A hand-filmed documentary style movie that will have you believing trolls are real, and being kept a secret.
Synopsis
A group of students investigates a series of mysterious bear killings, but learns that there are much more dangerous things going on. They start to follow a mysterious poacher, learning that he is actually a troll hunter.
Who's In It
This movie is all Norwegian actors so I don't expect you to recognise anyone's name
Otto Jespersen - the Trolljegeren or TrollHunter
Glenn Erland Tosterud - the annoying student documenting the troll hunter
Johanna Mørck - the sound engineer running around with the boom
Tomas Alf Larsen - the camera man, you hardly ever see him
Otto Jespersen - the Trolljegeren or TrollHunter
Glenn Erland Tosterud - the annoying student documenting the troll hunter
Johanna Mørck - the sound engineer running around with the boom
Tomas Alf Larsen - the camera man, you hardly ever see him
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| Not all of the trolls are this size |
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from TrollHunter but I must say I was pleasantly surprised. It's a low budget monster movie which has some kids chasing a troll hunter around Norway.
The film starts by saying that the footage was found on a hard drive and compiled together for this movie. It is filmed in a documentary Blair Witch style shaky camera way, which can be frustrating for some, but it also adds to the tension of certain scenes, especially where the trolls are involved.
The main student Thomas is quite a whiny pain in the ass, the kind of irritating do-gooder student who keeps bothering you until you say yes. This is exactly what he does with his sound engineer and camera man, following the troll hunter into the woods one night and recording him on film during one of his supposed bear hunts. They get attacked by a troll instead and he finally relents, and the kids follow him around for the rest of the film.
The troll hunter himself is quite a lonely guy who doesn't particularly see his job as glamorous. In fact, he thinks it's a shame that the trolls have to be killed, but someone has to do it. I found it quite amusing that the he had to fill out a form to say how each troll died after each kill, whether it exploded or turned to stone.
The trolls themselves are CGI and are actually well animated and look surprised convincing for a low budget film like this. There's quite a few different trolls too, of different shapes and sizes, and some reminiscent of childhood stories like the ones under a bridge.
The plot moves along at a decent pace and the reason there has been so much troll activity is revealed to be a rogue sick troll which needs to literally be taken down.
It's a decent foreign language fantasy horror film and should be checked out by fans of the genre.
One thing I will add is the English dubbing is awful. If you're going to watch this, I would recommend watching it in Norwegian with subtitles.
The film starts by saying that the footage was found on a hard drive and compiled together for this movie. It is filmed in a documentary Blair Witch style shaky camera way, which can be frustrating for some, but it also adds to the tension of certain scenes, especially where the trolls are involved.
The main student Thomas is quite a whiny pain in the ass, the kind of irritating do-gooder student who keeps bothering you until you say yes. This is exactly what he does with his sound engineer and camera man, following the troll hunter into the woods one night and recording him on film during one of his supposed bear hunts. They get attacked by a troll instead and he finally relents, and the kids follow him around for the rest of the film.
The troll hunter himself is quite a lonely guy who doesn't particularly see his job as glamorous. In fact, he thinks it's a shame that the trolls have to be killed, but someone has to do it. I found it quite amusing that the he had to fill out a form to say how each troll died after each kill, whether it exploded or turned to stone.
The trolls themselves are CGI and are actually well animated and look surprised convincing for a low budget film like this. There's quite a few different trolls too, of different shapes and sizes, and some reminiscent of childhood stories like the ones under a bridge.
The plot moves along at a decent pace and the reason there has been so much troll activity is revealed to be a rogue sick troll which needs to literally be taken down.
It's a decent foreign language fantasy horror film and should be checked out by fans of the genre.
One thing I will add is the English dubbing is awful. If you're going to watch this, I would recommend watching it in Norwegian with subtitles.
Things I Learned
I actually felt like I learnt a lot about trolls that I'd forgotten as a kid, and some new stuff too
- Sunlight or UV rays turn trolls into stone or make them blow up
- Trolls piss on trees to mark their territory
- You can use a veterinarian to analyse blood samples from trolls to work out what's wrong with them
- There are two types of troll, woodland and mountain
- Mountain trolls live within the mountains, which would explain why we never see them
- 3 headed trolls are not born with three heads, this happens later
- Trolls eat boulders. They also gnaw on rubber tires
- Trolls can smell Christian blood. Troll stench will help to mask this however. Buckets of blood can however be used to coax them out of hiding
- Power lines are actually fences to keep very tall trolls at bay
3/5 - Good, low budget fantasy entertainment
Trailer
Don't worry, it's in English not Norwegian
Don't worry, it's in English not Norwegian
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I too was pleasantly surprised by this film. A good B-Movie monster film with an interesting premise. Nice review
ReplyDeleteThanks. Hey I like the social sharing options on your guys blog at the bottom of each of your reviews. Wish blogspot did something similar...
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