Troll Hunter is a Norwegian film that, perhaps unsurprisingly, takes place in Norway and centers around 3 college students shooting a documentary about some mysterious bear killings. The students comprising of two men and a woman, stumble upon a hunter who they decide must have something to do with the killings. He doesn't. And they soon find out, by traveling with him, that it's actually trolls doing the killings and the adventure begins from there.
It's shot in The Blair Witch Project style, in the same way that Cloverfield, REC and many other films have been produced since Blair Witch. In fact, Troll Hunter does a fair job of poking fun at The Blair Witch Project. It's opening graphic declares the students missing and only their tapes recovered in much the same way as The Blair Witch Project.
I like the fact that Troll Hunter from the very first scene acknowledges that, yeah, we joined the shaky camera POV club. Let's put the Blair Witch comparison right in your face. For me, that set the right tone coming out of the gate.
Troll Hunter really has only three main characters. Hans the troll hunter, the trolls, and the three university students. I'm combining the students into one character since they seem to take a back seat to the other two characters and it's hard to get much of a feel for them as characters since they essentially function as the camera point of view.
Really, it's troll hunter Hans who makes the film. Hans, played by Otto Jespersen, is the focus of the film. His strong performance strengthens the film and gives the viewer a character to focus on amidst the herky jerky camera moves. Jespersen, like the film itself, is able to alternate between comedy and drama effectively. One moment he's complaining about his lack of overtime pay as a troll hunter and then next he's frantically running from the trolls with every bit the fear of God on his face. Perhaps my favorite scene is the students introduction to trolls. Hans comes running towards them yelling "troll!" Captured nicely the mood of the entire film. Funny and frantic. Trust me, it's funny when you actually see it.
The three students are mostly non-descript. And this might be one area where the film is lacking. There are two males, Thomas and Kalle and one woman, Johanna. A few days after seeing the film I'm not even sure I'm getting the names correct. Their main function is to ask Hans questions for us, the viewers, and, obviously film the goings on. Later, after the death of one of the males, Malica, another university student and a Muslim, is added. This prompts the question to Hans that if Trolls can smell Christians might they also be able to smell Muslims. "I honestly don't know," Hans, replies. Her addition, much like the other three, adds little. Rarely do we see or hear her and may really have been added only for the punch line about whether the trolls could smell Muslims.
The trolls on the other hand are quite memorable. They are wonderfully fairy tale like. An excellent job was done with the look of these creatures. I imagine they were copied from fairy tale books. Honestly, with the many, many creatures I've seen through the years on the big screen, these guys were refreshingly original. A nice blend of scary and comical. I actually felt more empathy towards them then I did towards the students. There were several different varieties of troll as well, so with each discovery, we get treated to a new troll. Of course, the most spectacular troll, is saved for the final scenes.
Although I've given away a fair amount, I'm intentionally not going into too much depth, since some of the best moments come as surprises. And I believe much of the entertainment value would be lost if too much is given away.
Troll Hunter is a lot of fun and has some nice comedic scenes. Unless you speak Norwegian though, reading the subtitles while watching the herky jerky cam may try your patience a bit, but nevertheless, Troll Hunter is worth seeing, if only for the trolls.
I'm a believer.
It would also make a nice double feature with the Finnish film Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale.
It's shot in The Blair Witch Project style, in the same way that Cloverfield, REC and many other films have been produced since Blair Witch. In fact, Troll Hunter does a fair job of poking fun at The Blair Witch Project. It's opening graphic declares the students missing and only their tapes recovered in much the same way as The Blair Witch Project.
I like the fact that Troll Hunter from the very first scene acknowledges that, yeah, we joined the shaky camera POV club. Let's put the Blair Witch comparison right in your face. For me, that set the right tone coming out of the gate.
Troll Hunter really has only three main characters. Hans the troll hunter, the trolls, and the three university students. I'm combining the students into one character since they seem to take a back seat to the other two characters and it's hard to get much of a feel for them as characters since they essentially function as the camera point of view.
Really, it's troll hunter Hans who makes the film. Hans, played by Otto Jespersen, is the focus of the film. His strong performance strengthens the film and gives the viewer a character to focus on amidst the herky jerky camera moves. Jespersen, like the film itself, is able to alternate between comedy and drama effectively. One moment he's complaining about his lack of overtime pay as a troll hunter and then next he's frantically running from the trolls with every bit the fear of God on his face. Perhaps my favorite scene is the students introduction to trolls. Hans comes running towards them yelling "troll!" Captured nicely the mood of the entire film. Funny and frantic. Trust me, it's funny when you actually see it.
The three students are mostly non-descript. And this might be one area where the film is lacking. There are two males, Thomas and Kalle and one woman, Johanna. A few days after seeing the film I'm not even sure I'm getting the names correct. Their main function is to ask Hans questions for us, the viewers, and, obviously film the goings on. Later, after the death of one of the males, Malica, another university student and a Muslim, is added. This prompts the question to Hans that if Trolls can smell Christians might they also be able to smell Muslims. "I honestly don't know," Hans, replies. Her addition, much like the other three, adds little. Rarely do we see or hear her and may really have been added only for the punch line about whether the trolls could smell Muslims.
The trolls on the other hand are quite memorable. They are wonderfully fairy tale like. An excellent job was done with the look of these creatures. I imagine they were copied from fairy tale books. Honestly, with the many, many creatures I've seen through the years on the big screen, these guys were refreshingly original. A nice blend of scary and comical. I actually felt more empathy towards them then I did towards the students. There were several different varieties of troll as well, so with each discovery, we get treated to a new troll. Of course, the most spectacular troll, is saved for the final scenes.
Although I've given away a fair amount, I'm intentionally not going into too much depth, since some of the best moments come as surprises. And I believe much of the entertainment value would be lost if too much is given away.
Troll Hunter is a lot of fun and has some nice comedic scenes. Unless you speak Norwegian though, reading the subtitles while watching the herky jerky cam may try your patience a bit, but nevertheless, Troll Hunter is worth seeing, if only for the trolls.
I'm a believer.
It would also make a nice double feature with the Finnish film Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale.