52710619
If nothing else, “Trollhunter” feels about a decade too late, like a hype-exploiting “Blair Witch” knockoff by a clueless crew that just got around to finally seeing “Blair Witch.” “Paranormal Activity” at least had the decency to change the atmosphere. This Norwegian import, from writer/director André Øvredal, has the college-age filmmakers, the running in the dark and the distant screams accompanied by shaky shots of evergreens. That it sorta works is mainly due to its being demurely tongue-in-cheek – an extra-dry mockumentary that plays it so straight you often think it doesn’t know how silly it is.
But, surely, by casting Norwegian comic Otto Jespersen as Hans, the titular hired huntsman (think Robert Shaw’s Quint, only Nordic), Øvredal had giggles in mind, even if his bookending, this-really-happened title cards are packed with deadly-serious data. Gruff and elusive, Hans works for a government-run unit that keeps Norway’s troll population in line, meaning lots of heavily-armored off-roading and the blasting of UV lights, which turn the dinosaur-sized beasties to stone. Duped, like the rest of the public, into thinking Hans is a bear poacher, three film students stalk him until he agrees to let them record, exposing them to, among other things, a whole horrorhouse of low-rent CG effects.
While fun to an extent, and shot amidst an eye-popping landscape, “Trollhunter” has a way of lazily ignoring plot logic, such as why a paranoid bureaucrat would witness the filming, but only threaten the students instead of confiscate their equipment. And since the movie wants to be as jumpy-scary as it is unassumingly funny, there’s an inherent problem with the trolls themselves, which may be frightening in Norway, but through these U.S. eyes, look like Dopey and Doc stretched to skyscraper heights (best of luck to the American remake, already in the works).
Øvredal deserves props for ably delivering some monster-movie thrills on a budget (watch for an “Empire Strikes Back” through-the-legs sequence), but the rest of his task proves too hairy for him to handle.
Trollhunter
NR
Two reels out of four
Opens tomorrow at Ritz at the Bourse
Recommended Rental
Hobo with a Shotgun
NR
Available Tuesday
A high-concept violence fest in the warped, grindhouse spirit of “Machete,” “Hobo with a Shotgun” sees Rutger Hauer bring vigilante justice to a crime-ridden town, all while wielding a nasty sawed-off. It may be too early to dub the film a cult classic, but it’s tailor-made for the title. SPR
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
52710614
52710619
