Hello my fellow horror hounds. I’m back again with a review for a rather interesting horror comedy titled VIDAR THE VAMPIRE aka VAMPYRVIDAR written and directed by Thomas Aske Berg and Fredrik Waldeland. To give you a better idea of the plot, here is a brief summary from IMDB:
“A Christian farmer searching for a higher purpose to life falls into sin and wakes up as the Prince of Darkness in the city of Stavanger, Norway.”
I’ve never been too into the vampire sub-genre of our vast beloved horror realm, so I was actually a bit skeptical going into this film, especially with my natural difficulty sifting through foreign films. It’s exceedingly rare that I sink my teeth into films that come all the way from Norway so I did have some underlying excitement floating about.
The film begins in the early life of Vidar (played by writer and director Thomas Aske Berg), who is just trying to find his place in life as any other average boy would while working on a farm and completing his daily chores. There is some comedy behind the first section of Vidar’s life that peeks through which has a level of dryness that reminded me a bit of the film Napolean Dynamite. This was an aspect of the film that I really loved, having that mixture of dry and crude humor which isn’t something that comes around too often.
VIDAR THE VAMPIRE isn’t your typical run-of-the-mill vampire flick, which is something that I totally dug. With previous horror comedies about vampires, such as What We Do in the Shadowsand the more recent film adaptation of Dark Shadows, I feel VIDAR THE VAMPIRE sets itself apart from the crowd and stands on it own with its crude comedy and imagery.
Typically vampire films have a religious aspect to them and this one was no different. I personally felt that this portion of the film, especially during Vidar’s turning, was great. It was funny but it also carried itself by having an underlying sense of dread. There’s also a scene I’m sure a lot of people would consider to be blasphemous, but I’m not the religious type so I was into the shock value.
Speaking of shock, through the film there were quite a few moments that made me cringe which is something I tend to enjoy in movies. One thing I did find disturbing is that when Vidar feeds, his preference is period blood. Although it is natural, it’s still totally gnarly and I’m quite sure other viewers will agree with me.
An aspect of the film I enjoyed the most is that the story is told through visits Vidar has with a shrink. As the film progresses, Vidar opens up more to his shrink while the shrink becomes more curious of him. Through the telling of his story, Vidar begins to understand his underlying complex. Also, the vampire that turned Vidar (played by Brigt Skrellingland) goes by the name “The Lord” and claims to be Jesus. Their interactions throughout the film are ridiculous and hilarious to the point where it was like watching two polar opposites clash on screen.
Overall, VIDAR THE VAMPIRE is a very fun film that I can definitely see as being a successful independent film. I look forward to it hopefully finding a home on the Shudder streaming service so that I can show it to my friends.
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