Rovdyr (2008)

	Directed by: Patrik Syversen	COUNTRY Norway GENRE Horror INTERNATIONAL TITLE Backwoods RUNNING TIME 78 minutes
	Produced by: Torleif Hauge
	Written by: Nini Bull Robsahm Patrik Syversen

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Camilla	Henriette Bruusgaard	½
Jørgen	Jørn Bjørn Fuller Gee
Roger	Lasse Valdal
Mia	Nini Bull Robsahm	½
Jenta	Kristina Leganger Aaserud
Renate	Janne Beate Bønes
Kvinnen	Jorunn Kjellsby

Review

This Norwegian classicist slasher is technically ambitious and accomplished but thematically flat and ignorant. First-time feature director Patrik Syversen has an exclusively nostalgic impetus, as we're getting reacquainted with all the well-known elements of 1970s horror: the Volkswagen bus, young girls in tight summer shorts, local lowbrow hillbillies, and dense forests. We even get a Citroën DS Pallas, just for good measure. That the premise and plot require little introduction is fair enough, but that Syversen induces and accepts no questions means that his one-note film is only ever interesting on a completely superficial level. A couple of spine-wrenching scenes early on suggest the kind of ruthless, ugly horror that could have made Rovdyr a harrowing experience – even in all its unoriginality. However, as Syversen gets his game plan stuck in the forest with repetitive incidents and characters, and without explanations or dialogue, the effect becomes purely academic.