Troll Hunter

I saw this at Sundance last Friday and have to say it is the most fun I have had at the movies in a long while. The story is filmed in "mockumentary" style a la Cloverfield and has a healthy dose of dry Scandanavian humor to accent the dramatic and action sequences. While the story is relatively tight, it does not have the pretense as Sundance entries often do, as it never takes itself too seriously. We ran into a couple of the film's producers the next day in Park City and found them to be as grounded as the film they were behind.

I highly recommend this film and seriously hope it sees the light of day in the U.S.

People complaining this isn't a horror film must not understand the mockumentary genre. It's a lovely little film, rich with detail, not to mention the awesome Norwegian landscape. I understand that if one is Norwegian, there cues to culture and mythology throughout. But without getting any of that, really, I'm satisfied. Any film that ends with me smiling, I consider a good film. To my mind, the trolls are just right. A little scary, little funny. I gather if you are Norwegian, you are already familiar with the troll Hunter himself, Otto Jespersen. I had no clue he was Norway's most famous comedian, so the was no disbelief to suspend. He did an excellent job. The kids were fine. Basically I have no complaints at all and enjoyed the film very much ...

This movie deserves allot of praise, simply for how well it plays on the Norwegian cultural memes. Visually it is also quite good, as it show of the landscapes and places in which the folklore of trolls actually arose, and of course spices it with lovely computer graphics when needed. The graphics merge very well with the mockumentary style, and the movie itself falls between categories, mixing comedy, action and fake amateur documentary style.

The bad sides are simply that it lacks a bit of flow at times, and of course, the biggest drawback of them all, one which only applies for foreigners: it's a very very Norwegian story. I saw it with my Portuguese girlfriend, and she thought it was okay. I briefed her on our fairy tales before seeing it, but jokes like the three sheep on the bridge are hard to catch, or appreciate, without being marinated in our culture for a long time. One other issue for me was actually the cameo appearance of two Norwegian comedians, something which slightly spoils the illusion. Others might disagree.

I suspect this movie would be a seven or six of ten if I was not Norwegian, simply for its concepts, but because it is so rich to me, I give it a ten despite its flaws. You'll love this movie for its visual side, and some of the drama is also great. For Norwegians, this is a must see. For everyone else, it might be exotic and neat, and offer you some relief from classical Hollywood monster depictions.

And should you get curious after seeing it, Google for "Theodor Kittelsen", and "Asbjornsen and Moe" (: Enjoy!

I gave this one a shot as Øvredal was behind it. It hit the mark. With the exception of one or two brief scenes, it's not really a horror movie or particularly scary. What it is is a well-done fauxumentary of three (well, four . . .) young Norwegians following a chain-smoking government trollhunter in a continous hunt for his wayward charges.

The scenery is beautiful; the actors engaging. And while the film (perhaps surprisingly) does decide to use CGI more than one might expect, the injection of humor into the story-line makes the use of (night vision) CGI much more effective, as the point is not to so much to "scare" but rather to outline (faithfully IMO) a very Scandinavian depiction of these mythic forest inhabitants. This is a real gem. Watch it.

Very enjoyable movie and also fun at times. Trolls are made very well. A bad thing though is the continuous screaming of the characters and the fact that human reactions are not really good.