The Troll Hunter (2010)

The Troll Hunter is a Norwegian thriller movie made as a mockumentary, containing many funny elements, directed by André Øvredal. The movie features actors like the Norwegian comedian Otto Jespersen and three relatively unknown actors like Glenn Erland Tosterud, Tomas Alf Larsen and Johanna Mørck.

The movie is about three film students making a documentary about a supposed bear poacher in the Western Norway. They stalk the poacher, Hans, to get an interview with him, but he always avoid them. One night, they follow him into the woods, where they hear weird noises followed by Hans running for his life screaming “TROLL!”, and after this he allows them to follow him on the journey called life, as a troll hunter. He works for a secret governmental department whose job is to seek down and kill trolls that break out of their territories. 

The troll hunter Hans, played by Otto Jespersen

The Troll Hunter is truly inspired by movies such as The Blair Witch Project, but one of the main differences between the two movies is how The Troll Hunter is so humorous compared with The Blair Witch Project. The Blair Witch Project is a movie with a serious story and no funny elements or anything, and all we see is the students being lost, frustrated and scared. The Troll Hunter, in the other hand, uses famous stand-ins in the movie, such as Knut Nærum and Robert Stoltenberg (both comedians), and the whole plot is so distant that it’s funny. Both of the movies are filmed by handheld cameras!

André Øvredal and the rest of the crew have picked great places to shoot the scenes, because the movie gives us Norwegian nature at its best. Western-Norway is known for its beautiful nature, and almost the entire movie is filmed there. The rest is filmed at Dovrefjell, a Norwegian mountain range. The movie does apply a lot to Norwegian culture (old Norwegian adventures, songs for children etc.), and this could be a little confusing for foreign viewers – I laughed while Otto Jespersen sung “Ay-ay-ay-ay-boff-boff” to a big, dumb troll, but I’m not so sure that foreign viewers will get why he sung exactly that song. 

Out in the woods looking for trolls

It’s a pity to say that the special effects were of such variable quality. Some animations looked pretty unfinished, while other scenes were simply amazing. The quality of acting, however, was good - surprisingly good, thinking of the three students. 

I would say that this is a movie worth watching, and many of the aspects are making this movie a good choice at a Friday night. With subtitles, foreigners can watch it and get almost as much out of it as a Norwegian (except from some of the references to Norwegian culture). Everything, from the secret governmental department to the trolls being able to smell sweat from Christian people is just hilarious, and makes this movie a funny mockumentary about a conspiracy. 

The movie is a funny anecdote with no specific age rating. This movie can be seen by everyone in their early teens to the late retirement age, and this is on my recommendation list, mainly because of two reasons: 1) it’s a good movie, and 2) it’s a foreign movie that fits people in Europe and the rest of the world as well as Norwegians. This should not be missed. 

Here's a link to the official trailer, w/ English subtitles: The Troll Hunter

- LB