An oddly-realistic exploration of Troll mythos...

The title of first time writer/director André Øvredal's first feature is a fair indication of what the film is going to be about. Within the first few minutes we're told 283 minutes of unedited filmed material has been discovered before being propelled into the documentary footage of three students from Volda College who are trailing a bear poacher. As questioner, Thomas leads the trio of would-be Michael Moores with Kalle as his cameraman and Johanna in charge of sound.

Initially their efforts to get close to the elusive Hans are unsuccessful. Through the documentary footage we're surveilling Hans alongside the trio, gradually piecing together this mysterious character before finally meeting him. Out all night and never back before sunrise, his Land Rover covered in spikes and slashes and hung with strange herbs and tufts of fur, Hans is fascinating to watch and no less so, once full contact is made. After the trio follow Hans during one of his hunts they find out the hard way, he's an ex-Navy Ranger turned “Troll Hunter”. Growls are heard, something bites Thomas, a car is trashed and covered in slime and Hans has little choice but to cry out a warning yell: "Trolls!" Under Hans' protection, the three aspiring film-makers agree to do everything Hans says in exchange for being able to film him at work. From this moment onwards we're quickly immersed in troll culture.

It is here André Øvredal's subtle very dry brand of humour gets a kick-start. Hans fills in the initially shocked trio, talking of three-headed trolls called Tosserlads, Jotnars, Ringlefinchs and even Mountain Kings. As we tour through stunning Norwegian landscapes, Hans matter-of-factly points out ancient mountain troll and woodland troll battle fields and drops an array of troll-related facts: trolls have 10-15 years of gestation, mammals only have one child, their heads develop with age, they live up to 12,000 years old, concrete and charcoal may be used as bait, trolls love to gnaw on old car tyres.... Øvredal's attention to detail and sheer quantity of troll “facts” makes the whole film quite preposterously almost believable. His greatest invention is how to destroy a troll, amusingly managing to link this in to UV lights, causing Hans to permanently wear sunscreen.

From his convincing spiel, Hans has our trio removing clothes to go down to the creek and scrub themselves with "troll stink". He puts up a "no trespassing blasting area" sign and even goes to a veterinary scientist friend to get a blood sample to find out what is wrong with the trolls. Øvredal's use of other troll-believers is another way he stamps this absurd concept with authority. Hans' boss, Finn Haugen, makes several appearances, working as a bureaucrat for the “Wildlife Board” (aka TSS or Troll Security Service). The appearance of the Polish painter van whose job it is to plant bear corpses at troll destruction sites is particularly ingenious, especially when they're shown with bear paws on sticks making fake bear tracks.

Øvredal throws religion and fairytales together in the troll mythology melting pot. Hans asks the trio early on: "No-one here believes in God or Jesus?" A question that's later explained when a troll starts sniffing around them and Hans irritably exclaims, "obviously one of you believes in God". The troll aversion to Christians is a concept running throughout Troll Hunter, as Hans plays "What a friend we have in Jesus" as troll bait and while wearing an ensemble like Ned Kelly, tosses out some Christian blood to entice a troll. Using aspects of the Norwegian fairytale, Three Billy Goats Gruff, Øvredal also has Hans luring in trolls using goats on a bridge.

Trollhunter's cleverest trait is its ability to transfer such an outlandish fairytale concept into every aspect of everyday life. Hans tells us many local accidents are often easily explainable by troll activity - a smashed bridge is from a troll bumping its head. Even the power cables scattered across the breathtaking landscape are revealed to be part of an electric force field protecting humans from trolls. By the end of Trollhunter, Øvredal will have you looking at your surroundings in a new light.

Through the documentary approach and allowing his cast of comedic actors to entirely improvise their lines, merely using the script as a loose guideline, Øvredal manufacturers a convincing realism. When Hans complains "I'm tired of this shitty job - I have no rights whatsoever", we feel for him and his explanation of “troll stink" so lacks eloquence it is entirely believable: “a mixture of all of the crap you can squeeze out of a troll".

Dizzying at times with an awful lot of chasing and following, Troll Hunter is never scary, despite large segments in night vision. The ending incorporates an amusing twist but is unfortunately a let down nonetheless. Ignoring the last five minutes, Troll Hunter must be celebrated for its vivid imagination, dry delivery and impressive attention to detail; Øvredal is certainly one to watch.

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