Thanks to new film Troll Hunter the cute, pencil topping dolls with brightly coloured hair from our youth, are truly a thing of the past.
Trolls are an ancient part of Norse mythology, adopted into the folklore of Scandinavia there is no definitive text about the Troll. Where Vampires can be traced back to Bram Stoker, or Frankenstein to Mary Shelley, the Troll exists in various stories, paintings and manuscripts but has never really been a ‘star’ in its own right. Well, that’s all about to change as Norwegian film Troll Hunter hits the cinema screen. But can Troll Hunter do for the Troll, what Twilight has done for Vampires and Werewolves?
The story revolves around a group of student film makers trying to capture footage of a supposed bear poacher. The group track a trail of dead bears through Norway’s forests interviewing local residents, police and forest rangers. However, they slowly come to realise that the stories about the bear deaths don’t really add up. Suspecting they know who the poacher is they begin a covert chase of a mysterious man named Hans, whose reluctance to speak to them seem to prove he’s up to something. While filming Hans in the dead of night the group come across much more than they bargained for, and so begins a fascinating journey featuring Trolls, government conspiracies and fairytales come to life.
Filmed as faux documentary Troll Hunter is inevitably comparable to The Blair Witch Project, both feature students armed with video cameras in dark woodlands, whose curiosity lands them in hot water in; but Troll Hunter isn’t a horror movie. It’s, well…I’m not sure, a monster movie? Fantasy? Maybe even a comedy?…perhaps there’s something lost in translation, but the film while having some tense moments and genuine suspense ,does seem a little tongue in cheek in places. Regardless of genre, the juxtaposition of faux documentary ‘reality’ with the computer generated Trolls ‘fantasy’ creates a ‘magical realsim’ that makes the creatures and folklore seem believable, and therein lies the films greatest strength.
Like most mock documentaries there are a few slight problems, character development gets forgotten in the process of trying to recreate ‘reality’, and Troll Hunter is no exception. The film lags in places and while the troll sequences are stunning to look at and genuinely exciting to watch, the rest of the movie is a little boring. Having said that, the film is supposed to be ‘found footage’ which makes this pacing plausible. Norway doesn’t see much international success or acclaim for its film industry and Troll Hunter throws some light on a genuinely fascinating aspect of Scandinavian culture and a much underappreciated film scene. Without a Hollywood sized budget, director André Øvredal has done an amazing job with Troll Hunter. Unsurprisingly Hollywood has already announced a remake, so make sure you see the original first.
Troll Hunter is in UK cinemas from Friday 9th September
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