Tag: Denmark

Hail Sailor! When There’s No Rest for the Wicked After Navigating the Hoary Seas, What’s Next?

Set on the Faroe Islands in 1862, No Rest for the Wicked blends forbidden romance, Norse folklore and slow-burning Gothic horror. Its haunting atmosphere works better than its confused vampire mythology.

No Rest for the Wicked Movie Poster
Screened at Fantasia Film Festival on July 25, 2026 at the Salle J.A. De Sève

No Rest for the Wicked is a great title for a movie. With early marketing and reviews from the 2026 Fantasia Film Festival describing it as a queer love story wrapped inside a Gothic vampire drama, perhaps Lestat has a new rival. If we’re judging who wears the crown for best-looking vampire, Helge (Pilou Asbæk), the Danish whaler, wins hands down.

There’s also something to be said for stripping away the Gothic excess that vampire stories from this period embraced. Set in 1862 on the Faroe Islands, this tale exists on the edge of civilization, where survival comes before superstition and every stranger is met with suspicion. Young Baldur (Egor Venned) doesn’t have much to do, and he’s like every other kid from a small village: bored.

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How High Must Checkered Ninja 2 Jump to be Found in America?

Checkered Ninja 2 sees the relationship between Alex and the Ninja develop further. They aren’t necessarily Batman and Robin

Checkered Ninja 2Just when fans of Anders Matthesen‘s story concerning a tiny spirit of vengence was over, a sequel, simply titled Checkered Ninja 2, was released to some markets instead of hitting film festivals worldwide. This series is apparently very popular in Denmark. and it’s a spinoff of Terkel I Knibe (Terkel in Trouble), one of this filmmaker’s earlier works.

To learn that the villain from the first film is on the loose again is troubling. The crime Philip Eberfrø committed resulted in the spirit of Taiko Nakamura possessing a doll in part one, and thus, the Checkered Ninja was born! But he can’t do it alone. By happenstance, he becomes Alex’s toy and the relationship they have isn’t all that kosher. After the stuffed doll helps the young boy grow a spine (he was bullied), they finally buddy up.

I reviewed this movie a few years back and absolutely loved it. When Variety magazine reported about its sequel, I hoped some local animation festival would screen it. Sadly, that never happened. Despite having a home video release in 2021 in Denmark, there’s still no official North American release. As soon as I saw listings for the Blu-ray release on eBay, I immediately ordered the European release and I’m glad I have a multi-region player.

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[VIFF2019] Checkered Pasts are Confronted in Checkered Ninja

Checkered Ninja Movie PosterBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Vancouver International Film Festival
Sunday, September 29, 2019 at 1:00 PM
SFU Goldcorp

*also available on Google Play

Checkered Ninja is not your typical animated movie. It offers more than to teach youths how to stand up to bullies. Two plots drive this film. One is of a stuffed doll, a ninja, coming alive Chucky-style to avenge a huge misdeed by a toy maker visiting his slave labour driven factory and the other of Alex (Alfred Bjerre Larsen), a precocious tween having a rough social life.

The toy (Anders Matthesen, who also directs) takes a Deadpool style approach of trying to get to his goal and the boy serves as a moral compass; There are other solutions to dealing out justice. Vigilantism does not have to involve bloodshed.

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