Customer Reviews

Sauna

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Interesting foreign language film (subtitles) based on a late 1500s storyline of a joint Finnish/Russian expedition working to define the border between their two countries. As they walk the actual disputed line, they commit a few unchoice acts that come back to haunt them, and also discover a village that is not on any map. Eerie things follow (trying to avoid giving a spoiler).

Overall, this was generally enjoyable. The mood maintains a dreary and eerie feeling throughout, but perhaps too much. It almost never lets up, as strange acts continue and the actors engage in several savage acts. This could be a negative; the story unendingly plods through dark territory with interspersed horror moments that more abruptly arise rather than be built up. Also, its kinda slow. The story unfolds somewhat discontinuously (which, at times, is very well done), but generally it moves from one slowly developed scene to another, all of which are more notable for the human-human brutality (which is more often implied than actually shown) than the paranormal horror.

Every once in a while I manage to find a dvd that is absolutely worth viewing-this is one among them. I have watched this dvd six times already, and each time the sense of the horror becomes more and more pronounced. The dvd is in the same meld as Bergman's Hour of the Wolf, or The Serpent's Egg, or The Seventh Seal, (the lead actor, Ville Virtanen, has resemblence to Max Von Sydow.) yet laying out the psychological horror far more explicitly and unrelentingly, finally at the end spilling it forth without restraint in the emotionally raw screams and yells that are totally nightmarish (one thinks of the final revelation in Heart of Darkness, when Kurtz utters his final words, " The horror. The horror!"). This dvd is a the telling of a story with the elements of horrific nightmares - it certainly does clinch the viewer, and by the end, you are left starring at the screen with these screams sinking into your mind. Excellent!!!

I won't spoil it for you; but, the period allegory is a condemnation of modern political government which requires giving up one's soul to the State. This story is pretty deep with a clear existential thread running throughout, posing questions which every individual will someday have to answer. It is a story of the social, individual and spiritual consequences of war, the fragmentation of identity, of memory for the sake of survival, and more deeply, the soul, leaving the individual a moral invalid - inhuman. There is no salvation from having to face one's own inhumanity to others, eventually one must face the moments of his lack of compassion and concern for the welfare of others! Very fatalistic - just buy it, rent it, and enjoy this experience of a nightmare the message of which is as relevant today as for any historical period.

Saw this movie trailer on YouTube and it immediately captured my interest!! It took forever to come to stores to buy and I had to really look all over town to find it. Sauna is trully a sinister and gothic movie. Everything is so dark and gloomy as well as the character brothers Eerik and Knut. Even though Eerik looks harmless with his glasses and quiet demeanor, he is unpredictable and dangerous. The other parts that scared me a little were of the woman spirit that would haunt Knut in different parts of the movie. For anyone who enjoys foreign films and doesn't mind the subtitles, I would recommend this film. A.J Annila is like M. Night Shyamalan in the sense of how his films are a little intriguing but interesting and different.

I really enjoyed this one. It's one of those films that you need to watch more than once. The first time I saw it, I felt lost at the end. When I watched it again, I noticed so many small details that I missed the first time around. The acting, atmosphere and score worked together to create a wonderfully creepy, thought-provoking film.

I just finished watching this movie. And I must say that it is a very good horror movie. Now for many horror fans this might not be what they expect, there is no cheap scares, I did not jump once. There is hardly any gore and the plot moves very slowly. Now this is both a good thing and a bad thing. In a way the plot of the movie would not work if it moved faster, but there is a thin line between artistic buildup and boredom and at times this movie crosses that line. But overall the peacing is great. Visually this film is a feast for the eyes. It is set in a very gritty, war torn land and it has this great, dark dreary atmosphere.

The characters in this movies is wonderful. Without spoiling to much I will say that the plot is about two Swedish brothers who after a long and bloody war between Sweden and Russia is over is set together with a Russian party to draw up new borders for the two nations. Both brothers are troubled by what they have seen and done in the war. Eerik the older brother had killed 73 pepole and Knut the younger brother have locked a young girl in a cellar and left her there. The brothers begin to see ghostly apparitions of the pepole they have hurt. The film is about sin and forgiveness, but not really in the classic Christian sense. The story is gripping, unfortunately I feel that the ending was to abrupt and leaves to many questions unanswered. I do not feel like I have watched a complete story, and that cost the movie the fifth star. The ending was weak compared to the rest of the film which is excellent.

