Trollhunter

2010 ****1/2

I threw this in my queue after JPX's glowing review, and I was delighted to see it live up to the hype. Trollhunter works because its core juxtapostion is kind of awesome: the harsh, bouncy reality of on-the-ground documentary footage combined with subject matter that is not only born of fantasy but looks like a fairy tale illustration. Sure, the trolls have a gritty, "real" demeanor, but they also sport comically long noses and some types could pass as a stinky gang of large muppets.

None of that would work, however, were it not for the brilliant portrayal of the title character, Hans. When the film crew first starts following him, he angrily tells them to get lost. But after the night when they follow him and get a troll bite and a car-trashing for their trouble, some switch inside Hans quietly flips. The next day he offers to tell (and show) them everything, saying he's fed up with being Norway's only trollhunter, a job which offers lousy benefits and no time off.


Since the troll bite happened in the dark, their first outing with Hans is a "(snicker) we're following this guy who believes in trolls" kind of thing, but it doesn't stay that way for long. With troll experience under their belts, the crew starts asking good questions during the downtime. What emerges, besides the story of real trolls and the government's dealing with them, is a complex, layered person who's been secretive and socially sidelined for decades. The way he speaks out is marvelously dry and convincing, and the resulting story becomes completely fascinating.

One of my favorite parts are the peeks inside his trailer, which contains countless sketches he's made, his clippings of everyday news events the trained eye can see are troll-related, and his bed, which is constantly lit by bright tanning lights. Trolls hate sunlight and Hans puts on sunscreen every night, because "I have trouble sleeping in the dark." These moments of vulnerability mix compellingly with his unexpected displays of both passion (for his cause) and impassion (for his fellow humans).


The effect of this deft character building is to make the action scenes much more meaningful and fun. When Hans dons heavy armor to mix it up with a troll hiding under a bridge (who just ate the three goats, no less), my heart leapt when he suddenly takes a severe troll beatdown. His fatigued groans after he gets up become downright hilarious. And through it all, he displays something not quite insanity, but beyond simple bravery. Call it passion for getting things done.

I shit you not, right here he's saying "we have to get in front of him."
Other big bonuses in the Trollhunter goody bag: The landscape of Norway is beautiful, even seen through a car window. It reminded me of driving around New Hampshire, but on some kind of landscape steriods. Also, I found the Norwegian language, which I've heard very little of, to be a pleasant listening experience. It's guttural and classy-sounding at the same time. And there's a cute scene with a veterinarian who might be Hans's girlfriend, speaking eagerly and clinically about the science behind trolls hating sunlight.

I dinged this a half-star off perfect for two reasons. The first was that elements of the "it's a coverup!" subplot kind of bored me. The secrecy of trolls is certainly necessary to the story, I don't have any suggestions as to how they could improve it, and I must admit the slimey bureaucrat bad guy comes off just right. It's a personal thing; the phrase "the people have the right to know!" just makes my eyes glaze over. I often think "Do they?" Especially in this case, as there are hints that the secrecy is for the trolls' protection more than anything else.

The second reason is the minute or so of honest-to-god shakey-cam footage of people running through the woods that appears in the first couple of nightly outings. As we here at Horrorthon continue to accumulate found footage flicks and continue to find the camera work endurable, I've realized something. I bring up my hatred of shakey-cam a lot, but it comes from a short list of film experiences.

The first is The Double Life of Veronique, which I'd seen at the New York film festival (in a humongous theater) and loved, taking a date to see it when it opened in theaters. The movie was popular and we had to sit up close, and while it wasn't a found footage movie and it only uses steadicam a little, those scenes were enough to give us both headaches.

The second is the footage on Jordan's video camera from the first few months he owned it. (Sorry to call you out, dude, but I know it's not a surprise. I never could watch us from that day in Central Park in one go, and I recall whining "I feel like I'm inside the camera when it whips around!")

And, of course, goddamn Blair Witch. To date I have not been able to rewatch that movie, because I have no desire to revisit all that footage of somebody running in the dark in the woods with a camera in their hand. Every time I've cringed at the idea of a found footage movie and it's turned out okay (Cloverfield, Quarantine and Trollhunter to name a few), it's been because of the literal pain Blair Witch put in my head.

As I said, it's mostly turned out okay. But just as I wish the makers of Matrix: Reloaded had looked at those "ruling council" scenes and thought "how can we make this less like Star Trek: The Next Generation," I wish the Trollhunter folks had taken steps to make their movie as unlike Blair Witch as possible. It's only a minute, but it made my eyes roll.

In all other ways, this movie is recommended for all Horrothonners as a troll-sized slam dunk. And by that I mean a troll doing a slam dunk that shatters the backboard, caves in the floor and is followed by the troll eating three of the opposing team. Don't miss it.