Snarveien

I was watching this movie last night with my wife, and we were excited to see another Norwegian horror movie.

During the last years, we've had the pleasure of seeing good Norwegian horror movies like "Fritt Vilt I & II" and "Villmark", which were a thrill to see.

I really like to see horror movies with ingredients that put the setting in an "everyday life" situation, and things that can actually happen. This movie is based on a true story, and the story is good. Some of the effects are good and a little bit scary, but most of all we spent the time watching this movie waiting to be scared.

When things finally started to happen, they happened so fast and so much within short time, that it wasn't scary at all.

I liked the movie after all, had a good time watching it, and my wife didn't disagree. So, I would recommend watching it, but don't bring too many pillows. You don't need to hide...

This movie is awesome. Plain forward good kicking' entertainment. Lot's of the horror elements you like to see, makes the chills go down your neck, and then spooks and shakes you out of your mind. Some nail popping', gimp kicking', old hag busting' action! A couple is driving from Norway to Sweden to get some cheap booze. They get car trouble in the deep woods and need to seek assistance at the nearest house. Well this is where the fun begins.

The protagonist have to show what shes made of when battling man pigs and other dangers to save the day (Love a good female hero!). She has a awesome boyfriend, and it's very enjoyable to see the flirt romantic scenes with the two of them. It's real cozy before all hell breaks loose. So if you want to see a straight "cut the crap" forward good entertaining horror thriller, "Snarveien(Detour)" is the way to go. Is by far one of the best movies from Norwegian cinema, cause of it's strong acting (this is unlike Norwegian film), great twist ridden script and flawless directing Enjoi!

It was exciting and I was shocked that it was actually good. Uncomfortable and made me jump a few times. Thank you! 👍🏻

DETOUR is a dull little Norwegian horror/thriller with a plot that we've seen play out countless times. Sadly it looks cheap and derivative, failing to bring out the isolated beauty of the forested Norwegian locations. In addition, it's a film set at night that takes place in pitch black conditions almost all the way through, so that it's all but impossible to make out what's supposed to be going on.

The set-up is intensely predictable: a young and carefree couple are driving through an isolated location and come into contact with the creepy locals. Bizarrely, there's a voyeur who has dotted video cameras around the locations so that he can spy on what's going on, like that angle hasn't been covered before. After a while the film turns into the usual woman-in-peril type thriller, with far too many false scares, random sub-plots that add nothing but pad out the running time, and virtually nothing in the way of real horror or fear.

I'm glad that the makers of DETOUR never descended into the fully-fledged arena of torture porn but at the same time there's nothing here to enjoy either. The thumping death metal soundtrack is headache-inducing, the camera-work is muddled and poor, and there's no characterisation so that you're never involved in the proceedings. I like Scandinavian cinema as a rule, but DETOUR is a real chore to sit through.

Snarveien, better known as Detour, is a classic Norwegian horror movie. The story is quickly told. A young couple that illegally smuggles alcohol has to take a detour because of an accident and gets stranded on an abandoned road in the woods. Soon, strange things start to happen. They get into an aggressive argument with an obscene stranger at a gas station, realize that their wheels got destroyed on purpose, run into a confused female fugitive, cross the path of a mysterious police officer and meet a secluded family with an unspeakable secret.

While the characters and the story are quite predictable, there are several things I liked about this film. First of all, it doesn't overstay its welcome with a very reasonable length of seventy-seven minutes. Secondly, the movie doesn't focus on brutal torture scenes or cheap jump scares but develops a gloomy and mysterious atmosphere from start to finish. Thirdly, the characters might be predictable but they are still somewhat interesting. Martin is a young man who tries to protect his girlfriend but can't hide that he is scared to death which makes him authentic. He gets a bonus point for wearing a cool Black Sabbath shirt. His girlfriend Lina is the heroine of this movie and turns out to be a courageous, resilient and tough pregnant woman who fights to save those she loves and everyone around her. She's a sympathetic character and viewers will care about her survival story. A special shoutout goes out to the female fugitive Lotta who manages to look attractive to me despite the incredible hardship she is going through. Only the villains are somewhat one-dimensional and their background story is poorly developed.

Snarveien might not be a memorable or innovative horror movie but it's an entertaining average horror film for genre fans with a consistent atmosphere that doesn't overstay its welcome. I have seen far more ambitious horror movies that were much worse. It's definitely a better alternative to the numerous boring remakes and sequels that are flooding the market these days.