I should also mention that while this is not a creature feature, and it is not heavy on special effects. The film do have the most creepy monsters I have seen on film since Silent Hill. It is really rare for the designers of a film to really manage to make something creepy, but the faceless sauna demons (Or whatever they are, this is never explained.) are really excellent. Many movies have gross,impressive, cool, creative, shocking monsters but few manages to make some which are really creepy. For those few scenes alone which features the faceless sauna demons you should get this movies. Those monsters alone is worth the price of the film for any horror fan.

If you are in the mood for a different, moody and rather artistic horror movie which takes it's time getting there but who have beautiful visuals and great characters along the way, then I can definitely recommend this film. It's ending is flawed but it is still a top notch film.

Remarkable in its abilty to immerse one in a cloying atmosphere of foreboding and dread. Most of the film's eeriest vibes are masterfully crafted through dialogue, as opposed to hollow jump scares and viscera. To simplify: Tarkovsky(Stalker, in particular) via J-Horror tropes. By raising more questions than it answers, it ultimately lingers with the viewer; a feat achieved, no doubt, by the director's design. Production values, photography and performances are all of high caliber. Certainly not a film for the ADD multiplex crowd, though...

I wish more horror movies in the US were like this one. It was a chilling, terrifying, and lingering experience. A translation into Region 1 format is a must. We watched it on "OnDemand" and were hoping to buy it here. Bravo!

The movie could have been so much better with a little more information. A group discovers a town in the middle of a swamp near a sauna. The town has no children, except one. The head of the town states the town has 70+ people; yet only a handfull is shown. When the group tries to question the people about the town they don't remember much. I suppose the "mystery" or "unknown" factor is suppose to be eerie or something to that effect. Also, the film doesn't show or explain what happened to the guy who dug his eyes out and ate his tongue. It never tells us what happens. It doesn't show it either (not alot of gore to be seen). And no, I don't watch a movie for gore but if I am not going to get any information about the story I might as well be shown something to look at. Erik calls people who worship certain religions "traitors"; yet, his beef against religion is not explained. Knut locks a girl in the celler to protect her yet he fancies her (according to Erik). So just who was Knut protecting her from? Ericks physical brutality or his lust for her.

The who movie is about Erik atoning for the 75 people he has killed. His brother seems to be possessed or gone a little batty..whichever way...the ending could have been a bit more cohesive. And I guess to make this a "horror" type movie they threw in some white ghosts with black features (much like the ones seen numberous movies before this one) who move in jerky motions.

The setting was nice and desolate. The colors were muted and subdued. The acting was well done. I could have done without the shot of Erik's willie in the bathroom. However, the story needed more work and by work details need to be given.

Strikingly beautiful Finnish art house 'horror' film about guilt,
religion, sin and punishment, set in the 16th century, at the end of
the Russian/Swedish war.

It's full of atmosphere, symbolism, and unanswered questions. Two
Swedish brothers/soldiers -- one intellectual, the other violent and
borderline mad -- come to a strange town where they are confronted with
eerie reminders of their sins, and of those they have killed in war.

Slow paced, but not boring. However, the underlying ideas do get
stretched a bit thin over time, and the occasional turn to horror
clichés was a little disappointing given the generally high level of
intelligence and originality.

Mention also must be made of the arresting performance by Ville
Virtanen as the violent Eerik, recalling Max Von Sydow in his prime.

Interesting enough that I would give it another look now that I
understand what its getting at, and gorgeous enough that I'll still
enjoy it, even if I'm once again left with mixed feelings about some of the
content.

This is a great movie! Now that that is out of the way allow me to explain why you should see this movie. In my opinion it further highlights the weak points of American horror films. I love the creepy atmospheric tension that builds up from the first violent scene to the calm before the finale. I love horror films that are more than just formulaic slasher films (if that's what you're into, no problem). Sure there are plenty of scary scenes, but I think this is a much more cerebal horror film than the usual mainstream fair. And I love the bleak cinematography of the film! I really liked the characters of the two brothers, and I appreciate how they are more than two dimensional. Yes, they are not entirely "good", but they are not entirely evil either. Can the unforgivable be forgiven? Watch, enjoy, and decide for yourself.