The Troll Hunter

[discoviking]

The Norwegian movie 'The Troll Hunter' came out in Norway last year, and has recently been released in the US. It had a limited theater run, and is now available on DVD and BlueRay. It is a 'Lost footage' mockumentary, in the tradition of the Blair Witch Project.

Three student filmmakers decide to make a documentary about the mysterious 'Hans', who they initially believe is illegally poaching bear in the forests and mountains of western Norway. Hans initially refuses to speak to the students, but they persist and trail him into the woods one night where they discover that Hans is hunting something far more sinister than bears. As it turns out, Hans works for the Norwegian Government's Troll Protection Service, which is responsible for keeping the existence of Trolls secret from the public. Hans is tasked with hunting down renegade Trolls when they break out of their assigned habitats.

The film is made in the western forest and mountain regions of Norway, and gives a good picture of the rugged nature of that area. The movie also follows many of the known 'conventions' about norwegian trolls, familiar from the many age old folk tales involving trolls, such as their ability to detect humans by smelling 'A Christian mans blood' and turning to stone or exploding when exposed to sunlight.

I though the film was entertaining and well made, it has a very good surround sound soundtrack, and the trolls look realistic. Incidentally, the trolls look are mostly based on the trolls in the paintings of well known norwegian artist Theodore Kittelsen (who happens to be my great grandmother's brother) and who's paintings have defined the definition of what a troll looks like for most Norwegians. The DVD comes with multiple soundtracks, so the viewer can elect the original norwegian soundtrack with (or without) subtitles, or a soundtrack dubbed in English. Both are available in 5.1 surround sound. This is definitely a good flick to watch for Halloween: