A few years ago I saw a preview for a cool-looking Russian film called “Nochnoy Dozor” or “Night Watch”. The preview was full of dark, moody settings, and a secret war of immortals, some of whom may or may not be vampires. It looked pretty cool, and reportedly was the highest grossing movie in Russian history, but months later had still not yet hit American theaters.

Eventually, an American version was released, dubbed in English, and edited to American tastes. It came out to mediocre reviews before disappearing fairly quickly. The sequel, “Day Watch,” has also come and gone.

A few weeks ago I finally tracked down an original, subtitled, version of the film. Well, it’s different.

I often hear complaints that a movie spent too much time on setup and not enough actually telling the story. You won’t hear anyone making that complaint against “Night Watch.” There is a brief opening sequence that tells of when the good and evil immortals fought an ancient battle that ended in an uneasy truce. After that, it’s hold on and try not to get lost. Huge portions of the plot and backstory and physics and setting of the story are left unexplained. The immortal Others can move in and out of an invisible dimension called the Gloom, but the rules and details of which are never explained.

The movie looks really cool, but is very difficult to follow, and serves as a jumping off point into a larger story. I eventually understood everything that was in the movie, but some of it only after most of the movie had gone by. Characters are thrown in with little introduction, and some plot lines don’t seem to matter too much to the movie as a whole. I hope that the sequels can bring a movie with lots of potential to a wider audience.