Psalm 21 (2009)

Awesome Movie

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Judging by the low score and less than impressive discussions on IMDb, i went into Psalm 21 expecting a disaster, but in the end what i got was the complete opposite! Comparing this to the Scandinavian standard, this Swedish horror film doesn't really keep it company, but on its own ,its a generic horror film idea, mixed in with a soul searching look into the destruction that religion can bring. Brilliant cinematography, along with solid performances in the acting department, make Psalm 21 appear to be a well executed movie. Unfortunately, my biggest problem with the movie was the repetitive horror set pieces, which allows the audience time to desensitize themselves to what is happening, due to the frequency of scares. Having said that, thankfully Psalm 21 saves itself by the thought provoking material, underneath the generic surface!

I was a bit afraid to watch another flick in the 'horror collection' series. But luckily this one did deliver the goods. The use of the camera was well done and they even washed the colours to add the creepiness toward this flick. Although the effects were CGI it didn't bother me at all because the used CGI to change faces just like they do in Asian flicks. This is also a perfect example that you can make a good horror without blood. But this movie delivers even more. Due the fact that it concerns religion it also add something special towards religion. They included many questions about religion and some will say this is blasphemy but if you think about it you must agree. In Belgium they had serious problems with priests that misused children on a sexual base. And that's what this flick is about on some parts. The acting was really good I must say. Especially the younger priest Henrik Horneus (Jonas Malmsjö) did a good job. It's funny that the director Fredrik Hiller chose to add male nudity in it when having sex with a young girl. And for being his first effort into direction he really knew his stuff, the way of editing delivered an extra touch to sometimes some arty shots. He even wrote this flick, but we all knew him as the Frisian Leader in Beowolf (2007).This was really a nice surprise coming out of Sweden. I won't recommend it to gorehounds but if you can dig Asian horrors or horrors about religion then this is one for you and do listen to the preaching at the end, it will make you think...Gore 0/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 3/5 Story 4/5 Comedy 0/5

In Stockholm, the priest Henrik Horneus (Jonas Malmsjö) is beloved by his parish flock, and in his sermon, he frequently mentions the Psalm 21 that is the favorite of his father and also priest Gabriel (Per Ragnar) that lives in Hammerdal.Henrik has relationship problems with his son Jesper that lives with his mother Elsie (Gunvor Pontén) and is spending his birthday with him. When Jesper is ready to go home with his mother, Henrik's girlfriend Karolina (Julia Dufvenius) receives a phone call from the coroner of Hammerdal telling that his estranged father has been found drowned in the Dead Lake. Henrik decides to drive alone in the middle of the night to his father's hometown to attend the funeral and learn what has happened to him.Out of the blue, a person appears on the dark road and Henrik runs over her. Henrik pulls the car over but he does not see anybody on the road. Henrik returns to the car but it does not start, so he walks to a small farm to ask for help. He sees lights in the barn and he sees a blond little girl. When he talks to her, she transforms into an evil creature. Hentik runs to the house and he meets a weird family that lodges him.Henrik has scary nightmares and daydreams and fells like he is trapped in hell. He learns that his father was murdered and dumped in the lake. Further, he has already been buried and sooner Hemrik finds the truth about Gabriel. When Henrik returns to his parish, he questions the nonexistence of hell declared by the Swedish Church in 1983."Psalm 21" is a messy Swedish horror film that has a promising beginning but becomes boring and senseless. The screenplay is absolutely confused and there are scenes without explanation. For example, why Henrik is seduced and has sex with the demon-girl in the barn? His offensive final speech to his flock seems also to be out of the context and gives the sensation that Henrik is deranged or possessed. If Henrik has learned the truth, he should be more careful and prepare his congregation to embrace the new ideas. My vote is four.Title (Brazil): "Salmo 21" ("Psalm 21")

#may contain spoilers# I just watched this movie last night and to tell the truth i didn't expect much since there are very few Swedish films worth seeing. But this one actually surprised me, in a very bad way.The first thing that hit me was the dialogue and this is one of my major problems with Swedish films in general. Not one person in this entire country speaks this way, all the dialogue feels very forced and clinical. Not to mention the fact the movie is supposed to take place in the northern part of the country yet everyone talks in dialect that is used in our capital.Plotwise there isn't anything even remotely original about it either, its a pretty basic ghost story(although you could argue that there are no ghosts at all) with a few twists that doesn't make any sense at all and an ending that just serves the directors wish to make his views on religion crystal clear.As far as the horror elements go it is also very lacking, basically they're just Ringu inspired ghosts(one scene is almost copy/pasted right out of Ringu 1) and considering how scary the deep woods in northern Sweden can actually be at night they completely messed up by not taking advantage of that.To sum up, this movie isn't worth your time or money. The acting is bellow average but with a script like this im not sure you can blame the actors. Add to this a nonsensical plot and the sub-par horror elements you will only be wasting your time.