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 313: Mother's Day

Mother's Day

Mommy dearest

We've had horror movies commemorating just about every holiday. We have New Year's Evil, My Bloody Valentine, Black Christmas, Leprechaun, Uncle Sam, April Fool's Day, and Easter Bunny Kill! Kill!. I'm still waiting for a good Chanukah horror movie, but I just may have to make that one myself. These movies are fun in a goofy, niche sort of way, so when I watched today's movie, I was expecting it to be over-the-top and fun. After all, the movie is written and directed by Charles Kaufman, the brother of Troma Entertainment co-founder Lloyd Kaufman. That's a recipe for goofyness, right? Heck, maybe even the Toxic Avenger will show up! How wrong I was.

Mother's Day is a 1980 exploitation horror film starring Nancy Hendrickson as Abbey, Deborah Luce as Jackie, and Tiana Pierce as Trina. The three former college roommates reunite on a camping trip in rural New Jersey. The reminisce about old times, including one night when they embarrassed a jock that was trying to sleep with one of them. Their good times are interrupted when two hillbillies named Ike and Addley kidnap them and bring them to their house. The hillbillies live with their mentally unstable and demanding mother (Rose Ross, Sgt. Bilko, Car 54, Where Are You?). They take one of the girls and go through a strange ritual, acting out various romantic scenarios while Mother watches. Soon, the games are over and the girl is beaten and raped. The next day we see the family in their bizarre daily life, eating sugary food, yelling, fighting, debating punk versus disco, and all sorts of other insanity. Mother keeps the boys in order, telling them that her sister Queenie, who lives out in the wild, will come and get them. When one of the girls is killed, the other two escape and plan their revenge. Will they be able to stop the deranged family and does Queenie really exist?

"Oh, word?"

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't like torture movies. Mother's Day borders the line of torture movies as we don't see the customary violence and gore of today's “torture porn”. That's not to say there aren't scenes of violence because there are plenty. There are also scenes of rape, which made me incredibly uncomfortable. The movie moves slowly at times and seems to get lost once the girls are captured. The revenge towards the end is cathartic, but it feels a bit too rushed. The ending comes out of left field and is eye-roll worthy in it's forehead-slapping stupidity. Troma films tend to either be over-the-top funny or over-the-top violent/gross/insane. Mother's Day can't decide which way to go and settles for both, but succeeding with neither. I found myself constantly checking the run-time, hoping the movie was coming to an end.

This movie is a hodge-podge of ideas coming from much better films. It's obvious that Mother's Day takes many of it's ideas from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Last House On The Left. Mother's Day had the chance to expand upon the initial themes from those movies and make something different, but it just goes through the motions. I will say that the movie does show a bit of creativity when the hillbillies act out the romantic scenarios with one of the girls. It truly showed their derangement and was very unsettling because you knew what was going to happen. Unfortunately, it was a missed opportunity because the scenes are rushed. They could have been downright terrifying if they were paced properly. The acting in the movie is fine for what is required, but that's not saying much. I will say that Charles Kaufman does get some very good shots behind the director's chair. Hey, at least that's something.

Hammer time!

I watched Mother's Day expecting something in the “so bad it's good” vein. Instead, I got a “so bad it's bad” horror movie. Despite having a cult following, I did not find the movie enjoyable. Apparently, the film is supposed to be satire, though I didn't pick up even a trace of satirical material. The story is lifted from much better horror movies which makes me wonder why they even bothered to make this one. There is a lot of violence against women in the film which will make a lot of people uncomfortable, myself included. The revenge scenes are good, but I could have used more. If you're going to see a movie like this, you're better off with the better-known films like The Last House On The Left, The Hills Have Eyes, and I Spit On Your Grave. I wouldn't be quick to recommend those either, but they at least have stories. Troma should just stick with funny horror. It would make me a lot happier.

2.5/10

Day 167: YellowBrickRoad

YellowBrickRoad

Oh, it has an ending...

I don't like The Blair Witch Project. I had very little interest in it when it came out. Why I applaud their ability to get a huge buzz and “go viral” before going viral meant having lots of people watch a Youtube video of something getting hit in the balls, it just didn't appeal. I didn't understand what the big deal was about people getting lost in the woods and “found footage”. Come on, they're not going to show a movie in theaters across the country if people actually died. When the movie came to cable, I finally watched it and all my feelings towards the movie were confirmed. It was boring, rudderless, and annoying. By the end, I was cheering for the witch to kill them before someone screamed about that goddamn map again. Perhaps if the movie had a bigger budget, a deeper story and, you know, actors, maybe I would have liked it. Today's review explores just that; Does a bigger budget, story, and proper acting make a “lost in the woods” movie better?

YellowBrickRoad is a 2010 horror movie starring Michael Laurino as Teddy Barnes and Anessa Ramsey (The Signal, Footloose) as his wife Melissa. In the 1940's, the entire population of Friar, New Hampshire left town and walked up a winding trail leading into the woods. They left everything behind and were never found, leaving one survivor who was left a rambling, incoherent madman. Teddy and Anessa decide to find the trail in hopes of discovering new evidence and shedding light on what happened to the town. They are joined by their friend and colleague Walter, mappers Erin and her brother Daryl Luger, Jill the intern, and Cy Banbridge, a local forester. Their information about the trail falsely leads them to a movie theater, where a worker named Liv agrees to bring them to the trail if they let her come along. Liv takes them to the trail, marked by a rock with “Yellow Brick Road” written on it. The trip starts off well enough as the group travels deep into the woods. Walter is videotaping each crew member to ensure they still have their mental faculties. As the trip progresses, they begin to hear big band music blaring from an unknown source. At first, the group enjoys it, but it begins to wear on them. The group begins to break down and things come to a head when Daryl brutally murders his sister Erin all because she took a hat that he found. Death follows the group along with the inexplicable music. Will they reach the end of the trail and what will be waiting for them?

This would be considered an "action" shot

It's easy to compare YellowBrickRoad with The Blair Witch Project, but YBR has an interesting back story, better acting, and some creative ideas. The audience is interested in seeing what happens because the initial story of the townspeople disappearing is legitimately interesting. The first half of the movie holds our attention because of this, but unfortunately it's not enough to keep us interested. The movie stretches on for far too long with very little happening. Sure there are a few scenes of violence, but any true horror fan won't bat an eye at the killings or gore. The acting is good considering nothing really happens for most of the movie. In The Blair Witch Project, I was cheering for the witch to kill the annoying characters. In YellowBrickRoad, I was cheering for something to happen.

My biggest issue with the movie (other than being incredibly boring) is the ending. YellowBrickRoad was clearly made on the cheap and emphasizes imagination over action. That only goes so far and isn't enough to sustain an entire movie, especially when the payoff is so bad. They tried so hard to be clever and edgy and failed miserably. It's like they watched one too many episodes of Twin Peaks and said “Hey, the audience has suffered through this, let's totally fuck them over with an ending that makes no sense and will mess with their minds!” While the usage of random music playing is interesting and the weak connections to Wizard of Oz keep us on our toes, there's no real payoff to any of it. It was all a misdirection to keep the audience from walking out of the theater or watching something else.

Yeah, that's pretty much how I feel

Despite having a bigger budget, a more complex story, and better acting, YellowBrickRoad is just another “lost in the woods” movie. The acting is good and the scenery is very nice to look at. The movie has a few good ideas and for the first half, I was legitimately interested in what was going to happen. The movie fell apart when it was apparent that nothing of note was going to occur and I was even going to get some violence to keep me entertained. It became a chore to watch and the ending was infuriatingly bad. It didn't come out of left field, it came out of another park. I feel bad for anyone that paid money to see this movie. YellowBrickRoad is simply not worth your time.

3/10