Trolljegeren 2010

Mike Hale, New York Times: One of the many pleasures of the Norwegian director Andre Ovredal's clever and engaging mock documentary "Trollhunter" is the way it plays with the idea of the supernatural rule book. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: The film takes off into a witty realm of nonplussed responses and folklore made roaringly real. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Those fog-draped fjords provide a distractingly pretty backdrop to this tale of mysterious, massive creatures who roam the forest by night, searching for Christians on whom to munch. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: Here's what's not so good in Troll Hunter: the actual troll hunting. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Once again, material for a great short film has been expanded to feature length at its peril and ours. Still, this is clever stuff and surprisingly engrossing on its own terms. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Reader: The film is shot with handheld cameras in the standard mockumentary style, but the content is often hilarious, especially when the trolls show up. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: As the stoic titular slayer, Otto Jespersen is the one actor who holds you. Read more

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: An enjoyably off-kilter hybrid of The Blair Witch Project and Where the Wild Things Are. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: A monster movie with a love for mountainous, tree-lined Scandinavian scenery and an even greater love for setting memorably ugly, hulking and destructive mythological creatures against it. Read more

Jeannette Catsoulis, NPR: Genially simpleminded and more sweet than scary, Trollhunter never settles on a tone. Fairytale fantasy, supernatural comedy, serious horror? All are sampled, to the detriment of the whole. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: This is what happens when the Norwegians try to make their own "Blair Witch Project": We get three-headed trolls that hate Vitamin D and references to "Deliverance." Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: You'll want to catch this clever movie before Hollywood ruins everything with a dumb remake. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Like the folks who dreamed up lycanthropy, the Trollhunter writers either have an abundance of imagination or they've been smoking a controlled substance. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Andre Ovredal's enjoyably goofy scare-pic purports to offer real footage of real horror - in this case, a variety of forest and mountain trolls... Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: They spend a great deal of time roaring, bleating, squealing and snorting at a very high volume, which is, after a point, too much of a muchness. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: A drily comic blend of irresistible ingredients that gets better as it goes along. Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: Successful on multiple levels, with a brisk pace, excellent location work and a strong lead performance by Norwegian comedian Otto Jespersen. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: With impressive technical credits, stunning fjord and forest locations and a winking ownership of its own absurdity, "Trollhunter" manages to be at once spooky, satirical and endearing. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Trollhunter" has a lot of down time as the crew treks to the fjords, but it's also got dryly subversive humor and, eventually, some impressive special effects. Read more

Nigel Floyd, Time Out: Given that the cast improvised all the scenes live on set, the dialogue has a surprising ring of truth, and is shot through with an unexpected, often unsettling, humour. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: It's so steeped in troll and paranoia lore, it risks boring you with the details at times. But it also makes you more inclined to believe it, and the frights are real enough. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: Enormously entertaining chiller. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: As de-mythologizings go, Trollhunter has neither the wit, nor art, nor social insight to honor the legacy of George A. Romero's Martin. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: It can't seem to make up its mind about whether it wants to frighten us or make us laugh. It does a little bit of both, to be sure, but not nearly enough of either to make much of a lasting impression. Read more