Leave it to the Swedes to think up something as fascinatingly bizarre as Troll Hunter. Using the cinema vérité style of The Blair Witch Project and combining it with strict adherence to a bit of Scandinavian folklore, filmmaker André Øvredal keeps the suspense, the action, and the mystery at a satisfactory level 10 throughout this little foreign gem. The film is cleverly detailed and never boring and while it never makes us laugh or quake with fear for very long, the film succeeds in being an easy, breezy blast through the snow-filled fields of endearing originality.
Working on an expose about poachers in the Norwegian wild, a group of student filmmakers – Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), Johanna (Johanna Mørck), and Kalle the cameraman (Tomas Alf Larsen) – stumble upon a fascinating character who they suspect is a poacher. They collect their evidence and, completely upon accident, discover that it isn’t bears that he hunts. It’s something bigger.
Hans (Otto Jespersen) hunts trolls.
Once a three-headed beast is caught on camera, the student filmmakers decide to follow Hans (after all, what better story could there be?!) and convince him to let them document his story as a government employee hired to hunt and kill the growing troll population. Many adventures follow while hunting the Christian blood-sniffing trolls and the team can’t seem to record enough evidence. Yet, the truth about the existence of trolls could get them all killed...just not from the trolls. It seems there are a lot of political parties none too enthused by Hans willingness to go public with the story…
No genre envelopes are pushed by director Øvredal. There isn’t a lot of blood and gore, just a few tense scenes when trolls are close at hand. Still, the film feels pretty fresh and imaginative to its audience. Clever details keep the film focused and completely engaging. Moments of satire are not lost and the spooktastic comedy mojo the film toys with pays off nicely with scenes involving Hans when he goes one-on-one with various types of bearded trolls.
Troll Hunter might sound absurd. Trolls? Really? Are they kidding? Believe it. This is the real deal in genre filmmaking. Troll Hunter owns up to its absurdity and coughs up troll after troll and does it with such wooded beauty and muted CGI intelligence that it can’t be denied a positive experience.
Destined to have a cult following that stretches around the block come time for its many midnight showings and festival screenings, Troll Hunter is proof positive that there’s something wonderfully creative in Scandinavian’s water supply.
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some sequences of creature terror.
Director: André Øvredal
Writer: André Øvredal
Cast: Otto Jespersen; Glenn Erland Tosterud; Johanna Mørck; Tomas Alf Larsen
Genre: Horror | Adventure
Tagline: You'll believe it when you see it!
Memorable Movie Quote: "Do you think Michael Moore gave up after the first try?"
Distributor: Magnet Releasing
Release Date: January 21, 2011 (Sundance Film Festival)
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: August 23, 2011
Synopsis: The doc jumps off from the concept that the Norwegian government has been hiding the fact that they have a secret population of trolls - real, actual trolls - living on game preserves in the far north of the country, kept safe and secure and out of the public eye to prevent mass panic should people realize that these fairy tale creatures are real. Those high tension power lines you see stretching out over the horizon in unpopulated areas, seemingly going nowhere? Not power lines at all but an electric fence to keep the beasts contained!
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Blu-ray Disc
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Blu-ray Experience
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Blu-ray Details:
English SDH, French, Spanish
(less)English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German SDH
(less)Available on Blu-ray - August 23, 2011
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
Audio: Norwegian: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Single disc (1 BD)
Since the movie is supposed to look like scrappy footage recorded by college students with little experience, don’t pop this into the player expecting to be floored by a glorious picture that dazzles the mind. That being acknowledged, Magnet’s handling of the film is fairly magnanimous in what glories it extends to the 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer. Color and detail are both lavish and true to life. The scenic environments are displayed with a crispness that makes you feel as if your own breath is getting chilled. The film’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is also solid and creates a perfect soundspace for the film.
Supplements:
Commentary:
Special Features:
The supplemental materials are enough to be satisfying as they are of quality. Flushing out a bit more of the story are several deleted scenes. There is a collection of behind-the-scenes moments compiled for one feature and a nice vignette about the special effects. While not complete and a little short, the sound-bite interviews and troll illustrations are pretty interesting.
- Deleted Scenes (3 min)
- Improv and Bloopers (2 min)
- Extended Scenes (8 min)
- Visual Effects (6 min)
- Behind the Scenes (24 min)
- HDNet: A Look at ‘Troll Hunter’ (4 min)
- Photo Galleries (6 min)
