In today’s Internet-dominated world, we frequently encounter the term “troll” which is an Internet slang term for someone who makes aggressive, nasty comments in order to provoke or harass the reader. A troll, on the other hand, is an ugly superhuman creature who lives in remote caverns in mountains or rocks, usually avoiding human habitation, according to Norwegian legend. ‘Troll,’ directed by John Carl Buechler and released in 1986, was the first film on the subject. After 14 years, writer-director Andre Ovredal released ‘The Trollhunter,’ a Norwegian mockumentary. Despite its cheap budget, the film is packed with laughs.
The film follows a group of Norwegian film students as they attempt to include a documentary on mystery bear killings in their project using recovered video. They got entangled with accused poacher Hans and become a part of his true objective of hunting down real-life trolls in the process. The Trolls were created using 3-D modeling software and based on sketches by Theodore kill Jason, a well-known Norwegian illustrator.
The unsteady camera movements add to the film’s wow value, heightening the spine-chilling mood it creates. The unique tale, which combines folklore with a real-life action thriller mockumentary, is well worth praising. A few Norwegian comedians appear in the film, as well as some unknown actors. Aside from being a box office success in its own nation, the picture earned good reviews from reviewers all around the world. Norway’s gorgeous scenery contributes to its allure.
The storyline of The Trollhunter
A group of students from Volda University, Thomas, Johanna, and cameraman Kelle, decided to make a documentary on mysterious bear killings as their college project. At one such site, where a bear was poached, the interviewed hunters revealed their suspicion that the bear tracks were fake. But this suspicion of artificial bear tracks was absolutely rejected by Finn Haugen, the head of the Norwegian Wildlife Board. After a thorough investigation, the students visit their main suspect, the poacher Hans, played by famous Norwegian comedian Otto Jespersen. The students constantly follow Hans to grab an exclusive interview, only to get rejected every time. One night they decide to follow Hans into a forest where they encounter strange lights and screams.
Suddenly they find Hans running back towards them to their surprise, and all he could scream was, “Troll.” Thomas was attacked and bitten, but he didn’t exactly know what had attacked him. They hurriedly escaped in Han’s Land Rover as their vehicle unexpectedly was turned upside down with the tires missing. Eventually, Hans confessed that he was hunting trolls and not bears. The students were cynical about Hans’s confession and sought permission to accompany him on his next expedition. Finally, Hans agreed under the condition that they obey him strictly.
The next day the students were asked to cover themselves with a slimy troll scent so that the trolls would not smell humans. Then Hans confirmed that no one among them is a believer in Jesus, as a troll is famous for tracking the smell of Christian blood. Hans also reveals his flashgun, which emits powerful UV rays. This flashgun was a secret weapon, a substitute for the sunlight that turns a troll into stone. That is why they only stroll out at night.
Subsequently, the group confronted a gigantic three-headed monstrous troll. The students were shocked and panic-stricken to see a troll in real life, and they ran helplessly towards the car. The troll followed them, but fortunately, Hans used his flashgun and converted it to stone.
Hans requested the students to hide the truth about his secret mission as he was frustrated with his work with low remuneration. He also admitted that Finn actually worked for Troll Security Service while Hans was engaged to hunt any troll when it went near human habitation. The students understood that all the bear killings were Finn’s idea to disguise the existence of trolls from the real world. Hans also stated the fact that the trolls were getting aggressive day by day, and Hans was supposed to collect a blood sample from a troll and send it to the pathological lab of TSS for examination. Finn arrived at the site with his team to put fake bear tracks to suppress the truth. He told the students that they were not permitted to keep any tape that has records to reveal the truth.
The students ignored Finn’s threatening words and set out on their next expedition with Hans. This time their target was a different type of troll in a separate area. They set up a trap by leaving some goats on the bridge to tempt the trolls to eat them. Hans successfully obtained a blood sample from the troll and took it to the lab. The doctor said that he would need several days to reveal the report. So Hans and the group set out to investigate an unprecedented event of uprooted trees at a nearby farm. The investigation led the team to an abandoned mine which was a den of trolls, but to their dismay, the trolls returned unexpectedly, and the group was stranded inside the cave. Kelle apologized and confessed that he, being a Christian, had been responsible for attracting the trolls. The trolls tracked down the group while smelling Kelle. They ran for their lives to reach sunlight outside the cave, but the trolls killed Kelle.
The students hired a new camera woman Melissa who was Muslim, but Hans was unsure whether the trolls would spare her. Their next expedition was to enter the troll territory, where the group found Jotnar, a giant mountain troll. In the meantime, Thomas started feeling sick, and to their horror, they learned that the blood samples of trolls revealed that they had been infected with rabies, also infecting Thomas, as a troll bit him on his first expedition. With tremendous effort, Hans managed to convert the Jotnar into stone. Before the camera blacked out, a truck was seen approaching down the road. Finn and his agents arrived at the spot to confiscate the tapes made by the students. Thomas ran with the camera to save the recordings but finally collapsed on the road. The audience was told in an epilogue that there was no trace of any student, and the movie concluded with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg confessing about the existence of trolls.
