Saturday 30 April 2011

Reykjavic Whale Watching Massacre AKA Harpoon (2009)

This movie has the dubious honour of being Iceland’s first “splatter” film, according to the initial promotional campaign, but is it actually any good? Yes it is.
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The plot sees a bunch of people (a real mix of nationalities and character types) going on a boat to do some whale watching. After a little bit of attempted rape and hostility between those on board, an accident sees them left out in the middle of the sea, quite helpless. Thankfully, help does arrive. And by help I mean that someone takes the group from their boat to another boat, where torture and death are the main catch of the day.
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Like many films of this nature, Reykjavic Whale Watching Massacre (also known as Harpoon) gets by more on the strength of it’s thrills and bloodletting than any major plot twists or character moments.
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The cast – particularly Pihla Vitala and Nae – all do pretty well but we know that people are just being set up to be potential victims. We are shown enough to make them more than just background characters but not enough to traumatise us if/when they are messily killed off.
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Júlíus Kemp does well in the director’s chair, keeping the pace notched up a gear (the film clocks in at just under 90 minutes) and showing some moments of nastiness without going well into the realm of the excessive. It has a nice balance to it that should keep horror fans well pleased.
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Writer Sjón Sigurdsson does a good job of making everyone involved an individual and providing some entertaining twists and turns. There’s a very enjoyable “fake-out” near the start of the movie and the development of one particular character is so rewarding that it makes up for the loss of anyone else you may have favoured. Not everything works – the Frenchman is far too annoying to care for and some people are far too selfish though I realise that they’re also terrified at the same time – but most of it is certainly good enough to stop you from picking apart the plotholes while the cast try to escape their perilous fate.
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With an appearance by Gunnar Hansen and a couple of moments during the end sequence that bring to mind a number of classic horror movies, Reykjavic Whale Watching Massacre manages to both trawl it’s own patch and also follow in the wake of others. A job well done.
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7/10.

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