Vargtimmen (1968)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writer:

Ingmar Bergman (writer)

Release Date:

9 April 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Tagline:

"The Hour of the Wolf" is the hour between night and dawn. It is the hour when most people die. It is the hour when the sleepless are haunted by their deepest fear, when ghosts and demons are most powerful.

Plot:

An artist in crisis is haunted by nightmares from the past in Ingmar Bergman's only horror film, which takes place on a windy island...

Plot Keywords:

Artist | Nightmare | Island | Insanity | Possession

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Max von Sydow	...	Johan Borg
Liv Ullmann	...	Alma Borg
Gertrud Fridh	...	Corinne von Merkens
Georg Rydeberg	...	Lindhorst, archivist
Erland Josephson	...	Baron von Merkens
Naima Wifstrand	...	Old Lady with Hat
Ulf Johansson	...	Therapist Heerbrand
Gudrun Brost	...	Gamla Fru von Merkens
Bertil Anderberg	...	Ernst von Merkens
Ingrid Thulin	...	Veronica Vogler

Also Known As:

Hour of the Wolf (USA)

Runtime:

90 min | Sweden:99 min (original version)

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish | Norwegian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:12 (re-rating) (2006) | West Germany:16 (original rating) | Singapore:NC-16 | France:-16 | Ireland:18 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:16 | UK:15 (video rating) (2004) | UK:X (original rating) | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Hovs Hallar - Naturreservat, Skåne län, Sweden

Company:

Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Quotes:

Baron von Merkens: You see what you want to see!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in She's So Cold (1995)

Depressing but Captivating

I don't know why I'm so fascinated with Ingmar Bergman. When I was in college, I went to a film society screening of this film. I hadn't seen Wild Strawberries or The Seventh Seal at the time and this was a real mind blower. There are all those shades of darkness. There are those depressed looking people, haunted by those personal demons. There is Bergman's island, so lonely, so cold. The other inhabitants always seem so threatening. The artist, writing about affairs, assaults, murder, and we don't know whether any of it is true. I suffer through the party with all those pretentious people and their angst. This party is only eclipsed by the one in Alice in Wonderland . The people are truly beasts. Bergman is about bad dreams. The camera pulls us through our deepest fears and dumps us in that dark, evil swamp. I know this is often seen as one of his minor films, but his getting ready to meet his former lover, putting on that makeup to look younger and recapture his past virility, is so gut wrenching. This is a depressed feast for the eyes and it puts mental illness into corporeal form.