Day 349: Trollhunter

Trollhunter

Trolleo and Juliet

The scariest villains and monsters come from our oldest stories. They have been passed down over the decades and centuries through word of mouth and stories. Even from a young age, we know about vampires, werewolves, and the boogeyman. These characters are so ingrained in our cultural that they're almost on the same level as George Washington and Babe Ruth. One monster that has been around for hundreds of years, but never received a lot of attention from the horror world is the troll. I don't know why they don't get a lot of attention. They're big, they're mean, they're scary, and they eat cute animals. And no, Troll and Troll 2 don't really count. It took a film Norway, land of the trolls, to bring them into the spotlight.

Trollhunter is a 2010 Norwegian monster movie shot in a found footage documentary style. The movie stars Glenn Erland Tosterud as Thomas and Otto Jespersen as Hans. Thomas is college student working on a documentary about a bear poacher with cameraman Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) and soundwoman Johanna (Morck). Bear poaching is a serious crime in Norway and Thomas is determined to capture the culprit on film. They interview local hunters as well as Finn Haugen (Hans Morten Hansen), the head of the Norwegian Wildlife Board. Despite certain bear tracks looking odd, Finn dismissed the idea that it could be anything but a bear. Their investigation leads them to a secretive man named Hans who is known to disappear into the woods every night. The film crew follow him into the woods only to be surprised by Hans running up to them and yelling “Troll!” Thomas is attacked by an unseen animal, sustaining a wound on his shoulder. When they make it back to their car, they find it completely destroyed. Hans takes the crew back, admitting that he is actually a troll hunter. Tired of all the bureaucracy and hunting, Hans allows them to film his work, no longer concerned with keeping trolls a secret. The next night, Hans takes them to find a troll that has left it's usual area. He asks the crew if any of them are Christian or believe in Jesus and they all claim not to. The troll, smelling Christian blood, finds them and gives chase. Hans hits it with UV light, turning it into stone, and then smashes the stone. Finn comes to the sight and has a crew bring in a bear carcass to cover up what really happened. It is revealed that many trolls have been leaving their usual areas and attacks on humans are increasing. Will Hans and the film crew be able to find out why and stop it before the world learns that trolls really do exist?

 Oh, kopulere!

I have to say that I am very tired of found footage horror movies. Trollhunter is made on a relatively small budget, so having the movie done in the found footage style makes sense. If you loved all the yelling and running through the woods of The Blair Witch Project, you'll really enjoy Trollhunter. There is a lot of the shaky camerawork during the action scenes which tended to make me nauseous. It's good for cheap thrills and excitement, but gets tiresome. Combine that with the cliché nightvision and the movie tends to feel amateurish in look. What saves the film from looking completely unprofessional is the quality special effects used for the trolls. The trolls have a lot of variety in terms of look, height, weight, and even names. It's fun hearing Hans go through the different types of trolls, explaining what they eat and how they live. The movie includes a fair amount of Norwegian folklore, which is interesting, though I probably missed a lot of nuances. The scenic beauty of Norway is on full display, ranging from the fjords to the wilderness to the frozen tundra.

I hesitate to call Trollhunter a “mockumentary” only because I don't see a clear mocking in the movie's story. The movie is fairly light-hearted for a horror film which I feel hurt the movie overall. When Thomas was injured from a troll, I was expecting him to eventually turn into a troll. Sadly this doesn't happen and takes a lot of suspense away from the movie. It's essentially a dead-end plot point. The action is good when the camera isn't shaking all around and there are some genuinely funny scenes sprinkled throughout. Pacing is a bit of an issue in the film as the character go from troll to troll almost like checkpoints in a video game leading up to the big boss battle at the end. When they're not dealing with trolls, I felt boredom creeping in. There aren't many scares in the film, though there are some intense moments. The acting is good with Otto Jespersen putting in the best performance. He exudes a quite, veteran confidence that makes the movie far more believable than one would expect. 

"Go to hell, paparazzi! You make me sick, you parasite!"

There is nothing particularly brilliant or innovative about Trollhunter. It's fairly flat in terms of storytelling and devoid of much emotion. The main selling point is that it's from Norway and features a monster not commonly used in horror. The natural beauty of Norway is quite enjoyable to look at while the film crew drives around the winding mountain roads. Thankfully, the movie is in Norwegian with subtitles rather than a terrible dubbing, like in fellow Norwegian horror movie Dead Snow. The trolls actually look pretty good and have a lot of variety in their looks. I didn't care for the shaky found footage-style camera work and the multiple scenes of walking through the woods. If I never seen another night vision shot in a horror movie, it will be too soon. The acting is good enough to push the movie into a more believable light and the direction is fine. While it was nice to see a movie from a country not particularly known for it's horror and starring a monster not known for showing up in scary movies, I just wasn't particularly impressed with Trollhunter.

