Troll Hunter

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Somewhere in the mountains of Norway director Thomas (Tosterud), with a small film crew comprising of Johanna (Morck) and Kalle (Larsen), is hunting down what the locals call a 'poacher'. Thomas reckons different: he suspects the grizzled Hans (Jespersen) isn't merely hunting bears… he's hunting trolls. What? As in Billy Goats Gruff trolls? The same. Reluctant to be interviewed at first, the crew convince the disgruntled Hans to take them on a hunt… and what they find is beyond any myth, folklore or nightmare.

Writer-director Ovredal has fun in the details, which are presented in an everyday ordinariness. Hans hates filling out Slayed Troll Forms; power lines in the mountains have nothing to do with bringing electricity to the secluded areas of the country but are there to keep trolls in; the Norwegian government are in on it too, blaming the slaughter of livestock on bears who have wandered over the Swedish border. The director also throws in a cheeky take on the Billy Goats Gruff fairy-tale with altogether darker (and funnier) undertones. Stay for the end credits gag, which is the best of the bunch.

Overdal, however, is guilty of getting bogged down in the details. The various species of trolls – Ringlefinch, Tosserlad, Rimetosser, Jotnar (the big one on the poster) and Mountain King – and their idiosyncrasies are explored ad nauseam. This all supposed to be a bit of a laugh but the dialogue isn't exactly of the thigh-slapping nature. Tense scenes can fail to register too. When Hans bounds through the trees, runs right into the camera and screams "Troooooolll!" for the first time, the result is silliness than excitement. At one point the gang are trapped in a cave by sleeping Mountain Kings, but because they look like Fraggle Rock's Gorgs it kills any kind of threat the scene might have had.

But there's no denying the special effects, which work hard to make the trolls as believable as possible, and the energy the cast bring to the table. The Troll Hunter isn't the movie it wants to be but it's certainly a passable hour and a half. Expect a remake courtesy of Chris Columbus in the near future.