Review: Inside the whore

The sequel to Norway’s first exploitation film offers a new twist on the genre. And, not only is it a mockumentary about the shooting of a horror film, it is also mocking the Norwegian film establishment.

The whore (2009) became a worldwide cult hit and inspired director Reinert Kiil to device a sequel in what may become a trilogy. Inside the whore, or The whore 2 as it is sometimes referred to, is a sequel in spirit, as it isn’t a linear continunation (nor a prequel) to the first film. In stead it is a fake documentary (mockumentary) about the shooting of a low budget horror film, and we get to see behind-the-scenes footage, cast and crew interviews, more or less random documentary footage, and things caught on tape that probably was never meant to be seen. The overall story is about how the cast and crew are pushed over unreasonable limits in order to achieve the common goal which is the making of the film, including how the director goes mad in his attempts to “motivate” his team. It doesn’t end there though, because the mockumentary is actually a film within a film – a wrapper story encapsules the mockumentary, and these 10 minutes give the whole project a dimension that makes it more than just another mockumentary.

The mockumentary bit is offered exactly as expected; handheld camera capturing rehearsals and backstage preparations, mixed with “officially prepared” bonus material intended for the DVD. In terms of style, the mockumentary is completely generic but it does have a narrative and is not just a random collection of found footage. It takes a while for the story to emerge though, and on the way you may get dizzy from watching so much handheld shakycam on the big screen (the press screening was at a cinema), so you start longing for some juice gore, either from sneak peeks from the film within the film, or from horrifying things happening to the cast and crew. Sadly, the blood and guts level is quite low. And when the red stuff appears, it isn’t always as spectacular as expected. In fact, the whole film leans as much towards psychological terror as physical mayhem. This may disappoint some, even though the film might be the first psychological exploitation mockumentary ever. If that was the aim of the director, Kiil deserves kudos for not subjecting to expectations.

Inside the whore is about a film shoot going sour, but that is related to the wrapper story – the film that we’re really here to see. The wrapper story is about a theatrical censorship screening where the Norwegian media authority is supposed to give their verdict, and give the film an age limit, if approved at all. The brief wrapper story, which includes the complete screening of the mockumentary, is actually Kiil’s attack on the Norwegian film establishment which never gave him any support, and will probably never support or approve of grindhouse films like The whore. It’s clear that what happens in the mockumentary is a symbol of what one could say has happened in the Norwegian film business; it has gone sour and corrupt, and the people representing government censorship deserve to get brutally killed. Artistically speaking, of course. Inside the whore is a statement about the Norwegian film industry, and as much media commentary as it is violent entertainemtn. It is hard not to sympathize with that message.

As an exploitation film, Inside the whore would have benefited from more of the fun stuff (gore, violence, nudity – there are several hot girls present who keeps “disappointing” you – but maybe that also refers to the letdowns and false promises of the film industry) and a higher tempo in the narrative department, but the film makes up for it by being clever and intelligent.

Directed by Reinert Kiil.

Rated 7 of 10.

Norway, 2011.