Hellfjord - DVD

Movie: When policeman Salmander's (Zahid Ali) beloved horse Gunnar collapses during a parade in Oslo, the public servant just wants to do the right thing and put his faithful companion out of his misery. But it all ends in a bloody disaster that turns into a PR disaster for the Norwegian police. And that's why Salmander's superiors have only one thing to do: fire the police officer, who is described in the media as a horse killer, as quickly as possible. But since he still has a few weeks to go, Salmander is transferred to the sleepy town of Hellfjord for the rest of his police career. As soon as he meets his new colleague, the quirky Kobba (Stig Frode Henriksen), it becomes clear to the city slicker that he will be dealing with a very special breed of people. But a short time later, the certainty reveals itself to him that behind the sleepy backdrop of Hellfjord lurks a sinister secret that he, with the help of Kobba and journalist Johanne (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal), is determined to uncover at any cost, as long as he is not a policeman. And time is running damn short...

The makers of the Hellfjord mini-series, which also includes Dead Snow and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters director Tommy Wirkola, clearly have a particularly wry sense of humour, which is evident from the very first minutes of this quirky story. If you can't laugh at the way Salmander tries to put his horse Gunnar out of his misery, you'll probably have a problem with the rest of the series. But if you like it evil, jet black and twisted, you'll get your money's worth here. The basic mystical atmosphere, somewhat reminiscent of David Lynch's Twin Peaks, has been mixed with elements from Edgar Wright's comedy Hot Fuzz and the British cult series The League of Gentlemen, as well as a good pinch of Nordic laconicness, to create a completely off-the-wall crime story that, despite some gags that don't really work, offers over three hours of extremely amusing entertainment.

Hellfjord is a very special place, where everyone smokes (even the babies), where almost everyone works in the local fish factory, where families also meet for Sunday dinner in the only bar among strippers, brawling alcoholics and prostitutes, and where the inhabitants firmly believe in the legend of a sea monster that supposedly wreaks havoc off the coast of Hellfjord. Here you are not surprised when someone chokes on his mobile phone or that a forest rat like Kobba is married to a hottie like the Finnish Riina (Pihla Viitala). A place, in fact, where not-quite-normal madness reigns.

Weird dream sequences, extremely bloody moments, slapstick and dry wordplay alternate here with nice regularity. In the process, some scenes drag on a bit much, even if that's quite intentional for a comedic purpose. But this only works to a very limited extent. Other moments, however, completely freed from any form of political correctness, provide in their eccentric way for hearty laughs virtually every second. Sure, the whole thing is extremely silly and doesn't make much sense, but that doesn't change the high entertainment value. So if you like it weird, unadjusted and extremely black humorous, you should definitely take a trip to Hellfjord. Because this will be a trip you won't forget in a hurry! Absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: A high level of image sharpness, an atmospheric colour scheme and coherent contrasts make the DVD's absolutely clean picture a real pleasure. The audio has some very nice sound effects to offer, which come across well in the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. Overall, both the picture and the audio help to capture the very special atmosphere of this series. Good!

Extras: Unfortunately, there is no bonus material.

Conclusion: Hellfjord is a delightfully weird, completely absurd mystery series, which provides a lot of black humor, slapstick, and wacky characters for 200 minutes of unusual entertainment of the particularly amusing kind. If you have a soft spot for offbeat humor and macabre gags, you'll feel right at home in Hellfjord. Certainly not for the masses, but for fans of weird mystery fare this Norwegian mini-series is an absolute must. The DVD presents the bizarre goings-on in good picture and sound quality, only the lack of bonus material is a bit disappointing. Nevertheless, the bottom line is a very clear: Absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp