'Nightwatch': The remake, the sequel, and the original — everything you need to know

One of the best things about Shudder is that it's custom-made for horror lovers. The streaming service is a library of harrowing horror, spooky comedies, and hidden gems, including not only programming from the early stages of the medium but also entries from all around the world. Still, subscribers might be a bit perplexed when they see the promos for Shudder's latest acquisition: Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever. What is this movie's deal?

Maybe the name is familiar. Perhaps the premise strikes a chord, echoing some long ago serial killer thriller. Well, that's because Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever is a sequel, released 30 years after the freaky film that inspired it. But if you're an American, you might be more familiar with the Hollywood remake that hit a few short years later. (Though, considering how it tanked, that too might be a hazy memory!)

Let's whisk away the cobwebs of foggy memories and banish confusion, so you can revisit the Nightwatch franchise with ease. Or better yet, let this be the launchpad for a murder movie marathon.

Nightwatch (aka Nattevagten, 1994)

Written and directed by Danish filmmaker Ole Bornedal, Nightwatch stars a pre-Game of Thrones Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Martin Bork, a law student who moonlights as a night guard at the Forensic Medicine Institute. He hopes this job will give him a quiet place to study or screw around, as he's essentially guarding corpses. It's an eerie gig, complete with cavernous hallways, flickering lights, and a workflow tutorial that includes being warned about how the smell of the dead is contagious. But things go from creepy to catastrophic once the remains of a sex worker who's been killed and scalped turn up in his morgue. Strange events around the institute not only have Martin freaked out, but also suggest the mysterious murderer is framing him for his crimes.

But there's more to Nightwatch than horror. Amid these nighttime scenes of terror, Bornedal spins a darkly funny tale of friendship. The film begins with Martin on a double date with his cheerful girlfriend, Kalinka (Sofie Gråbøl), his mischievous bro-friend, Jen (Kim Bodnia), and Jen's vicar-in-training girlfriend, Lotte (Lotte Anderson). As both couples are coming to the end of their college educations, Martin and Jen feel threatened by the expectation to settle down into a boring married life. So begins a series of juvenile bets. 

Jen and Martin will subject each other to dares, and whoever turns one down will be forced to get married. Martin is at first a willing participant, even pushing Jen to publicly humiliate Lotte in a sacrilegious prank. But then one of Martin's dares involves a skittish sex worker named Joyce (Rikke Louise Andersson), who later turns up dead. This spurs Martin to suspect his acerbic friend could be the scalping killer. Potentially paranoid and definitely afraid, Martin the twentysomething thrill-seeker is forced to face off with a merciless murderer while he tries to save his own name and his doting girlfriend, who could be the next target. 

Nightwatch screened as part of Critic's Week at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994. Both Coster-Waldau and Andersson scored acting nominations for Denmark's Bodil Awards, with Andersson winning Best Supporting Actress. So, perhaps it's little surprise that American film producers sought to find success with an English-language remake. 

How to watch: Nightwatch (1994) debuts on Shudder on May 17.

Nightwatch (1997)

In the mid-1990s, the distributor Dimension Films was making a name for itself with gleefully twisted movies, releasing the cult-adored revenge thriller The Crow, Robert Rodriguez's vampire slaughter fest From Dusk Till Dawn, and 1996's iconic slasher stunner Scream. A star-studded reimagining of Nightwatch seemed a no-brainer. (Be sure to watch the trailer above for Dimension Films' very 1990s voiceover!) 

Bornedal returned to helm, and collaborated on the remake's screenplay with Steven Soderberg, who would go on to direct such hit movies as Out of Sight, Erin Brockovich, and Ocean's Eleven. At this point, however, Soderberg was best known for his Palme D'or winning directorial debut, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, a drama where sex and secrets made for scorching cinema. In short, the pair seemed like a natural fit.

The English-language version of Nightwatch recast its central crew. Post-Trainspotting, Ewan McGregor starred as Martin, opposite Patricia Arquette as his girlfriend; Josh Brolin as his best friend, James; and Lauren Graham as James' girlfriend, Marie. The films were very similar, save for three key differences. The opening sequence of the American version dives straight into a murder scene, followed then by the double date seen in the original's opening. The comedy born from social awkwardness in the perturbing pranks was largely clipped from this American release, including chopping off the first film's double-wedding finale. And in a curious lateral move in gore, this Nightwatch killer didn't scalp his victims. He cuts out their eyes instead. 

This thriller should have been a win for Dimension Films. Not only did it fit with their brand for provocative and scary thrillers, but also it brandished hot stars and a rising American filmmaker. But the film was a flop, trashed by critics and raking in only $1.3 million in the U.S., far below its reported $10 million budget.

Some of the actors involved in the remake blamed the producers. Nick Nolte, who plays a cop investigating the murders, said to Entertainment Weekly in 1999, "I had seen the original and it was slow, European, psychological. It was one of the scariest films I’ve ever seen. I said to Ole, ‘Why do you want to remake this?’ As the studio got it, they realized that they had a European-paced film, and they kept hacking at it and hacking at it.”

McGregor specifically blamed Dimension Films producer Harvey Weinstein for the failure, telling WHO Magazine in 2021, "He ruined that film. That was a remake of a Danish movie with all these interesting elements to it. Weinstein made us reshoot everyhing — everything that was interesting about that film, he replaced."

How to watch: Nightwatch (1997) is now streaming on Pluto TV.

Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever (2024)

Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever picks up 30 years after the events of the original Nightwatch. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau reprises the role of Martin, who is now a father to college student Emma (Fanny Leander Bornedal). Like her dad did decades ago, Emma takes the very same night watch job at the very same institute and the very same desk post. Bornedal, who scripted and helms this sequel, even repeats some of the same shots in the recurring location of the Forensic Medicine Institute. But with the original killer long ago caught, where could this story go? 

Well, Nightwatch: Generational Trauma might have been a more accurate title for this movie. (This franchise isn't supernatural, so the "demons" in the title are more of the metaphorical "inner demons" variety.) While Martin and Kalinka (and Lotte and Jen) did marry, they couldn't find happily ever after — not after all they endured on the night the killer came calling.

In Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever, audiences learn that the foursome of friends are far-flung. Kalinka has long ago died by suicide, and while Lotte is still a vicar, she hasn't seen Martin and Emma since her friend's funeral. As for Jen, he bailed on Lotte long ago and went abroad to Thailand, chasing down fleeting pleasures to run from the trauma of it all. As for her father, he takes tranquilizers and refuses to move on, lost in a world of his own loss.

Emma's father and his friends refuse to talk about exactly what went down, but she needs answers about why their lives fell apart. So Emma becomes fixated on talking to the incarcerated killer, sparking a fresh series of violent crimes (including a scalping!) — and pulling her foursome of friends into the murderous mix. (Nina Rask as the fiery Maria is a standout). Meanwhile, some of the original cast — including Bodna as Jen — returns, bringing together old school and new school much like the relaunched Scream franchise did with its fifth and sixth installments. 

Will Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever be a one-off sequel? Or are the scares and characters here so rich and compelling that Nightwatch might successfully relaunch a serial killer franchise of its own? You be the judge when you give this one (or all three) a watch. 

How to watch: Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever debuts on Shudder on May 17.