History Film / TheTrollHunter

* IdiotBall: Kalle. [[spoiler:Despite being asked very early on if he was a Christian, and despite later seeing very clearly why this would be a bad thing in the context, Kalle waits until he's trapped in a hole in an abdanoned mine right next to half a dozen trolls before finally telling his colleagues "Oh yeah, I do believe in those God and Jesus fellas". The result could be considered Darwinism in action for his sheer blinding inability to put 2 and 2 together before it's way, way too late]].

* NaiveNewcomer: The film students, to the troll-hunting business. A new character comes in just before the third act; when she invokes scepticism about trolls, the other students just stare at her.

* ItGotWorse: The crew start out trying to make a simple interview/documentary on what appears to be a bear poacher. They end up quite over their heads.
** [[spoiler: Trolls can contract rabies. Thomas, about that bite...]]

* ForegoneConclusion: The film opens with an explanation by the studio that the footage had been sent in to them anonymously, and they have been forced to conclude that the events shown within are not doctored. It's fairly obvious things did not go well for the original creators.

* ZenSurvivor: Hans. In one scene near the end he reminisces about having slaughtered an entire region full of trolls because the government wanted a tunnel in the area.

** This can also be taken as commentary on how Christianity's arrival in Norway (and the rest of Scandinavia) started to push out the old beliefs - the trolls see Christians as a threat to their existence/habitat.

* OneSceneWonder: The Polish contractor hired to place dead bears at the scenes of troll attacks.

** There is a class of trolls called "Mountain Kings," a little nod to "Peer Gynt" by {{Henrik Ibsen}}. More popularly known for the famous "In the Hall of the Mountain King" orchestral composition by Edvard Grieg, which is heard during the second half of the credits.

* ZenSurvivor: Hans. In one scene near the end he reminisces about having slaughtered an entire region full of trolls because the government wanted a tunnel in the area.

* MultipleHeadCase: The first troll. Handwaved by saying that the other heads don't have eyes or brains, just noses, and are just there to improve its ability to scent and impress female trolls.

''The Troll Hunter'' (Trolljegeren) is a Norwegian FoundFootageFilm released in 2010. The movie [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis purports to be found footage]], sent in to the film studio, [[BookEnds and opens and closes with comments from the film studio about the fate of the footage and the film makers]]. The film follows three film students from a journalism college -- Thomas (presenter), Kalle (camera) and Johanna (sound) -- who are planning to make a documentary about a possible bear poacher and local eccentric identified only as "Hans". Hans turns out to be in the employ of TST, [[GovernmentConspiracy the Norwegian troll-safety department]], as their government-sanctioned troll hunter (of the Norwegian folklore kind of troll) who hunts and kills trolls who come into contact with people. Although initially reluctant, Hans eventually agrees to take the trio with him on his latest round of troll hunts, citing tiredness with the current policies of the department and figuring it's about time the truth came out.

''The Troll Hunter'' (Trolljegeren) is a Norwegian {{mockumentary}} released in 2010. The movie [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis purports to be found footage]], sent in to the film studio, [[BookEnds and opens and closes with comments from the film studio about the fate of the footage and the film makers]]. The film follows three film students from a journalism college -- Thomas (presenter), Kalle (camera) and Johanna (sound) -- who are planning to make a documentary about a possible bear poacher and local eccentric identified only as "Hans". Hans turns out to be in the employ of TST, [[GovernmentConspiracy the Norwegian troll-safety department]], as their government-sanctioned troll hunter (of the Norwegian folklore kind of troll) who hunts and kills trolls who come into contact with people. Although initially reluctant, Hans eventually agrees to take the trio with him on his latest round of troll hunts, citing tiredness with the current policies of the department and figuring it's about time the truth came out.

** There is a class of trolls called "Mountain Kings," a little nod to "Peer Gynt" by {{Henrik Ibsen}}. More popularly known for the famous "In the Hall of the Mountain King" orchestral composition by Edvard Grieg.
* TheStinger: A split-second shot of some trolls in the abandoned cave at the end of the credits.