6/10

Day 182: Dead Snow

Dead Snow

Oh, don't look so shocked

Zombies? Check. Nazis? Check. Zombie Nazis? Double check. It’s a particularly new idea since we’ve had Nazis zombies before in movies such as Zombie Lake, The Treasure of the Living Dead, Shockwaves, and even Rob Zombie’s animated movie, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, has them. Despite existing in one form or another in horror, Nazi zombies have been, until recently, an underutilized subgenre monster. In the past few years, there has been a small explosion of Nazi zombie-related media, from video games to references in songs like Monster Magnet’s excellent “Wall of Fire”. Sure, we Americans have done the Nazi zombie thing before, but how about another country, not necessarily known for their horror movies? How about Norway?

Dead Snow is a 2009 Norwegian zombie movie directed by Tommy Wirkola (Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Kill Buljo). Seven medical students (Martin, Roy, Hanna, Vegard, Liv, Chris, and Ereland celebrate their Easter vacation in a small cabin on a remote, snow-covered mountain. They drink and party while waiting for their friend Sara, who decided to trek across the mountain instead, to arrive. They hear a noise outside and think Sara has arrived, but are met by a mysterious stranger. He tells them that during World War II, the region was occupied by the Einsatzgruppen, an SS death squad, led by Oberst Herzog. For three years, the Nazis abused and tortured the local villagers. Towards the end of the war with the Russians closing in, the Nazis looted all the gold and silver they could find. Finally, the villagers rose up, killing Nazis and driving Herzog and the remaining survivors into the forest. The stranger departs and is soon murdered in his tent by an unknown assailant. The next morning, Vegard takes the only snowmobile out to find Sara, who, unknown to the group, has also been killed. The partying continues until Chris is attacked and killed. The cabin is swarmed by Nazi zombies trying to get in. They kill Ereland by crushing his head until his brain literally pops out. Meanwhile, Vegard discovers the Nazis secret cave where he find’s Sara’s severed head. He fights off a few zombies and is able to steal their machine gun. In the morning, Martin and Roy create a distraction while Hanna and Liv try to make a run for the car, which is somewhere towards the bottom of the mountain. Will they be able to survive again an army of undead Nazis?

Shabbat shalom!

It’s always nice to see a horror movie from a country other than the United States, Canada, or Japan. As an American, I like to see how storytelling is done elsewhere in the world and how it differs. It’s good to see these movies inject their own culture and ideals which makes for an interesting watch. Dead Snow, though, comes off somewhat as a tribute to American horror movies. The cabin looks similar to the one in Evil Dead, the zombies attacking the cabin reminds me of Night of the Living Dead, and a scene where Martin and Roy grab weapons harkens back to Army of Darkness. Ereland is a big movie fan and frequently quotes American movies such as Die Hard and The Terminator. The way the story is laid out and progresses, it is very close to your typical American horror movies. When I watch a foreign movie, I want to see what they can bring to the table, not how much the writers like American movies.

Speaking of story, Dead Snow focuses more on fun over-the-top violence and loads of gore than plot and character progression. Unfortunately, that doesn’t really begin until about 45 minutes into the movie. Everything is just a lead-to that point, but it’s a little boring. It was nice to see a story with some historical context in a European country, but they completely ignore the fact that Norway had their own SS division. There were Norwegian resistance fighters during the war as well, but perhaps they did not want to bring up too much history for a simple zombie movie. 

Stop! Hammer time!

Dead Snow also tries to go for a lot of questionable humor. There’s a scene where Ereland and Chris have sex in an outhouse. IN AN OUTHOUSE SECONDS AFTER ERELAND HAS USED IT. Please tell me that’s not a regional thing. Nothing says “Let’s make love” than an occupied shithouse. I guess it was a joke because Dead Snow tries for a lot of humor which isn’t particularly funny. You might crack a smile or chuckle, but nothing is good for a real laugh. They try to force humor when they didn’t have to. In one scene, Roy uses a hammer and sickle to kill a Nazi. That subtlety is funnier than just about any joke or reference. 

This excited a really small and really gross group of people

The movie does succeed in the violence and blood category. The deaths are creative and some take a bit of willing suspension of disbelief, but they’re still fun to watch. Dead Snow has tons of blood and the prop department must have cleared out a butcher because there is a large amount of intestines being pulled, ripped, squished, and eaten. The zombie makeup looks good and the uniforms are spot-on. The action is entertaining and keeps things interesting. The zombies are fast and pretty agile, which is a little disappointing for people who prefer the Romero-style lurching zombies, but for the movie’s purposes, it makes sense. The natural beauty and scenery is captured well and makes me want to book a trip to Scandinavia. I’ll just have to avoid all the black metal fans.

I had high hopes for Dead Snow, perhaps too high. The violence and gore is a lot of fun and executed very well. The killings are creative and keep the audience excited. There is not much in the way of story which takes away our connection with what is going on. The American horror worship may be fun for some, but I was hoping for a more unique, regional take on zombies which I didn’t get. There is questionable humor throughout and it takes away from what story does exist. If you like lots of blood and guts, you’ll really enjoy Dead Snow. If you’re looking for something a little deeper, you’ll have to keep digging.

6.5/10