Valhalla Rising is a curious, and sometimes confusing tale, of One-Eye, a mute warrior enslaved in a cage by Norse captors, and his journey into the darker side of existence.

A level of mysticism and intrigue surrounds One-Eye from the start of the film and is not that much clearer by the end – though he does seem to possess supernatural abilities – foreseeing his own destiny and death as well as an ability to conquer his enemies with ease in battle. We begin our journey as One-Eye finds himself an escape plan from his captors. His exits from foes throughout the film are brutal, bloody and without mercy. He is focused and on his own journey.

He befriends Are whilst traveling with the Norse warriors, a boy who accompanies him on his journey and seems to be able to communicate for him, describing to the Christian crusaders they meet after their escape everything that he needs to explain to them. We never find out why One-Eye never speaks, but it suits the film – adding to the dark, brooding momentum and providing intrigue.

The travelers sail across the ocean with the crusaders to find the New Jerusalem but end up lost in a mist for what seems like days. During this time, the crusaders blame the young boy and One-Eye for their misfortune and fail in their attempt to kill him – where One-Eye displays his might once more. This section of the film has the same trippy feel as some of the later river scenes from Apocalypse Now and seems to rumble on, to great effect, for the same period of time.

Once out of the mist, things really do start to slide and lets just say that things get worse before they get better and if you thought things were weird before, well, they’re really beginning to get confusing now. I won’t spoil the end of the film for you.

Conclusion

This is the sort of film you can appreciate on a number of levels. Firstly, it is visually stunning due to the locations around Scotland where the film was shot and the treatment applied using Adobe After Effects [or the equivelent] where lighting effects are applied. The use of computer generated blood, smoke and fog work well too and provide atmosphere or shock where appropriate in the story. Secondly, the direction and style breaks away a little from traditional methods through the lingering, brooding visuals, atmospheric and minimalistic music and the lack of scripted conversation…. it’s very quiet and calm through most of it. It’s not really one for the kids as the 18 certificate would imply as there are some disturbing scenes and brutal violence.

The one thing that did cross my mind is that, in a way, this does come across as Nicholas Roeg’s opportunity to play with some expensive HD equipment on a low budget experimental film, hence the beautiful remote scenes and heavily treated visuals. For the most part, it works in its visual style [with some occasionally heavy handed effects] and almost feels like Middle Earth.

My only criticism of the Blue Ray DVD I bought was “The Making Of” which was created by the young female directors assistant. It looks like a teenage Facebook video diary, doesn’t inform that much, is fairly self centred and detracts from the whole experience. Other than that, if you re a fan of dark, brooding, intriguing films and don t mind the odd viking getting mashed up – then this could be an evenings viewing well spent.