MARA

Jenny (Angelica Jansson) is picked up with someone else's blood all over her and questioned by a police psychologist. It turns out that she's vague about how she got into that state, but remembers she was at a house party along with her cousin Cissi (Cecilia Samuelsson), and her classmates Philip (Philip Hansell) and Jakob (Martin Brandt). Spoiling the karma, total stranger Stina (Emelie Frantz Nilsson) was also there - harbouring clear designs on Jenny's potential love interest, Jakob.

Jenny insists that she was a reluctant addition to the party: she had lived in that house ten years earlier with her parents, until a bloody tragedy occurred that is only seen in part via flashback ("54 stab wounds ... totally insane"). Understandably, Jenny didn't want to go back there and relive former traumas.

Through further flashbacks, we start to piece together what happened at the house party. The unease began subtly with Jenny sensing they were being watched by someone outside. Her paranoia increased when she had visions of her mother staring at her from outside the house: a scenario Jenny had previously dreamt.

In fact, Jenny is plagued with regular nightmares from the offset. Her fragile state of mind is tested further still by returning to her childhood home and being forced to relive the events of that fateful night. She gets even more fraught the morning after when she awakens to find the house empty: where's everyone else gone?

With no means of transport, Jenny is forced to stay alone at the remote house. Or is she? Is she truly alone...?

From the opening scenes of trees in near-silhouette as dawn is breaking, it's evident that MARA is going to be a carefully considered film, on an aesthetic level if nothing else. It certainly lives up to this initial promise visually, its widescreen compositions of snowy landscapes and inventive interior camerawork persisting in reminding us that these filmmakers have style coming out of their bottoms. I'm not complaining, I like a well-mounted spook show and - irrespective of its unavoidably low budget feel - MARA definitely looks handsome.

Speaking of good looks, co-directors Jacob Kondrup, Fredrik Hedberg and Ake Gustafsson are incredibly fortunate to have bagged Swedish supermodel Jansson in the lead role. She's pretty, has a likeable demeanour and doesn't subscribe to the insultingly dumb traits most females in this genre of cinema are saddled with.

Although short at 77 minutes in length, MARA (which, I believe, translates as 'bad dream') offers solid if slightly predictable entertainment. The pace is brisk, the mystery element should keep audiences watching - though the twist is daft and predictable - and frequent bouts of female nudity are there to cater for those looking for something a little more titillating. The gore, however, comes solely in the form of splashes of red here and there - don't go into this expecting prosthetics and bloody decapitations: the budget clearly didn't allow for such extravagances.

MVD Visual bring MARA to region-free DVD in its uncut state, presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and enhanced for 169 television sets. Though very warm in terms of its colour schemes, the transfer was a tad too dark (symptomatic of the way it was filmed?) and edge enhancement did rear its ugly head on occasion. On balance though, I wouldn't say the film looked bad here.

Swedish 5.1 audio benefits from a nicely balanced, clean mix. Optional English subtitles are always easy to read due to their yellow hue and black outline.

An animated main menu page leads into a similarly animated scene-selection menu which affords access to MARA by way of 12 chapters.

An interesting bunch of extra features, though not listed on the DVD's packaging, are provided:

Most substantially is a 74-minute Behind The Scenes documentary. Adopting a fly-on-the-wall type approach, this proffers a wealth of on-set footage and reveals the shoot to be - despite the frolics of the actresses - quite a serious one, with a lot of emphasis on the compositions of scenes. If you'd welcome more female nudity, then there's lots of it on offer here. The girls seem pretty comfortable with it once things get going. Long hours are evident in the cast's weary faces on occasion.

Next up we have the 4-minute "Casting Mara", in which the filmmakers meet Jansson in a cafe one afternoon to gage her initial interest and suitability for the role. In a heartening post-interview coda, they're bowled over by her charm and intelligence.

A 3-minute interview with the affable actress follows, conducted immediately after the film's first test screening. She speaks of how invigorating it's been to do something different from her norm, the joy of working with other actors and her nerves regarding how the film will be received.

Finally, we're treated to MARA's original trailer - a 93-second affair that gets across the film's style, as well as impressing upon potential viewers the inclusion of gore and boobies.

All bonus material is presented in Swedish with English subtitles.

Why MVD Visual don't advertise their extra features (this isn't the first time they've been coy about them) is a mystery. Still, there's a nice selection of behind-the-scenes stuff on offer here, making this a very respectable disc indeed. The film has enough notes of interest to recommend.

Overall, a welcome surprise.

Review by Stuart Willis