The Troll Hunter

“The Troll Hunter” is a movie that tries to convince us that it’s real, but knows that we won’t believe it. It starts and ends with statements that all of the footage in between is 100% genuine and has not been tampered with. However, all of the footage in between is fantastical and silly, and sometimes deliberately humorous in tone; the statements of factuality are clearly a joke that we are intended to be in on.

Much like last week’s “Apollo 18,” the film is presented to us through a found-footage format, i.e. it’s filmed by the characters within the film. Unlike “Apollo 18,” this format feels natural to the film’s story. I also feel that “The Troll Hunter” would not benefit from being filmed “normally,” as opposed to “Apollo 18,” where the format was annoying.

Originally titled “Trolljegeren,” the film is Norwegian and written and directed by André Øvredal. It’s relatively low-budget and is both a comedy and a horror. As the title may have already informed you, the film revolves around a hunter of trolls; yes, apparently trolls exist, and they’re very, very dangerous.

However, the film does not initially revolve around trolls. It begins as a documentary investigating the mysterious shootings of local bears, filmed by college students Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), Johanna (Johanna Mørck) and Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen). The suspected bear poacher is Hans (Otto Jespersen), a bearded loner travelling around in a jeep and a caravan.

Our three protagonists begin secretly following and filming Hans, who refuses to answer any of their questions. One night, Hans goes deep into the woods, with Thomas, Johanna and Kalle in close pursuit. What they discover is that Hans is not actually hunting bears; he’s hunting something much, much bigger. Spoiler: he’s hunting trolls.

These trolls are large creatures, though their largeness varies. They’re humanoid and have bulbous noses. Some have one head, some have three. Some turn to stone when exposed to UV lights, some explode. All of them appear to be quite dumb, luckily. They’re portrayed to us through use of CGI; it’s very convincing CGI, which is presumably enhanced by the shakiness of the camerawork.

Hans hunts down trolls for the government, who are adamant that the public be oblivious to the creatures’ existence. He’s grown tired of the business, and agrees to let Thomas, Johanna and Kalle film him on his troll-hunting adventures; Hans wants them to use the footage to expose the truth to the general public. How we don’t know already is a tad peculiar.

These adventures become increasingly dangerous, though of course cameraman Kalle never thinks to let go of the camera. The trolls loudly stomp around, crushing trees and causing the ground to vibrate as they stampede towards our terrified protagonists. Occasionally, the camera is filming nothing more than a blur of mud and trees as the camera-operator runs for their life; night-vision is also utilised to properly see the towering beasts. These make for very suspenseful moments that are frequently quite frightening, though their silliness is always in the back of our minds.

And when the trolls aren’t moping about and growling away for us to see and hear, we’re being educated about them. Hans explains everything there is to know about trolls: their nature, their world and their general way of life. We learn about their sources of food, their different species, their lifespan and their gestation periods. It’s all very interesting to listen to and learn about; trolls are pretty fascinating creatures, I gladly discovered.

“The Troll Hunter” is a refreshing comedy-horror and a triumphant addition to the found-footage subgenre. It’s got a cool and creative concept that’s explored thoroughly, a lovely cast (especially Jespersen as the titular troll-hunter), marvellous special effects and several scenes that are thrilling and tense. I would expect to see more movies about trolls in the future, if I were you.

8/10