Trolljegeren (2010)

Most of the time, I don't really like found footage-films. Maybe it's because they are often just lazy, or that you can't see for shit. There are however a few exceptions to this rule and 'Trolljegeren' is one of them. It's not a horrorfilm as such, more like a documentary cobbled together from footage that was sent to a television station. Nevertheless, this is an engaging film and a lot better put together than you might expect from a title such as this one.

Three students in Norway are working on a filmproject and seeing as lately a lot of bears have been found dead in the neighbourhood, they want to focus on that. They come across a mysterious man called Hans and they think he is somehow involved. They follow him, but at first, he is very terse and doesn't want them near. Eventually though, he gives in and lets them follow him, because (in his own words) maybe it is time that everyone knows what he is doing. Little do they realize that Hans is Norway's official troll hunter, tasked with keeping the creatures in their respective reservations and eliminating the ones that pose a threat to the human population.

It sounds like a bonkers premisse (because it is), but for a couple of reasons, this all works. Except for a very few shots later on in the film, everything is compiled of things the students have filmed and it looks and feels that way. It's not too shaky (except when they are running away from something), and the realism here is very palpable. The fact that everyone plays their part with dedication is also not to be underestimated. The students do look intrigued and/or frightened and the hardened hunter Hans (say that three times in a row) feels legitimately real, right down to his feeling of being in his job for so long without any real recognition. He just has to do the dirty work constantly and he is getting sick and tired of it. There is even a scene in a diner where he explains that, because of construction work, he singlehandedly had to eradicate whole families of trolls from a part of Norway and that feels like the moment where he stopped caring and got fed up. But who else could succeed him?

What also really sells this well, are the trolls themselves. They are big and look a little like folklore, yet at the same time they are animalistic and bizarre enough to be real animals. There are different species that you see in this one, where the Mountain King probably looks the most familiar. The last part is in the snowy heights where they have to stop a giant troll (a Jotnar) who has contracted rabies and has chased all the other trolls away, right into habited zones.

All of this combines into what essentially is like a documentary. It's not horrific (even though it has some tense moments), there is some levity (not really jokes, but funny moments nonetheless) but above all: it is entertaining and enthralling from start to finish. Recommended if you like your films a little different!