26/10/2015 - Having reached 50,000 domestic admissions, Pål Øie’s sequel to Dark Woods is now on its way to the American Film Market

Norwegian director Pål Øie’s Dark Woods (2003), a low-budget production that went on to become a sleeper hit, and was voted the scariest Norwegian movie ever by local audiences, has now reached 50,000 domestic admissions for his horror sequel, Villmark 2 [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

On Saturday (24 October), the Einar Loftesnes and Bendik Heggen Strønstad production for Handmade Films in Norwegian Woods started a Scandinavian tour to screen at genre festivals in Sweden, Denmark and Finland: the Lund International Fantastic Film Festival (in Malmö from 24-27 October and in Lund from 22-31 October), Monsters of Film in Stockholm (27 October-1 November), Bloody Weekend in Copenhagen (28 October-1 November) and Night Visions - Maximum Halloween in Helsinki (4-8 November).

Scripted by Øie and Kjersti Rasmussen, Villmark 2 follows five contract workers scouring an old sanatorium of hazardous waste before it is demolished. A total of 300 rooms and many kilometres of pipelines have to be screened in three days, but when they learn about the building's frightening past, they realise the job is more than just a search for asbestos and mercury. Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Anders Baasmo Christiansen and Mads Sjøgård Pettersen star in the thriller, which was released in Norway by Another World Entertainment. 

After the Scandinavian tour, Øie’s third feature will be introduced to international buyers at the American Film Market in Santa Monica (4-11 November) by its Hollywood sales agent, Epic Pictures; the film’s producer Loftesnes and DoP/editor Sjur Aarthun will be on hand at the event.