Tag: Brad Dourif

Nightwatch (1997) | RETRO REVIEW

Ewan McGregor as ‘Martin’ in NIGHTWATCH — PHOTO: Dimension Films.

Directed by Ole Bornedal — Screenplay by Ole Bornedal and Steven Soderbergh.

A couple of months back, I decided to finally watch something that had been on my watchlist for such a long time, but which I was kind of dreading watching. I am referring to the English-language remake of Ole Bornedal’s Nattevagten, one of the most beloved and iconic Danish horror films. Although there are instances in which an English-language remake or reimagining of a Danish film can result in something akin to an improvement (see Michael Bay’s Ambulance), more often than not, though, English-language remakes of Danish films go one of two ways, either they result in A) a bland copy (though often with a more internationally recognizable cast) or b) an unnecessary remake that is so bad that it ruins the chances of the original reaching a larger audience by mere association. Make no mistake, Dimension Film’s English-language remake of Nattevagten, Nightwatch (also directed by Danish director Ole Bornedal), is not an improvement whatsoever. And, frankly, of the previous A and B options, Nightwatch is decidedly more in the A category. Nightwatch does have a more recognizable cast, but the American product is inferior, less interesting, and, yes, quite bland. This also means that it isn’t the Americanized abomination that I feared, but that, however, doesn’t mean that it is good.

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David Lynch’s Dune (1984) | RETRO REVIEW

Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides in David Lynch’s Dune — PHOTO: Universal Pictures.

Directed by David Lynch — Screenplay by David Lynch.

With the recent release of Denis Villeneuve’s hotly anticipated Dune: Part Two, it felt right to finally have another look at the first major adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi novel Dune — i.e. David Lynch’s Dune from 1984. Even after having ‘rewatched it,’ I’m, honestly, still not entirely sure if I had seen this before. I’m pretty sure I watched this when I was a kid and was obsessed with sci-fi (I watched everything), and, as I was watching it, it felt like I had seen a lot of this before. I asked my dad — who showed me Star Wars, Stargate, and whatnot — and he’s pretty sure he showed me Lynch’s Dune as well. But, hey, 7-to-10-year-old-me probably struggled with this as much as moviegoers in the 1980s reportedly did (Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert apparently both hated the adaptation). Now, it’s so interesting to view this after having seen Denis Villeneuve’s two-part adaptation and having read about 300 pages (or so) of the original novel. Now, I don’t want to take anything away from David Lynch because I think he is a very good filmmaker, and he, himself, has essentially admitted that he failed with his adaptation of Frank Herbert’s iconic novel, but, man, let’s just start by saying that Villeneuve’s adaptations are an improvement on Lynch’s film in every conceivable way. 

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