Trollhunter - DVD

Film: Norway has been plagued for centuries by a plague that few people know about. But thankfully, there is now a film that exposes what the government is desperately trying to cover up. For Trollhunter provides long overdue proof that trolls do indeed roam the forests of Norway, and nothing and no one is safe from their hunger and destructiveness.

When mysterious deaths keep occurring in the forests, for which the government says there is a very simple explanation. Supposedly, wild bears are on the loose. The trio of students hopes to get on the trail of a sensation and, armed with a video camera, follow the heels of the supposed poacher Hans (Otto Jespersen). But when they try to catch him in the act of illegal shooting, they discover that Hans is not hunting bears, but trolls. And so the planned documentary might bring the hoped-for sensation, but it always puts the students' lives in acute danger. Because with trolls it is not good to eat cherries.

Trollhunter strictly follows the scheme that was successfully established by the Blair Witch Project and mutated into its own subgenre of horror and fantasy film by films like Cloverfield and [rec]. Invariably, the viewer is presented with supposedly found, secret footage of protagonists who have disappeared or been killed. However, this Norwegian entry doesn't use the documentary style to create suspense or creepiness. Instead, the whole thing is approached in a much more humorous and absurd way. So it's no wonder that Norway's most popular comedian Otto Jespersen could be won for the role of the troll hunter Hans, who had no problem filling the completely improvised dialogues with completely bizarre comedy. The way he spouts the most absurd troll theories with convincing seriousness and forces his three companions to perform quite a few unusual troll hunting rituals is just too funny and makes Trollhunter a really great fun .

While much of the play on the myths and clichés surrounding trolls is lost on our latitudes, as in this country the unsightly forest dwellers hardly play a role in fairy tales and mythology. However, in the course of the film many of these myths are explained or incidentally woven into the conversations, so that even the ignorant in matters of trolls will have a lot of fun with the action. Of course, it takes a while until the first giant is seen - something that also belongs to the style of this subgenre. But boredom hardly sets in, because alone the wonderful rough landscape of Norway, which is shown here, compensates for the somewhat worn beginning.

Trollhunter is an entertaining fantasy documentary with plenty of Nordic wit, numerous delightful ideas and even a little suspense. If you can get along with the slightly shaky Blair Witch handheld camera style, you should definitely check out this original troll hunt. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The picture captures the documentary atmosphere of the film very well. While in the bright scenes, the image sharpness and colouring have turned out very well, in the darker scenes, the image sometimes looks a bit grainy and washed out. But even here, the details that the viewer is supposed to recognize are easy to make out. The sound remains rather unspectacular for long stretches, but in the scenes in which atmospheric sound effects are used, they come into their own very well. For this, the bottom line is a well-deserved: good!

Extras: The DVD has a handful of extras worth watching. Starting off with just under 3 minutes of short cut scenes, which are nice to look at, but don't really add to the finished film. These are joined by some extended scenes (approx. 7 mins), improvised moments and outtakes (approx. 2 mins), as well as a look at the visual effects (approx. 5 mins)and behind the scenes (approx. 23 mins). This is uncommented footage from the shoot, showing how some of the practical effects were created on set, how the actors passed the time during breaks in filming, or how cheerful the mood on set seems to have been in general. An image gallery rounds out the bonus program.

Conclusion: Trollhunter is a very amusing contribution to the so-called found footage genre, which has always provided good and atmospheric entertainment since the Blair Witch Project. The DVD is technically well done and also has some extras on board that are worth watching. All this makes this Norwegian genre fun then: absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp