Angel of the Night (1998)
Danish Vampire Film
Not very well made Danish vampire film that almost redeems itself by trying to conduct everything as a John Woo-styled action film
Danish Cinema
Antichrist (2009)
Grief, Madness and Torture
Lars von Trier made this deeply unfathomable film after a bout of severe depression. Claimedly a work of misogyny, it features Willem Dafoe trying to deal with a deranged Charlotte Gainsbourg
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Religion and Miracles
Stunning, emotionally raw work from Lars von Trier with Emily Watson as a wife in a small religious community who is driven to extremes of masochistic self-sacrifice in the belief she is saving her husband’s life
Day of Wrath (1943)
Witchcraft/Psychological Ambiguity
Excellent film from Carl Dreyer, the director of Vampyr director set during the time of witch persecutions about a woman who believes she has the powers of a witch. Everything is told with a beautifully subtle ambiguity
Deliver Us From Evil (2009)
Danish Backwoods Brutality Film
Danish film that is largely an uncredited remake of Straw Dogs (and a far better effort than the official remake a couple of years later). This has a dark, unrelenting bite that savagely indicts a racism at the heart of modern Denmark
Eddie the Sleepwalking Cannibal (2012)
Sleepwalking Cannibalism/Black Comedy
Rather peculiar film about a man who becomes a cannibal whenever he sleepwalks and an artist who finds inspiration at the sight of the dead bodies. This taps a rich vein of black comedy
The Element of Crime (1984)
Decayed Future Thriller
The first feature film from Lars von Trier, a crime thriller set in a futuristic Europe. There are glimmers of the visual style von Trier would develop but the film also badly drags
Epidemic (1987)
Filmmakers at Work/Plague/Hypnotism
Lars von Trier’s second and most obscure film. Made on a shoestring budget, it is mostly about two filmmakers trying to make a film about a plague outbreak but does burst out into a fantastic shaggy dog ending
The Girl in the Trunk (2024)
Girl Imprisoned in a Car Trunk
A thriller that comes with an identical premise to the earlier Trunk about a girl who is abducted and locked inside the trunk of a car from where she tries to affect an escape from her abductor
Heaven Ship (1918)
Expedition to Mars
The first serious film about spaceflight, a silent epic from Denmark about astronauts arriving on Mars and encountering a hippie Utopia. Worth watching for the quaint amusement of what it imagined would be
Help! I’m a Fish (2000)
Animation/Children Transformed Into Talking Fish
Okay if never standout Danish-made attempt to copy a Disney animated film concerning the underwater adventures of three children transformed into fish
The Horror Vault (2008)
Compilation of Horror Shorts
A compilation of short horror films from Denmark
The House of the Spirits (1993)
Latin American Family Saga/Magical Realism
A star-studded but ponderous adaptation of Isabel Allende’s cross-generational family saga set in an unnamed South American republic that comes with Magical Realist elements
The House That Jack Built (2018)
Serial Killer
Lars von Trier, who I would argue is the best director at work in the world, makes a film about a serial killer. The results, as you might expect from von Trier, are outrageous, blackly funny and challengingly provocative
In Your Hands (2004)
Miracle-Healing Prison Inmate
Dogme 95 film about a woman convicted to prison who has miraculous healing abilities. There are undeniable similarities to The Green Mile but this uses them to delve into issues of faith
It’s All About Love (2003)
Near-Future/Reconciliation Drama
Science-fiction outing from Thomas Vinterberg that proved a flop with audiences. Contrarily, I liked it – it is never satisfying in its attempt to be an SF film but you cannot deny it is a work directed with a beautiful and sophisticated cool that draws you inside it
The Kingdom (1994)
Haunted Hospital/Black Comedy
Danish tv mini-series co-directed by Lars von Trier set in a haunted hospital. This comes with a blacker-than-black sense of humour in its interwoven character strands plus moments that are genuinely eerie
The Kingdom II (1997)
Haunted Hospital/Black Comedy
Follow-up to Lars von Trier’s haunted hospital mini-series The Kingdom. The story is continued, although the plot seems rickety and either drops elements or veers off on other tangents as though it is being made up as people go along
The Kingdom: Exodus (2022)
Haunted Hospital/Black Comedy
Lars von Trier returns to his darkly hilarious haunted hospital saga after a 25 years absence
The Magic Carpet (1985)
Children's Arabian Nights Fantasy
Amiable Danish-made Arabian Nights fantasy for children that has the benefit from being shot on location in Turkey
Melancholia (2011)
Depression and the End of the World
Lars von Trier’s exploration of his depression continues in this nihilistic end of the world film. It is bleak and relentless but the characters are opaque in their motivations. Somehow I prefer von Trier back in agent provocateur mode
Men & Chicken (2015)
Black Comedy/Human-Animal Hybrids
A Danish black comedy where the humour is delivered in perfect pitch deadpan. Imagine a version of The Island of Dr Moreau as directed by Giorgos Lanthimos of Dogtooth and The Lobster fame
The Neon Demon (2016)
Horror Film in the L.A. Modelling World
Nicolas Winding Refn makes a horror film set in the L.A. modelling world. A film of hypnotic surfaces that glitter with a troubling undertow, the result is like Valley of the Dolls as remade by Dario Argento
Nightwatch (1994)
Morgue Attendant's Paranoia/Serial Killer
Gripping Danish thriller in which morgue attendant Nicholaj Coster Waldau finds a serial killer is playing games with him. Filled with paranoia, sharp twists and lashings of black humour
Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever (2023)
Nightwatch Sequel
Nightwatch about the paranoia of a morgue attendant on the night shift was a festival hit. After 29 years, the principals reunite for a sequel
Ordet (1955)
Religion and Miracles
Carl Dreyer, the Danish director of Vampyr and The Passion of Joan of Arc, is one of the least well-known great directors. This, his second-to-last film, concerns itself with the nature of religion and miracles. A very weighty Bergman-esque piece, it arrives at an astonishing ending
Possessed (1999)
Plague/Possession by the Devil
Early film from Danish director Anders Rønnow-Klarlund. This starts out as a plague outbreak drama and then does a bizarre mid-film twist to become a possession film
Princess (2006)
Animation/Anti-Porn Vigilante
Animated film from Denmark about a man who goes on an ultra-violent crusade against the porn industry over the loss of innocence of his young niece
Reptilicus (1961)
Revived Dinosaur Amok
Incredibly shabbily made Danish copy of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms about a dinosaur revived in Copenhagen
Shelley (2016)
Malevolent Surrogate Pregnancy
Danish film about an immigrant agreeing to become a surrogate mother only to believe she is inhabited by something malevolent. This does well in the build-up but a crucial failure to put a finger on what is going on makes for a frustrating experience
Smilla’s Sense of Snow (1997)
Scandanavian Murder Mystery/SF Twist
Adapted from an acclaimed book, Julia Ormond stars as an Icelandic heroine in a detective story with an SF twist
Speak No Evil (2022)
Sinister Hosts/Black Comedy
A darkly funny Danish film about a couple who accept an invite to visit another couple who seem to have no boundaries, before everything gets nasty
Strings (2004)
World of Puppets
Absolutely extraordinary film that takes place in a world inhabited by marionettes on strings, something that is built out into a complex metaphor and worldview
Tintin and I (2003)
Documentary About Tintin's Creator
Documentary about Tintin creator Hergé based on audio recordings he made in the 1970s
Valhalla Rising (2009)
Mystical Viking Film
A Viking film from Nicolas Winding Refn. Rather than being made in the sense of any historical film this is almost a mystical arthouse work, a work haunted by the austerity of its primal landscape
When Animals Dream (2014)
Werewolf Film
Beautifully low key Danish werewolf film (even if the term is never mentioned throughout) that takes place in a tiny seaside village as a girl tries to understand her transformations, the film is quiet and often takes place in silences rather than dialogue, its horror understated with striking effect