This September I had the pleasure of attending an outdoor film screening, which was organized as a part of the Oulu Days fair and the upcoming IIK!! - horror film festival. The viewing was held in the middle of pitch-black Ainola Park, making the place more than appropriately staged for a night with the supernatural predators of the isolated Scandinavian woods and mountains.
The Troll Hunter (Trolljegeren)
**** (2010, Norway)
André Øvredals The Troll Hunter is, quite simply, good cinema.
Compared to the norm in the horror genre, The Troll Hunter has a relatively low rating (PG). This is due the lack of any real graphically disturbing material - even if the film does have its share of paranormal gore. The violence is mostly kept off-screen by the clever choice of editing: The Troll Hunter is filmed entirely in "shockumentary" (or "mockumentary") style, as made famous by the Blair Witch Project.
The story takes place in Norway, where a student film crew takes interest in strange bear killings. They document their investigations, which lead them to their main suspect: a lone, nameless poacher, who spends his days isolated in a foul smelling trailer, but disappears into the woods every night.
It doesn't take long before it comes clear that the shut-mouthed poacher isn't after illegal prey, but the Scandinavian mythological creatures, of which existence the government has hushed up for years. The film crew is speedily convinced to forget everything they've learned from fairytales, as the grotesque reality couldn't be further away from the stories read to them as children. These nocturnal hunters are little more than animals with a peculiar reaction to direct sun light.
The beastly creatures don't have much resemblance to their speaking, clothed folk lore counterparts, but apparently all stories are rooted to some ions of truth - starting with the trolls thirst for fresh Christian blood.
The absence of astronomical body count or repetitive, blood sprayed jump scares does no harm to the film, but shows that fearful apprehension can be created with very little. The dark, the uncertainty and the imagination of the viewer can reach further into the pits of fear than any film maker elbow-deep in jazzy toys, as proved before in another praised PG horror film, the Orphanage (El Orfanato).
The thing that makes hand-held shock-doc my favourite method of horror filming, is its authenticity. It feels real. For me, the appeal is the same as for people who love to watch a film with buttery popcorn and some killer 3D-glasses. This is why Øvredals decision to present the monsters so early on can be seen as quite risky: when you have a supernatural monster on a killing spree, rampage, on the loose or whatever, no matter how good outset you create, the darn thing is never as scary when you can actually see it.
Fortunately, The Troll Hunter doesn't disappoint. The exquisite visual effects fit to the roughly beautiful Norwegian landscape seamlessly, making it feel as though the green hued night-vision you're watching is just snatched from a nature documentarians leaf-covered backpack. The troll artwork is clever and adds a three-way bridge between horror, fantasy and humour, balancing masterfully between keeping the story true to its fantasy origins (instead of wooing teenage horror audiences with guts and blood), appealing to the fans of the dark genre and adding some laughs as well. Trolls aren't the most eloquent creatures, but that doesn't diminish their unpredictable, threatening nature.
The hardcore terror lovers might not warm up to The Troll Hunter, but people who wish to take a peek at something as fresh and unique as the north wind blowing in a Norwegian postcard of a valley, the film will do the trick. Since the film is relatively new and the American version is yet to be produced, I'll take this chance as to sigh in relief. It's unlikely that this good idea will mutilated or copied: for all their cleverness, I sincerely doubt that the trolls have the sex appeal to participate in the on-going boom of "(Insert creature here) are the new vampires!".
Ei kommentteja:
Lähetä kommentti