Troll Hunter (15) **** (DVD)
Dir: Andre Ovredal
Starring: Otto Jespersen, Robert Stoltenberg, Glenn Erland Tosterud
Summary: A trio of Norwegian college students making a documentary about bear hunters and bear poachers uncover a secret that the government is trying to keep under-wraps – Trolls are running amok in the countryside! They meet and follow Trollhunter Hans as he chases down and kills trolls using UV lights as weapons against the giant beasts.
Verdict: Troll Hunter certainly lived up to the hype that was created around it. The use of the handheld camera which has been used in The Blair Witch Project & Cloverfield seems to have been, to an extent, perfected in this film. While still jerky and blatantly hand-held, it is less disorientating and stomach upsetting as previous offerings. This can probably be attributed to the characters being film students and not just kids with cameras, giving the producers an excuse to steady the filming, whilst keeping it real.
Having said this, there are some scenes of external vehicle shots which could be either seen as building on the more ‘professional’ documentary styles (the characters setting up deliberate shots) or an accidental cock-up which drew my attention back to it being a piece of entertainment.
The characters are good and believable, with the advantage that any stilted or less than perfect acting can be attributed to the characters role as nervous college student documentarians, rather than the actors themselves.
Otto Jespersen is Hans, the Troll Hunter the film is named after. His quiet and reclusive portrayal of the character emphasises the secret nature of his work, and also a world weary attitude that goes with it.
The special effects are great, from the trolls themselves to the various deaths when subjected to UV lights – trolls explode in sunlight when young and turn to stone as they get older. The play on mythology surrounding the beats gives the producers
All in all this is a very enjoyable film to watch, and is a much more pleasant experience than Cloverfield to watch with its smoother camera work.
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