‘The catch of the day… is you’
Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre is a 2009 Icelandic horror film directed by Júlíus Kemp from a screenplay written by Sjón [Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson], a poet, novelist, lyricist and long-standing collaborator with singer Björk.
Icelandic-born Gunnar Hansen (Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre; The Demon Lover; Mosquito) has a cameo role as a ship captain.
The film is also known as Harpoon: Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre; Harpoon: Whale Watching Massacre and RWWM.
Plot:
Reykjavik, Iceland: A group of international tourists who go on a whale watching expedition. During the expedition, the ship breaks down and they are picked up by a nearby whaler. Unfortunately, the ‘fishbillies’ on the vessel are murderous inbreds…
Reviews:
Harpoon is well shot and directed with some impressively stark images (really love the image of the harpooned body hanging off the front of the ship) and even some very dark scenes remaining easily discernable … definitely worth checking out if you’re willing to lay back and go along with the unexpected callousness of some characters’ actions.” Dread Central
“Harpoon was a truly engrossing and exciting film the whole way through. The cast is very diverse and entertaining and manage to stand out from being nameless victims. The deaths are well executed and some are even on the extreme side. Actually, the whole movie is rather dark…” Ronnie Angel, Slashed Dreams: The Ultimate Guide to Slasher Films
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” … deeper-than-usual characterizations help make up for the film’s rather generic plot, which is basically just the usual survival stuff, albeit on a boat instead of a backwoods dungeon or isolated house. A few folks get it right away, some hide and run around, others escape only to find themselves “rescued” by someone who is in cahoots with the villains, etc.” Horror Movie a Day
“The look of the film contributed to the eeriness; in particular the ominous ship’s peeling paint, heavy metal doors and rusted sides. The look of the fishbillies, with their greasy hair and dirty clothes, really did evoke the “back country” feeling I think the film was aiming for.” Iceland Review
“The film looks great, providing some stark images and genuine moments of suspense; some of the performances are good, the rest are, if nothing else, inhibited by the simplicity of the script and the cartoon character-depth they are subjected to in the script.” Bloody Disgusting
” …it’s bad enough that the characters are one dimensional and unsympathetic in every way but the actors handling them are just god awful. I don’t know if these people are bad actors in general or that Kemp doesn’t know how to direct them but something went wrong in this department.” Screen Anarchy
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“Scary, exciting and with characters that you really can believe in, this is a slasher for grown-ups. While it may conjure up memories of Hostel and its ilk, there is so much more here, thanks mainly to the screenplay (from Sjón Sigurdsson, the lyricist for Lars von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark), which is a blackly comic social commentary on commerce, race and morality, and Júliús Kemp’s careful direction…” Kultguy’s Keep
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“The one good thing though is that it was filmed in Iceland which is a nice change of scenery. Gunnar Hansen also stops in for visit under the role of Captain Pétur. Though I’m still snickering a bit with that accent they gave him. Gunnar though is the best thing going for this.” HNN
