Sydney 2011 Review: THE TROLL HUNTER
rating: 3
Yet another addition to the relentless found footage horror subgenre, this ode to Norse folklore attempts to present fable as conspiracy based fact in its demystifying of the legendary Scandinavian monster. The Troll Hunter's premise is no less than intriguing: a group of student documentary filmmakers attempt to chronicle the unscrupulous activities of Norways titular Trollbuster. The man in question, Hans who cuts a sinister shady figure in black hunter hat and gear - reluctantly agrees on one condition: they do exactly as he instructs. If Quint from Jaws swapped the shores of Amity for the mountains of Norway and had a penchant for trolls over the fin-friendly variety then our man Hans wouldnt be a too distant remove from the weathered seafarer. Our secrecy shrouded myth hunter is a chap who literally lives and breaths trolls - his trailer dwelling is littered with troll trophies, while he spends his mornings scanning the local rags for signs of troll-like activity (pylon removal, unearthed trees, tornado blamed destruction). Heck he even washes and scrubs himself down with troll stench in a bid to get closer to the potential predators. At first he is painted as an archetypal mystical boogieman figure. Later he is the only man equipped to lead us into deep troll territory letting us in on useful but gruesome tip-bits like the fact that the creatures have a penchant for Christian blood and can sniff a God fearer a mile away upping the fable fear factor but ultimately leading to a predictable if fun adrenaline rush down the dirt track. But it doesnt matter how much director/scribe Andre Ovredal dresses up the beastly plight the inevitable (and shamefully premature) unveiling of the pivotal creatures proves a disappointing one. A hideous but hardly gut-wrenching amalgamation of Fellowship of the Rings cute cave dweller spliced with Muppet like characteristics, and much later, an aesthetic similarity to Dark Crystals Skeksis critters. One wonders, however whether this was a desire to evoke a wider, perhaps more emotionally complex reaction that places the audience in an emotion conundrum as to whether to feel for or fear the magical creatures.
The trouble with this is that the laughs overrule the (supposed) scares. So that while there is a lot of intense frolicking in the darkened woods and then a suspenseful struggle over natural, beautifully lush mountainous Norwegian locales, it all builds to a num and perplexing crescendo - one where the hilarious consequences of a claustrophobic cave troll fart (has to be heard to be believed) outweighs the causality and later fatality of a group member. The Troll Hunter was selected for a Freak Me Out entry in this years Sydney Film Festival but the film runs far smoother as a comedy and certainly wont do anything to restore terror in Norways biggest boogieman monster. 
The Troll Hunter opens on a limited U.S. release from Friday. No U.K. date yet. Oliver Pfeiffer, our man in Oz attending the Sydney Film Festival.