Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever 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.

In the weird but true (at least according to the internet) category, a number of Disney films hold the record for most time between an original outing and a sequel, with Bambi and Bambi II having been separated by 63 and a half years, but with Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 (59 years), Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Returns (54 years), and Cinderella and Cinderella II: Dreams Come True kind of bizarrely also crowding into the top echelons. Now, Nightwatch was most certainly not a Disney film, and the fact that "only" 29 years separate that film from this sequel probably puts it much further down any perceived list of lengths between films in a "series". But at least a bit like some of those aforementioned Disney "sequels", this is in essence a kind of straight to video effort (replete with a Shudder production masthead) that at least generates some interest by having a now much older Nikolaj Coster-Waldau revisit the character that offered him his feature film debut.

Here, Martin's daughter Emma (Fanny Leander Bornedal, herself the daughter of Ole Bornedal) finds herself retracing her father's precipitous footsteps as a night attendant. There are probably more soap operatic tendencies this time around with the relationship between father and daughter, especially since Martin is roiled not just by his experiences as a morgue watchman, but by the suicide of his wife and Emma's mother. There is of course another serial killer on the loose, something the film may struggle with since the first film's villain, while still around, is supposedly incapable of any mayhem. The film has the same jaundiced view toward virtually all of its characters that the first Nightwatch did, something that may also contribute to a sense of apathy since there's really no one to root for.

Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Nightwatch: Demons are Forever is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. 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.

As of the writing of this review the IMDb doesn't offer any significant technical information and probably unsurprisingly I haven't been able to track down much of anything online. This is a nicely sharp and well detailed looking digital capture that offers secure detail levels and a nicely suffused palette. There an intentional drabness to the production design, especially with regard to some of the "institutional" settings, but individual scenes can have some really nice if subtle moments of vivid pop, often in the background (look for some nuanced blues and greens in particular). There are a few passing moments where clarity can falter slightly at the very edges of the frame.

Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with the first film, Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever has LPCM 2.0 and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 options in the original Danish. Once again, the surround track offers some noticeable opening up of ambient environmental effects in the spookier hospital scenes in particular. Ceiri Torjussen's score also clearly engages the side and rear channels throughout. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.

Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• How the Nightwatch Films Explore the Horrors of Adulthood (HD; 17:45) is a video essay by Heather Wixson.


• Life (and Death) on Mars (HD; 22:23) is a video essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas which might be jokingly thought of (given the above title) as exploring the horrors of what Heller-Nicholas calls the "destabilization" of the line between private and public life.


• Trailer (HD; 2:07)

Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Probably the best thing about this film are the returning characters from the first, but this is a probably over convoluted effort to try to revisit things arguably for no real discernable reason. Still, the dialectic between the haunted elders and the soon to be haunted youngsters gives this film a somewhat melancholic tone that is in its own way perfectly Nordic. Technical merits are solid and the supplements interesting, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.