While trolls have been around in folklore for centuries, they haven’t made the spotlight in films as much. Most of the horror films that feature trolls all seem to hang around the bottom rated on the IMDB list. They manage not too badly as minor supporting villains in such films as Labyrinth, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and The Lord of the Rings trilogy but give them the spotlight and you end up with crap like Troll (which did feature a magic-wielding Harry Potter before there was a Harry Potter).
Trolljegeren or TrollHunter or The Troll Hunter, depending on what country you are watching the film in, is a Norwegian movie that was shot as a found footage mockumentary. It follows a group of college students who are looking for a bear poacher and stumble across the terrible secret that the government of Norway has been hiding from its civilians for centuries. All those childhood stories are true. Trolls do exist and they live in a secluded area in northern Norway. And sometimes they wander into populated areas.
Otto Jespersen stars as the state paid troll hunter. He agrees to take the students along with him and let them record what happens. His bosses aren’t too pleased and threaten to take away the tapes when they have finished shooting the movie. But there is more pressing matters at hand. The trolls have wandering out more and more and they have to try to find the source of what’s been driving the trolls away from their sanctuary.
Despite using the overused first person / found footage gimmick, this is an entertaining movie. Some of the trolls look awesome despite the extremely small budget. And the film breaks the stigma surrounding trolls. It’s a good film. Unfortunately Hollywood is already making a remake of this film with Harry Potter director Chris Columbus’ production company. See the original before another bad troll movie hits the bottom of the IMDB worst rated.