After 30 Years of Wait, Classic Horror’s Sequel Finally Comes to Shudder Next Month

Let's face it, Danish cinema is not particularly popular. In their own country, the viewers mostly watch their own films, and while cinephiles all over the world know Danish cinema, usually these projects are not known to a wide audience, with very few exceptions.

This exception in 1994 was Ole Bornedal's film Nightwatch which earned an excellent box office in its home country and made a splash around the world.

What is Nightwatch About?

Martin is a law student. However, education has to be paid for, and although Martin comes from a wealthy family and could ask his parents for money, his principles do not allow him to do so, and to replenish his budget, Martin gets a job as a night watchman at the local morgue.

At the same time, the city has been rocked by a series of brutal murders of prostitutes, apparently committed by one person.

Strange things begin to happen in the morgue where Martin works and where the bodies of the murdered women are brought, and gradually the ordinary law student finds himself drawn into a deadly game with a killer.

Nightwatch is a Forgotten Horror Classic

It is no coincidence that Nightwatch has achieved the status of a horror classic, though not as famous as A Nightmare on Elm Street or Halloween, but appreciated by seasoned fans of the genre.

In Nightwatch, everything is done at the highest professional and creative level, from the intense soundtrack to the impeccable cinematography and, of course, the excellent direction.

But the main advantage of the movie is certainly its cast – the main role was played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones. Nightwatch became his second feature film.

Nightwatch Was Remade in the US

Only three years later, Bornedal's Nightwatch was followed by a remake of the same name. The script was personally adapted by the director with Steven Soderbergh, Bornedal took the director's chair, bringing with him his colleagues from the original film: cinematographer Dan Laustsen and composer Joachim Holbek.

Ewan McGregor, Nick Nolte, and Patricia Arquette starred in the film, but even such an impressive cast didn’t help the remake to become a box office success.

Nightwatch Sequel is Coming to Shudder

And almost 30 years later, in 2023, a sequel to a forgotten classic called Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever was released. The plot continues the events of the first movie: Martin's daughter Emma gets a job as a night watchman at the Institute of Forensic Medicine. It was there that a psychopathic serial killer tried to kill her parents 30 years ago.

The memory of that night has haunted them ever since, and Emma has inherited her parents' trauma. The girl decides to find out what really happened.

The most exciting part, which will surely please those who watched the Danish movie, is that the original cast is returning to their roles, including Coster-Waldau.

The premiere of Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever took place at the BFI London Film Festival in 2023, and in the US, the horror film will be released directly on Shudder on May 17 – so mark your calendars.