Smelly, ugly, nasty trolls

TROLLHUNTER (2010)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

 Audiences are used to a steady diet of freaky gore shows that claim to be horror that anything else won't do. Fangoria magazine covered a preview of this movie in early 2011, a mag that often covers horror films that are not resolutely pure gore. André Ovredal's "Trollhunter" is a quixotic delight, a funny and irreverent social commentary on Norway's environment, its circular power lines, the nature of government cover-ups, etc. Okay, I am be overdoing it on subtext but it is also a scary picture because seeing oversized trolls who sniff and kill without remorse is a little terrifying.

A documentary crew is investigating a series of bear killings in the Norwegian countryside. A suspected bear poacher named Hans (Otto Jespersen, a comedian) is followed by the crew into mountainous Norwegian regions, seeking not to kill a bear but those fantastical mammals of folklore - trolls. The difference is that these trolls are nasty, smell bad, kill livestock, make loud snarling noises and are infected with a form of rabies. Hans' job is to kill them with flashes of light that turn the trolls into stone.

The movie is told from the point-of-view of found footage from filmmakers. I might have preferred a more sound approach where we are just following a crew making a documentary, as opposed to edited found footage ("Blair Witch Project" clones have been harping on this cliche for a decade). Still, it doesn't make a big difference - the movie is smooth and quick with moments of sheer terror (Hans in medieval-like armor confronting a troll), comical brilliance (like the three-headed troll that scratches its leg or Hans filling out a troll kill form) and government cover-ups that are exceedingly funny (such as a paint van service that provides dead bears from Croatia so that nobody suspects trolls are responsible for killing animals, or the power station where an occupant has no idea why the power lines run circular in the snowy landscape). Speaking of sheer terror and gravitas, nothing beats a scene where a gigantic troll in the frozen tundra of Norway stars chasing the crew while Hans plays some hymns from his vehicle (I think earlier in the film he sings "Danny Boy" but I could be wrong).

"Trollhunter" is a marvelous, original, often hilarious film, containing more thrills and laughs than the average Hollywood picture. I also like the crew though they are not as memorable as Hans - a hunter who is sick of chasing and killing trolls (he keeps their tails and troll entrails to make himself smell like a troll). Hollywood is wanting to churn out a remake but I say, uh, uh. The movie is so inundated with Norwegian origin and with the visuals of its countryside and woodland areas that only someone from Norway could have made this film.