Trollhunter (Norway, 2010) - Color, Director(s): André Øvredal
[original title: Trolljegeren]
MPAA Rating: PG-13
[UK: 15]
Approx. 103 min.
Z-rating: 4 stars out of 5
Cheese Factor: 1 stars out of 5
Here's a movie I've been wanting to review since last year's Found Footage Week. This movie is about a group of college kids who are filming a documentary. They follow this guy, Hans, around believing him to be a bear poacher. Turns out, the guy is secretly working for the Norwegian government as a Trollhunter. Not completely convinced at first, the kids follow him around until they encounter their first real troll. From there, they convince Hans to let them tag along.
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| "Only if you carry my stuff" |
Hans runs the kids through the ins and outs of hunting trolls like what attracts them and how to kill them. Sure, it can be scary to watch people who are caught off guard and completely unprepared for what's about to happen to them. The characters seem more vulnerable to the situation if they don't know what's going on, but I like to watch a real professional at work. Another thing that made this movie really interesting is the fact that I didn't know much of the folklore behind trolls before seeing this movie. All I could tell you from fairy tales were that trolls lived under bridges (there is one that lives under a bridge in this movie though!). Apparently trolls can also smell Christian blood and will turn to stone, or explode, if exposed to sunlight (even UV used to simulate sunlight, in this movie at least). The problem is that these trolls have been more aggressive and are traveling further outside of their territories than usual. Hans has to try to figure out why and kill the ones that have wandered out too far.
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| Trollmobile |
Nudity: None. Troll nudity would be kind of gross... so I'm glad for once that this movie is PG-13
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| Oh god, it even looks like a troll porno... |
Gore: Not much. I think one of the trolls eats a live goat and Hans uses a bucket of blood to bait trolls, however no one is violently torn apart. There was more violence in the Beowulf movie (with Angelina Jolie) where Grendel tears a guy apart and drinks his blood, although I have to say that I was half-expecting a scene like that in this movie.
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| What the fuu~ |
Awesome: Very. I don't think I had ever seen a Norwegian horror before this one but this was absolutely fantastic! The dark and grainy "found footage" style helps to mask any flaws in the CGI, so the trolls look really good. I don't know too much about trolls but I read somewhere that this is really loyal to folklore. I liked that there were a variety of different trolls but there's this one troll at the end that's ENORMOUS! That reminded me of the scene from The Mist when that giant monster stomps past their car. Something about that really freaks me out. There is an American remake on the way, but this is one of those films that I can't imagine translating well. I mean, I guess we know about trolls here too but I can't help but think it'll turn out like Apartment 1303. This is a great creature feature if you're looking for something different to play at your Halloween party.