History of Trolls according to Norse mythology
Melkor or the dark Lord of Norwegian mythology, created trolls to build a strong army before the First Age. Trolls had tremendous strength, but they had a significant drawback too. On being exposed to sunlight, they immediately turned to stone. In the following Great Battle, many trolls died along with Melkor. The remaining trolls joined the army of Sauron, the faithful and powerful servant of Melkor. But in the battle fought by Sauron, too, they were defeated, and the trolls fled and took shelter in different mountains, rocks, and caves.
Are Trolls truly living creatures?
There are a lot of exciting stories about trolls. Some people think that trolls are not true living creatures as they do not possess any free will. They were created from the anger and disgust of Melkor only to enhance his army strength. Hence they cannot be categorized with the usual living world. Another controversy states that when animals eat souls accidentally or intentionally, they are totally dominated by the consumed souls. These animals then lose their identity and become trolls. Hardly any sector of society accepts the trolls due to their witch effect, leaving them with no option other than isolation from the remaining world. The Trollhunter takes up the trail from this mythological character as the trolls in this film have similar traits as depicted in the mythology.
Trolls as seen in ‘The Trollhunter’
The movie featured the trolls as bipedal, carnivorous, non-intelligent mammals who inhabited remote areas in Norway. The trolls seemed to have many species and were known to survive till 1000 to 1200 years. The film even offered a scientific explanation for them turning into stone in sunlight. Their body was not adapted to convert vitamin D to calcium. Thus exposure to sunlight results in a series of biochemical reactions in their body, leading to an explosion of young trolls, while the older trolls were seen to calcify within a few seconds. Hence UV light flashguns were the only weapons to combat trolls as no bullet could penetrate their thick skin.
We might also wonder why the trolls hate Christians so much! This was also explained in the movie. The Christians were responsible for destroying the power of trolls in the 13th century. The trolls lost their importance and were despised by the Christians. Consequently, the trolls moved away from the civilized world to hide in mountains and forests, thus hating Christian people. Even the sound of church bells made them agitated. Henceforth the trolls had maintained their distance from human civilization, but in the Trollhunter movie, the trolls showed aggression and had begun approaching human habitation. Later in the plot, we find that rabies was the reason for this abnormal behavioral trait in them.
Various Species of Trolls found in the movie explored
Let us now discuss the various species of trolls found in this movie. The first troll could not be identified as it was not revealed, but it definitely terrified Hans as he was panic-stricken and warned the students about that troll chasing them. Thomas got bitten by the troll, and it was through this bite he got infected with rabies. They managed to save themselves from the troll’s attack, but this incident managed to inject fear and made them more determined to divulge the truth.
During the second expedition, the group encountered the giant three-headed troll, also known as Tusseladd. It was as tall as the pine tree of the forest. What a terrifying experience for the students who encountered a troll for the first time! Tusseladd was quite agitated, which was later came to be known as being the side effect of rabies. This giant three-headed troll chased the group until Hans calcified it with his flashgun emitting UV rays. Hans later explained that Tusseladd indeed did not have three heads, but they were head-like growths used by it to terrify other male trolls or attract female trolls.
The next troll encountered by Hans and the students was Raglefant, who appeared on the bridge where the group had kept live goats as bait. The Raglefant is smaller than the Tusseladd in size, yet it was much bigger than a human being. He attacked the group and almost grabbed Hans and was about to bite him, but Hans wore an armor suit that saved him. Despite this horrible strike, Hans was able to collect its blood sample, which was to be examined in the TSS lab.
Dovregobbers were the following species of trolls that the group encountered in a cave situated in an abandoned mine. These species are one of the smallest species of trolls who are slightly taller than human beings. Unlike previous trolls, their bodies were covered with brown fur. There was a pack of Dovregobbers dwelling in the abundant cave who returned earlier than expected. During the combat between the group and the trolls, Hans managed to slay some trolls, but unfortunately, Kelle was killed by the Dover grabbers.
Last but not least, the final assignment of Hans took them to the journal, which was the most powerful and dangerous species of trolls. The Jotnar, which appeared at the climax of the movie, was almost 200 feet tall. It was already agitated with the effect of rabies, and it savagely attacked Hans and the students. Unfortunately, when most needed, the flashgun was not working and required fixing. This Jotnar, infected with rabies, was the main reason other trolls were getting scattered from their dwelling places. After tremendous effort, Hans was finally able to convert the Jotnar to stone and save themselves.
Finally, we conclude that this found-footage horror movie is a delightful watch with plenty of action, suspense, and thrill. Ovredal had explained every minute detail scientifically in the short span of the movie. Chris Columbus and CJ Entertainment & Media wanted to remake the film after the substantial positive response of the critics, but in 2016, Ovredal confirmed that the remake was canceled, and the franchise rights remain with him.