Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

kapelusznik18 ***SPOILERS*** Said to be Ingman Bergmans most confusing as well as personal project "Hour of the Wolf" has to do with this Swedish painter Johan Borg, Max Von Sydow, who's losing it because of things real and imaginary that he did in his past that are now catching up with him. These things that Johan did manifests themselves to him in a series of dreams that he writes down, in words and drawings, in his secret diary that he keeps from even his wife Alma,Liv Ullmann, who's pregnant with the couples first child. It was in fact Alma who was tuned in on her husband's diary by this 216 year old senior citizen, Niama Wifstrand who showed up at the couples house with the good or better yet bad, for Johan, news.With Johan's cover as a paranoid as well as homicidal lunatic being blown he goes into a deep depression where he cuts himself off from all humanity. We get to see Johan slowly turning into a zombie like individual in a number of episodes where he attends parties and orgies with the local population as well as him reunites with his old flame, said to be dead, Veronica Volger, Ingrid Thulin, whom he meets in what looks like the county morgue. The shock of Volgar coming back to life was what really drove poor Johan nuts as well, from what I could make out in the films final scene, to his death or murder by the locals who in fact were at times more crazier then he was. Were also shown where Johan admitted to his shocked wife Alma that the bite he has on his neck was not that of a snake but by a little boy, possibly a vampire, who attacked him while he was fishing by the shore whom he in return brutally murdered by smashing his skull in with a rock!****SPOILERS**** We finally get to see Johan get what's coming to him when the village people hunt him down and work him over for the crimes that he committed on and off the island where he spent most of his time painting. Alma for her part didn't seem to miss her husband in not only feeling that he got what he deserved but that now with him out of the way she can go on with her, as well as soon to be born child's, life without any fear of him freaking out and making both their lives miserable. Only worth watching as well as suffering through if your a die in the wool Ingmar Bergman fan and willing to put up with his manic depression that he puts into almost all the films that he wrote and directed: If not watch at your own risk!

tieman64 "I will no longer mutilate and destroy myself in order to find a secret behind the ruins." - Hermann Hesse Ingmar Bergman directs "Hour of the Wolf". First image: a black screen, over which we hear the sounds of a camera crew setting up a shot. We then get a close-up of Alma (Liv Ullman), the pregnant wife of Johan (Max von Sydow). Alma's speaking to a documentary crew, and relating a very disturbing tale. This tale, she states, is about the "disappearance of an artist". Alma narrates a tale to us. She informs us that she and Johan escaped to a remote island. As Johan is a painter, the couple hope that this location will provide Johan with both inspiration and the solitude necessary to pursue his art. As Johan has been in an adulterous affair, it is also hoped that the island will bring husband and wife together. Bergman himself had a relationship with Ullman, with whom he fathered a child. The couple split soon after "Wolf's" release.Things don't go well for Johan and Alma. Johan is immediately "pulled away" from his wife, his artwork drawing him away from their rustic home and out toward the morose waves and craggy cliffs which line the island. As Johan is pulled toward his art, becomes more self-involved, Alma becomes miserable. What could possibly interest her husband more than his wife? What is out there? What's calling him? Seeking answers, Alma begins reading Johan's diary.Johan's diary speaks of encounters with five "demonic figures", which Johan calls the "bird-man", "spider-man", "meat-eater", "insect" and "the lady with the hat". All five characters "want a piece of Johan", and together become Bergman's metaphor for the insecurities of self-loathing artists. Whilst Johan praises Alma for being "one person", "consistent" and "whole", he berates himself for being "constantly pulled off in all directions by the demons". "They want you for themselves," an upset Alma says, "and it's harder for them if I'm here!" Bergman's point is clear: the artist belongs to no one human being. Can not even belong to himself. Temperamental, insecure and with an identity always in flux, he is not even sure "who he is". Alma, of course, doesn't understand Johan's plight. She wants him, fully, always, but the now suicidal Johan can't commit to this. To commit is itself a kind of charade. "I can help you!" Alma insists, but Johan brushes her aside. Baffled, Alma begins to attribute Johan's behaviour to demonic possession.Bergman's monsters are largely the product of a husband and a wife's imaginings. Alma is interpreting Johan's diaries far too literally, and Johan is assigning meaning - using the motifs of the horror genre - to psychological behaviour he doesn't fully understand. Because both spouses are confused, ascertaining the "meaning" of the film's five "demons" thus becomes difficult. One "demon" is obviously a reference to Johan's past lover, whilst another is a reference to Baron von Merkens, a wealthy man whom the artist is simultaneously reliant upon, disgusted by and attracted to. Another "demon", an imp-like boy whom Johan kills, speaks to innocence lost, sexual experimentation, shame and also possible homosexuality. The fourth "demon", a man in an overcoat (Ulf Johansson), is both an "art critic" and "psychiatric curator". Johan knocks this figure to the ground, unwilling to hear his diagnoses. The fifth and final "demon" is an elderly woman in white – the "lady in the hat" - who speaks of secrets hidden under beds.Bergman's third act begins with Alma and Johan attending a party at a castle in which all these figures have assembled. Whether they're a coven of witches, vampires, ghosts or merely a grotesque parody of a film-studio after-party, is left up to the audience. Regardless, the creatures all want a piece of Johan, who is able to fend them off only with the help of Alma. The film then ends with Johan abandoning Alma, who lasts sees her husband in the woods, being pulled in different directions by the "creatures". He then disappears.Bergman's final scene finds Alma again addressing we the audience. Looking directly at us, she wonders whether living with a man long enough results in a woman "becoming like her husband". She then begins to blame herself for Johan's disappearance, wondering what she could have done to save the relationship. Should she blame herself? Should she assume responsibility for Johan's vanishing into thin air? Into himself? To the audience, though, it becomes clear that Alma must leave Johan – and so Ullman must leave Bergman – in order to retain her own sanity. The artist's isolation, insomnia and neuroses can be toxic. In pushing her away, Johan might very well have saved Alma from the monsters. By accepting Johan's "vanishing", Alma might have done the same."Hour of the Wolf's" title refers to what Bergman calls "the hour between night and dawn, when nightmares are most real". The title perhaps also refers to the netherworld in which the artist – often most creative at night – lives; a tormented place unfamiliar to most. The film's original title was "Cannibal", a more overt reference to the forces tearing Johan apart.The "self-pitying", "tortured artist" archetype typically carries with it a lot of conceit and self-absorption. "Wolf", which essentially casts a self-lacerating Max Von Sydow as Bergman himself, is however largely devoid of vanity. Indeed, it at times mocks the creative inner lives of men. And all the while the film's concerns remain fixated on Alma. The monsters may tear apart Johan's body, but it is she for whom the film mourns. It is she for whom Bergman/Johan pines for, even when their love becomes an impossibility. Impeccably shot and lit by Sven Nykvist.8/10 – See "Vincent and Theo" and "In a Lonely Place".

kenjha Liv relates story of her life with Max through flashbacks. Max, a disturbed artist, relates profound stories through flashbacks within flashbacks, or they may just be nightmares or hallucinations, or Bergman may have spliced in footage from the wrong film. The couple goes to a party but are too depressed to have a good time. They don't sleep for weeks but try to bore each other to sleep through dull stories and philosophical rants. Strange characters randomly pop in and out, including a boy who bites, a man who walks up walls, and a woman who removes her face and soaks her eyeballs in water. Any coherence in the narrative is purely unintentional on Bergman's part.

Patryk Czekaj Undeniably, this is the most haunting of all films directed by Ingmar Bergman. While it's not as greatly appreciated as his other hit titles, Hour of the Wolf proves to have an overpowering energy, which easily allows the film's core substance to reflect on the connexion between mental illness and demons that haunt us within. Through the utterly surreal story about Johan, a painter possessed by evil illusions, Bergman wanted to make the viewer realize what it really means to be a self-centered artistic persona in the ever-changing world. Johan isn't able to sleep. While awake, he imagines all the strange and despicable people, who glorify him at first, only to ridicule him just a few hours later. Johan later introduces those creatures as emotionless and cruel demons to his frightened wife Alma. She, on the other hand, contemplates on one specific possibility: when two people love each other very much, they can actually share the same dreams and thoughts, ultimately merging their deepest fears and needs and becoming a somewhat single entity.Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann give truly believable and positively eerie performances, as the pair bound for a forthcoming psychological downfall. The film creates a very nightmarish and sombre atmosphere, assaulting the viewer with perfectly horrifying and distressing images. Even though Hour of the Wolf won't necessarily attract a broader audience, it's still a fantastic and refreshing twist to an exemplary Gothic horror tale.