people who live their lives not knowing these two armies exist. Maybe it's easiest to do it the Hollywood way and say that it's Underworld meets Highlander meets Men in Black meets Constantine meets Elektra. What do you think?
If you know me at all (and if you do, I'm sincerely sorry), you'll know that I am not a smart person. I once tried to push-start a broken-down car down a hill by myself, thinking that once the car started rolling, I'd be able to run up to the driver's seat and jump in. I ended up running myself over.
And I'm not a cultured individual. I've never been on a cruise, or drank wine in some European chalet, or skied in the Alps, or basked in the sun on some island, or killed a man just to watch the life fade from his eyes. I don't speak Russian, and I don't like subtitles. But I still enjoyed this movie.
And the subtitles were quite wonderful. They jumped around the screen, faded in and out, grew in size, and even turned to blood. I've never seen a movie do that. But again, I don't see a lot of movies with subtitles.
I wish I were a more intelligent guy. A lot of the film I simply didn't understand, and when it was over my brain was quite angry with me. Since I didn't really get some of it, I'm going to limit the What the Hell?s to only one.
Night Watch had some really beautiful visuals, with amazingly complex shots of flying insects or birds, cityscapes and falling screws. The one character who actually does die does so in a spectacular, unusual way.
Apparently the first in a trilogy, it actually includes a shot during the credits for Nochnoy dozor 2, just like Back to the Future 2 did and Superman was supposed to. It wouldn't surprise me if some Hollywood studio remade this in the next couple of years. They'll get Ehren Kruger to adapt it, cast some hot young chick in it, and it'll make a bundle. And I guarantee they'll change the ending. Hmmm, maybe I'm not as dumb as I thought I was.
Best Scare: If it's true that Russian apartment buildings have billions of cockroaches in them, then that, my friends, is the scariest thing ever.
I'd Recommend It To: If you have no problem with subtitles and subtlety, then check this one out.
Posted: October 25, 2005

The tyranist's thoughts
If I could have made it to L.A. to see this with Rish, I would have. When he first asked me about it, I did a little research and what I saw got me excited. Just imagine a film about the conflict of dark and light and they beat the crap out of each other and . . . well, it doesn't sound as good as it looked, but that is probably because the look of this film is what makes it special.
The plot is fantastic. Other than a few headache inducing shots, the direction is spot on. The actors are perfect. But what puts this movie beyond normal praise is the way it looks. It isn't Lord of the Rings beautiful, after all, they were on a tight budget. What they've managed, though, is something compelling.
Unless you absolutely can't stand subtitles, you should see this movie. After all, if it played here, it will play everywhere. And if it doesn't, rent it. But see this movie. Then we can stand in line together when the second film in the series comes out.
Posted: March 1, 2005

Total Skulls: 21

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie		Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?