Nightwatch Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Nightwatch Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 19, 2025

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of The Nightwatch Collection from Arrow Video.

Ole Bornedal may have been surprisingly honest about whether or not Nightwatch could be considered "Art" (Bornedal seems to think not), but one way or the other the release of the film in its native Denmark was so successful that it led to Bornedal being whisked away to the "magic land" of Hollywood to craft an American remake, one which had tons of money thrown at it, a rejiggered script by Steven Soderbergh, and which offered the American film debut of one Ewan McGregor, but which still flopped pretty spectacularly. That probably put any kibosh on major dreams of success on this side of the pond for Bornedal, and in fact as of the writing of this review he only really has pretty minimal stateside credits, including a producing role on Mimic and a directing credit for The Possession. If things didn't go particularly well for Bornedal in America after Nightwatch, the first film and its rather long delayed "sequel" still provide some spooky chills and both may be of additional interest to fans courtesy of the participation of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who in fact had his feature film debut in the first film and who returned to the sequel after his iconic turn in Game of Thrones. Arrow has aggregated both films together in a set that also has Arrow's typically well considered array of supplements.

It's not hard to see why Nightwatch captured the imaginations (?) of Hollywood types, though it's probably salient to note that even those types felt wrongly or rightly that some elements of the original needed to be changed. The film is undeniably long on mood, as a law student named Martin Bork (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) gets what amounts to the night watchman job at what also amounts to the local police morgue. That of course offers Bornedal and cinematographer Dan Laustsen lots of opportunities for portentous tracking shots through abandoned (?) hallways a la The Shining. Things get even spookier when new "inductees" to the morgue arrive courtesy of a serial killer of prostitutes. A seemingly unrelated sublot involving Martin and best bud Jens Arnkiel (Kim Bodnia) engaging in a kind of bantering game of chicken also ends up contributing to the unease.

The setup here is often intriguing and very evocative, but the film's "whodunit" aspect is severely hobbled by the relatively small cast of principal or featured characters (unless you're naive enough to think a serial killer will suddenly emerge from the background players). Rather interestingly, though, as the plot seems to be verging on Grand Guignol territory, Bornedal is perhaps surprisingly circumspect in doling out blood and/or guts. That at least may give credence to some of the supplements' assertions about a certain Hitchcockian approach to the suspense, where suggestion is always stronger than overt presentation. That restraint may actually help the film to elide some of its narrative extravagances as things cartwheel toward a probably largely unsurprising conclusion.

Nightwatch Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Nightwatch is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet lumps the two films together for the minimal information on the presentations included:

Nightwatch is presented in 1.85:1 and 5.1 and 2.0 Danish audio.

Nightwatch: Demons are Forever is presented in 2.39:1 with 5.1 and 2.0 Danish audio.

The feature masters were produced by AMC.

While I'm not always a fan of these "pre-delivered" masters that Arrow and Radiance in particular tend to offer, this one looks largely great. There's an appealingly organic look to the presentation, with a tightly resolved layer of grain, and the palette is also nicely suffused for the most part. Some scenes may skew just slightly toward yellows at times, something that can give a very slightly jaundiced look to flesh tones. There are a number of very dimly lit scenes where shadow detail is not optimal, but that may actually only increase the angst level. Fine detail on sets and costumes is typically excellent. My score is 4.25.

Nightwatch Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Nightwatch features LPCM 2.0 and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 options. The surround track is probably most effective in delivering a good cavernous quality to some of the interior morgue scenes, where echo laden halls add to the feeling that something bad is about to happen. Joachim Holbek's score also gets a more spacious rendering in the surround track. A couple of isolated startle effects are probably more effective in the surround track as well. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Nightwatch Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Ole Bornedal


• The Making of Nightwatch (HD; 28:13) is an archival piece with some good interviews. Subtitled in English.


• Not Afraid of the Darkness (HD; 16:56) is an interview with cinematographer Dan Laustsen.


• Death in Denmark (HD; 14:09) is an appealing overview of both Nightwatch films by Barry Forshaw.


• Danish Trailer (HD; 1:32)


• German Trailer (HD; 1:32)


• English Trailer (HD; 1:33)

Nightwatch Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Nightwatch starts out very strongly and Bornedal's snarky approach toward his characters as well as his probably wise decision to stay away from a lot of overt gore probably help the film overcome some narrative deficits in its third act in particular. Technical merits are solid and the supplements very enjoyable. Recommended.