Troll Hunter

 (2010)***1/2

Three students enter the Norwegian woods to film a documentary on a bear poacher. He's not a bear poacher.

Yeah, I'm beginning to think that if you decide to become a film student or expose evils or whatever is the reason for anyone doing Found Footage, you shouldn't. EVER.

The Norwegian film "Troll Hunter" is interesting in how it's set up and the information we get about the man who is originally said to be a bear poacher, and how the students learn about trolls, the ways they can be fought, and WHY there is a person who hunts them. The build as we see the students get drawn into the world, first by attempting to question the supposed 'poacher' and later as he explains the different types of trolls there are and why he hunts them.

Also how difficult said hunting can be.

"The Black Knight Always Triumphs!"

Like a lot of movies since The Blair Witch Project, the found footage allows for other types of scary moments, as a first-person perspective gets that sense that something dreadful will happen, or is about to happen and you wouldn't see it. It's not until the college students (it's always college students...) agree to the Hunter's demands that he allows them to film him hunting and killing trolls, as well as explains more about each, such as their patterns and why they act in certain ways. Each troll is dangerous, and behaves like large, dangerous, wild animals, to where there are not only hunters permitted to hunt them (like the bear hunters we see early on), but also vets and government officials related to keeping them in check and away from others. However, with things like UV lights, you can easily turn them into stone.

Also yes, they do smell the blood of Christian men. Don't ask me or the guys how, and yes, it's only Christians, not Jewish or Muslim men.

Trolls are not equal-opportunity.

They also tend to take out bridges, trees, and throw large rocks at each other, so you see the necessity of having at least someone hunting them. Though unlike in Supernatural, this guy gets paid, but just not well. Or at all, and his reason for allowing the recordings is that he wants to show his work, which is not all that good, as well as the mundane side of it and how unimpressive troll hunting can be, especially since he's the only one in Norway.

Size reference - also not the biggest troll in the movie

Troll Hunter is a good movie with some good scares and chase scenes, a lot from how monstrous the trolls are, as well as how the hunters and others within the secretive bureaucracy works to reign them in, as well as the issues with those that try to cover it up and pretty much fail at it. The science they have on the trolls, from how they turn to stone in the daylight to the way they act or react to things, as well as how huge they can be, makes for great world-building. The trolls themselves are as dangerous as any other animal-turned-movie-monster, and while slow at times and requiring subtitles (shut up, I know all of my movies and shows so far have had subtitles) the mystery of why the trolls are misbehaving, and what happens to the film students that requires this to be found footage, keeps you from really turning away.