Review: Ringmaster

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

Ringmaster (aka Finale)
Directed by Søren Juul Petersen
Frightgeist Films; Jingai Films; Danse Macabre; MVD Visual
100 minutes, 2019 / 2021
www.jingaifilms.com
www.MVDVisual.com

I realize it is a gross generalization, but people in Denmark are known for being "happy." Perhaps that is because they watch horror films? Or possibly because they make them? Well, in this case the latter is definitely true, as it is mostly in Danish with English and German, and has English subtitles for all languages. It is based on a novella by Danish writer Steen Langstrup.

With finger firmly beside nose, in the opening – which I am sure will be mentioned in numerous reviews of those familiar with older films of terror – a man comes from behind a movie theater curtain, and gives almost the same speech that opened up Frankenstein (1931; original speech HERE), with some particulars in the center changed. This said to me, okay, we are off to a good start. 

After a prologue which is actually from later in the story and then continues interspersed throughout, we learn that most of the body of the film is a flashback until it eventually catches up. We are introduced to our two female leads that are working the late shift at a gas station/convenience store (which most are these days) where there are few customers because of the big final game in which Demark is in the finals (I am guessing soccer/football). This means every person who drops by the station is under suspicion by the audience because, well, it is a genre film, giving the viewer some possibly juicy red herrings, though honestly, if one pays attention, it not hard to figure out who the Ringmaster is in the early story. But more on the Ringmaster later.

Karin Michelson and Anne Bergfeld

There is Agnes Burger (Anne Bergfeld), who is the daughter of the gas station owner, and trying to finish her Psychology thesis in the back room. She is in a somewhat stable relationship, and Belinda (Karin Michelson), a working-class woman trying to get by – who uses a flip phone that only texts – and has a tumultuous relationship with a man of a questionable background. The women are mostly bored through the first 15 minutes or so, but their personal dynamics, as they have such different backgrounds and personalities, keeps it interesting. You just know they are going to bond by the end, as is the formula for any film with contentious leads, genre or not. I can empathize because I used to work in a single-screen large movie palace in my teens, and I remember those dull, slow nights, where I was assigned to stay inside the theatre proper, watching a film I had seen 50 times or so, and no one to check on in the seats. But, I digress…

While Agnes’s boyfriend, Benjamin (Kristoffer Fabricius) is off at the game (I don’t understand sports devotion when there are so many genre films still left to see), Belinda’s boyfriend, Kenny (Mads Kadoul), shows up and gives us good reason as to why Belinda’s mom is not a fan. He looks like he just stepped out of a MAGA rally in Mississippi, and is a complete macho moron.

At 30-minutes in, I started talking to the screen because these two women, with suspicious characters all around, just do not call the police. This is one of those infamous people in genre films making bad decisions moments that drives me crazy. If that was me, in real life, I would have 911-ed without thinking twice. Here, Agnes is a spoiled girl with rich parents, and it appears, a narre (fool), notwithstanding her higher education. If I was working with the boss’s daughter, I would insist we lock up and go home early on; considering there are so few customers, it won’t make a hoot of difference. Irriterende. Both these women make incredibly poor choices throughout.

Damon Younger

The Ringmaster (Damon Younger), who is the center of the fate of many of the characters here, is just the pointman or emcee for a group of both men and women viewers in plain white masks, as he tells Agnes, “It’s only show biz.” He is in creepy whiteface (and hands), reminding me of the Joel Grey character in Cabaret (1972). He presents a snuff game show on the dark web called Escapismus (Escapism) that borders on Hostel (2005) territory.

Despite the outdated phones, television and CCTV technology is prominent here, be it the CCTV at the gas bar, a video camera held by a customer (with a mention of YouTube), and the wall cameras used by the Ringmaster to film his prey being brutalized. I also found it interesting the juxtaposition between the tension in the early gas station scenes, and the physical violence in the interspersed and later events. Another difference is that with later ones, there is a lot of extreme close-ups used to differentiate the mood of the flashbacks and the current. As the film progresses, the new story is intermingled more often, Usually starting with a close-up of a camera lens.

The cruelty, which of course is the point, is honestly sometimes hard to watch, but it is important to think about the voyeurism of the Web; nothing sells like violent pranks and accidents; I blame the worldwide acceptance of such actions on “American’s Funniest Home Videos” and moronic shows like “Jackass.”

The extras are minimal, just caption options, chapters and three trailers (though not for this film).

Despite my quibbling about some actions taken by the women and their boyfriends, whether it is written by Petersen or Langstrup, the build-up and consistency and-yet juxtaposition of the tension and violence, still works, especially if you enjoy talking to your screen, which I do (only at home). The film is well put together, the gore and violence are graphic, and it is a intriguing-yet-disturbing ride from beginning to end.