‘Viking Wolf’: the Norwegian Netflix ‘thriller’ that satisfies all the desire for terror

Indeed: the ‘Viking Wolf’ to which this Netflix horror film refers, which, in just a few days, has become the most watched feature film on the platform (in Spain, only behind ‘Infiesto’, but worldwide it is achieving millionaire viewing figures ) refers to a figure from the Scandinavian mythical tradition. Of course, what seems to be just a legend ends up becoming a horror animal when the inhabitants of a town begin to be torn to pieces by an invisible force that leaves unmistakable claw marks.

This is a new Nordic horror movie with all the ingredients that fans of the genre love: cold, woods, legends, agents surviving in a hostile environment, young people you wonder about, what the hell are they doing in a place like that? Let’s say right away that it is an entertaining film that deserves our approval.

It all starts when Liv (Liv Mjones), a veteran police officer, moves with her children to a small town after a family tragedy; she marries a local and becomes police chief just as a bunch of grisly murders start happening in the town, unsurprisingly spreading terror in the area.

Your job is to find out what’s going on. and end the violence, but it has to juggling her homework with her relationship with her teenage daughter, increasingly tense and complicated (and not only that, but we don’t count more because it would be spoiler).

As in series that have similar ‘transfers’ like ‘A place to dream’, Liv tIt also has to deal with the prejudices of the locals, who distrust a ‘city police’, as well as trying to tolerate a series of myths and legends that she is not willing to consent to as part of her investigation.

The feature film has several references that you will be able to recognize. You should know that Espen Aukan, co-writer of ‘Viking Wolf’, also dealt with the text of ‘Troll’, another Nordic horror film about ‘resurrected’ mythical creatures that became one of the best movies on Netflix in 2022. But heMovie lovers will see more than one nod (especially in makeup) to the horror comedy ‘An American werewolf in London’ (1981).

In a film in which the best, without a doubt, is the performance of Elli Muller Osborne (who gives life to the adolescent Thale), We learn a lot about the tradition of the Nordic lycanthropes and that is appreciated. It does not fall into the archetype of the werewolf appearing when there is a full moon, but rather that the fault of everything is a kind of poison that causes an infection that “must be stopped before it spreads.” It’s an interesting twist, mixing traditions with a modern idea of ​​contagious diseases.

We are going to put the hit now: perhaps we would have liked that the blood had started to flow earlier; heThe ‘preliminaries’ are too long. However, from the start an ominous atmosphere is created and the mystery and menace of the surrounding forest is put to good use. What’s out there? Will our modern comforts and weaponry protect us? And to what extent are the myths we conjure up to explain what we don’t understand born of long-forgotten truths?

In short, ‘Viking Wolf’ It has a part of film noir and also the scares that you expect from horror movies, in addition to the analysis that you expected about the folkloric tradition of the werewolf. It’s worth it.

WATCH FILM ON NETFLIX