André Øvedal’s Troll Hunter starts with a disclaimer, which claims all images that are about to be seen are completely authentic. This ‘Mockumentary’ is about a group of students who choose to follow and film a mysterious bear hunter, ‘Hans’ (Otto Jespersen). They soon get far more than they bargained for, discovering that Hans is in fact hired by a secret government body to scourge the menace of real life Trolls, that are causing destruction and devastation around the scenic mountains and forests of Norway.
Troll Hunter asks it’s audience to ‘believe’ this new truth. Throughout the film Hans shows them ‘signs’ of Troll interference that are things we see everyday and discard as natural occurrences. They endeavor to plant a single, simple idea in our heads and make us doubt ourselves. I believe if a handful of people leave the cinema questioning the legitimacy of telegraph poles and pylons really being electric fences that act as a cage for unruly Trolls, then Øvedal’s work here is done.
The first half is incredibly tense, with dark, silent moments giving you the feeling that something is about to jump out, reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project. However, the anticipation is not at all symbiotic with the output.
The footage is very cleverly edited to give the feeling of amateur hand held camerawork and the realism inherent in the deadpan humour and casual stoicism toward an otherwise extra-ordinary subject worked in it’s favour. The design and execution of these monsters was exceptional. With the end result being a creature that looked like something out of Pans Labyrinth combined with Lord of the Rings.
There were elements of social commentary, but their ultimate statement was somewhat lost in the build up of an idea that unfortunately never got off the ground.
The film has some very clever ideas but fell victim to it’s own hype. With a misleadingly scary, action-packed trailer and ominous taglines, the pace of the film was a let down. It read more like a nature documentary that when it hit the mid point, dragged lethargically towards a disappointing and ultimately pointless conclusion.
The film wasn’t sure whether it was a Documentary, a Horror, a Comedy or a Fantasy, and it’s failure to decide upon its direction and establish a genre ultimately led to it’s inability to execute any of them effectively.
Think Cloverfield without the action and Where The Wild Things Are without the charm.
