Hour of the Wolf: Vargtimmen (1968)

Slowly but surely I've been working through Ingmar Bergman's catalog of films. Considering he directed more than 60 and wrote more than 80 I have a long way to go. He made this one right after Persona, a surprisingly good film, and is probably the closest he has been to the horror genre, which is why it isn't surprising that Schneider would find a reason to include him on this list.

The film is a horror, but I would it a drama if you didn't fully "get" it. Having to "get" a film to be scared doesn't make it all that scary. Bergman is usually a pretty confusing director to follow and has many subtle nuances you have to keep up with. This film is about an artist who lives alone with his wife on a small island away from society. He goes to the mainland to work on his painting and is harassed by women who's faces come off when they take of their wigs. Boys on the beach that attack and bite him. A number of strange encounters.

The first half of the film is very slow, and it really isn't building up on anything suspenseful, it is just laying the groundwork for the suspense to follow. The 2nd half is strange, confusing, and scary at times. Bergman is a great director, and he gets this from fantastic descriptive dialogue. The problem is that a picture is worth a thousand words, and in a horror the pictures are the scary part and most of the film fails in this regard. I'll stick to his other films.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063759/

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