Troll Hunter

Troll Hunter is a Norwegian film directed by André Øvredal which came out in 2010.

A big ass troll!

The first 'found footage' film I've seen that doesn't try to be scary but instead comes across more like a fantasy based wildlife documentary. Although there are moments put in to frighten the viewer such as the usual 'creeping around with night vision' moments that appear in almost every found footage film, this is not a horror film and certainly doesn't make an effort to be scary. The trolls themselves are not horrifying monsters but rather comical looking large hairy creatures with big noses, it's more like watching animals only these animals are stupid and giant, which as it turns out is not a good combination.

Thomas talking to the camera.

The film is about some students who are making a documentary about bear poachers and acidently stumble across a man they believe to be a poacher but who turns out to be hunting something a little bigger than a bear. The troll hunter, Hans (played by Otto Jespersen), is working for a branch of the government called the Troll Security Service whose job it is to keep the trolls under control and prevent them making contact with humans. Unfortunately there is something not quite right with the trolls and they are being a little less scarce than normal.

Luring a troll onto a bridge.

 What lets this otherwise interesting, entertaining and unusual film down is that it feels the need to be a 'found footage' film as well as a mockumentary, when really it'd probably work better just in a mockumentary style. The ending of the film is abrupt with a silent message appearing on the screen informing us that the camera tapes were found but that the people in the film are still missing... the exact same ending as The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. Where ever this film tries to be a 'found footage' it runs into cliche and where ever it behaves more like a documentary it gets interesting. Worth checking out I think.