There’s something charming about a movie that takes one of the most boring jobs on the planet—working nights at a morgue—and insists, “No, really, this will be terrifying.” Nightwatch (1997), the American remake of the Danish film Nattevagten, is what happens when you hand Ewan McGregor a flashlight, Patricia Arquette a permanent worried look, Nick Nolte a trench coat that smells like whiskey, and Josh Brolin a collection of bad life choices, then tell them to go chase a necrophiliac serial killer around Los Angeles. It sounds ridiculous—and it absolutely is—but in all the right ways.
Welcome to the Morgue, Please Don’t Touch the Corpses
The story centers on Martin Bells (Ewan McGregor, rocking an American accent that sounds like it’s been left in the microwave too long). He’s a law student in need of extra cash, so naturally he takes the least sane job imaginable: night watchman at a hospital morgue. Because who wouldn’t want to study tort law by day and babysit corpses by night?
At first, Martin treats it like just another graveyard shift (pun intended). But then the bodies piling up in the morgue stop being random, and start resembling the handiwork of a very busy necrophiliac serial killer. Inspector Cray (Nick Nolte, looking like he hasn’t slept since 48 Hrs.) keeps dropping in with his gravelly voice and intense stares, convinced Martin knows more than he’s saying. Meanwhile, corpses seem to be popping up everywhere Martin goes, like he’s some kind of morbid Forrest Gump.
Ewan McGregor: Flashlight Hero
This was McGregor’s first American film, back before he became Obi-Wan and the internet’s go-to “handsome sad man with a beard.” Watching him try to play the wide-eyed everyman in a morgue full of eyeless prostitutes is oddly delightful. His American accent isn’t terrible, but it does sound like he’s constantly suppressing the urge to order haggis.
McGregor sells Martin’s gradual unraveling with the kind of sincerity that almost makes you forget you’re watching a movie where Nick Nolte lurks in corners like a gargoyle with a badge. His reactions to creepy noises and ominous corpses are spot-on: part terrified, part “I’m not paid enough for this.”
Patricia Arquette: The Girlfriend with Eternal Patience
Arquette plays Katherine, Martin’s girlfriend, whose main job is to look concerned while Martin spirals into morgue-related paranoia. It’s a thankless role, but she does it well. She’s supportive, she’s skeptical, and she spends the whole movie looking like she wants to drag Martin to Ikea and remind him what normal people do on weekends. Honestly, Katherine is the kind of girlfriend horror movie protagonists don’t deserve—loyal, patient, and only mildly disturbed by the fact that her boyfriend spends eight hours a night locked in a building with corpses.
Josh Brolin: Best Friend, Worst Human
Then there’s James (Josh Brolin), Martin’s best friend and walking bad idea machine. James is the kind of guy who thinks loyalty means buying you a drink before ruining your life. He’s sleazy, he’s reckless, and he introduces Martin to prostitutes the way normal people introduce friends to Spotify playlists. Brolin plays him like a frat bro who got lost in a crime thriller and decided to stay because the drinks were cheaper.
James is both comic relief and a walking PSA for why you shouldn’t have friends. Every time he’s on screen, you know someone’s dignity (if not their life) is about to be shredded.
Nick Nolte: Detective or Demon?
Nick Nolte deserves his own category here. As Inspector Cray, he doesn’t so much “act” as he does “loom.” His voice sounds like a chainsaw trying to quit smoking, and his face looks carved from old leather. He radiates menace so effectively that you spend half the film wondering if he’s the killer just because he seems more terrifying than the actual killer.
Every scene with Nolte feels like it could end with him either solving the case or eating Martin’s liver. It’s hard to tell, and that’s the fun.
Atmosphere: Where Neon Goes to Die
The morgue is the real star of the movie. Dark hallways, flickering lights, corpses lying around like extras waiting for SAG cards—it’s a Gothic funhouse designed to make you question every career choice you’ve ever made.
The cinematography, courtesy of Dan Laustsen (later of The Shape of Water and John Wick: Chapter 2 fame), turns sterile corridors into something out of a fever dream. Shadows are everywhere. Even the corpses look like they’re auditioning for an arthouse remake of Weekend at Bernie’s.
Humor in the Horror
What makes Nightwatch perversely enjoyable is how often it flirts with absurdity. Necrophilia is the killer’s signature, but the movie handles it with a kind of grim, unintentional camp. One moment, Martin’s panicking because he thinks he’s framed for murder; the next, you realize this entire case hinges on who’s having a worse week at the morgue.
There’s also the little touches: Brolin’s sleazy jokes, McGregor muttering one-liners about “USA Network movies,” and Nolte acting like he’s in a different, angrier film altogether. It’s horror with a side of unintentional comedy, like watching a funeral where the priest keeps slipping on the waxed floor.
Why It Works (Mostly)
Yes, the film has flaws. The pacing drags, the plot twists are predictable, and Dimension Films meddled with it until even Steven Soderbergh wanted to throw his typewriter into the sea. But Nightwatch still works because it commits to its ridiculousness with a straight face.
The morgue setting is perfect for claustrophobic tension. The cast—especially McGregor and Nolte—elevates what could have been just another late-’90s thriller. And the film’s mix of Gothic gloom and sleazy melodrama makes it feel like the unholy child of Seven and a Lifetime movie.
The Verdict: A Morbid Little Treat
Nightwatch isn’t a masterpiece, but it’s a delicious slice of ’90s horror-thriller cheese. It gives you McGregor in a morgue, Nolte as a human thundercloud, Brolin as a disaster in jeans, and Arquette as the saintly girlfriend we all wish we had. It’s moody, it’s silly, and it’s got just enough gore to make you question why anyone ever thought being a night watchman was a good idea.
If you like your horror thrillers a little trashy, a little campy, and filled with the kind of actors who will one day win awards but currently look confused to be here, Nightwatch delivers. It’s not art, but it is entertaining. And really, isn’t that what you want when you settle in for a movie about necrophilia, morgues, and Ewan McGregor trying not to sound Scottish?