* {{Visual Effects of Awesome}}: For a low budget movie, the FX for the trolls are astoundingly effective. They look cartoonishly absurd, yet life-like, they provide a convincing illusion that they hold tangible space in reality.

* ArmourIsUseless: Completely subverted. Hans dons a full suit of what appears to be homemade plate armor, complete with helmet ("I hate this crap," Hans grumbles) in order to go toe-to-toe with a mammoth bridge troll and get a blood sample. [[spoiler:The troll seizes Hans, smashes him around and tries to bite his head off. For a long moment, Hans lies still before slowly getting to his feet, bruised but otherwise completely unharmed.]]
* {{Attack of the 50 Foot Whatever}}: The troll on the poster. [[spoiler:It shows up in the climax, and it's huuuuge.]]
* BadassNormal: Hans.
* BerserkButton: Trolls ''really'' don't like Christianity, and can smell Christians (fortunately Hans and the students are all atheists or agnostics [[spoiler:or so they think]]). Hans at one point uses a bucket of Christian blood to lure in and enrage a troll, [[spoiler:and in the climax, ''Gospel'']].

* CameraAbuse: [[spoiler:When Kalle is killed by Mountain Kings, they crack the camera lens which stays that way until they get a new camera.]]
* CastingGag: Knut Nærum, a Norwegian comedian known for delivering sometimes odd jokes with a deadpan tone and facial expression and being fond of the GovernmentConspiracy as a topic of humor, plays a clueless power plant worker who has no idea why certain power lines are set up in a useless circle and tries to (futilely) rationalize it on-screen. [[spoiler:It's really a troll fence.]]

* DontGoInTheWoods: First contact with the trolls ends up like this. And the second. And the third. And just... Whenever they meet a troll. [[spoiler:Except the last one.]]
* ForegoneConclusion: The film opens with an explanation by the studio that the footage had been sent in to them anonymously, and they have been forced to conclude that the events shown within are not doctored. It's fairly obvious things did not go well for the original creators. [[spoiler:By the end, Kalle has been eaten by a troll and the others have disappeared without a trace, possibly 'disappeared' by the government.]]

* ItGotWorse: The crew start out trying to make a simple interview/documentary on what appears to be an bear poacher. They end up quite over their heads.

** Thomas at two points states that Hans is the closest thing Norway has to a Superhero for keeping people safe from trolls. Hans replies, rather annoyed, that it's a shitty job and there's nothing 'super' or 'heroic' about what he must do.

* LeftHanging: The final scene jumps forward at least a few hours, and perhaps days, to a point where [[spoiler:the crew is running from the government, Thomas is bleeding from a head wound, Hans is nowhere to be seen and Johanna is carrying his UV gun.]] Then the film ends.

* LoopholeAbuse: The trolls attack anyone with "belief in God and Jesus". Whether Muslims "count" for this purpose is a topic of some debate, ultimately left unanswered.

** Or those unfamiliar with the orginal lyrics to [[JackAndTheBeanstalk "Fee Fi Fo Fum"]].

* NaiveNewcomer: The film students, to the troll-hunting business.
** After [[spoiler:Kalle is eaten]], the new cameraman becomes a second iteration of this. When she invokes scepticism about trolls, the other students just stare at her.

* OneSceneWonder: The Polish contractor hired to place dead bears at the scenes of troll contact.

* RedHerring: [[spoiler: the land mine]] never gets used.
* {{Scenery Porn}}: Without a doubt, this is definitely the most gorgeous [[FoundFootageFilms found footage film]] ever. The shots of fjord landscapes, [[spoiler: especially at the end]], are breathtaking.

* TheStoic: Hans.

* YourVampiresSuck: Done with trolls. Hans explicitly mentions the Norwegian stories about trolls collected by Asbjornsen and Moe (the Norwegian equivalents to the Brothers Grimm) as being mostly fairy tales with wildly inaccurate information.
* ZenSurvivor: Hans. In one scene near the end he reminisces about having committed troll genocide on an entire region on them in the Seventies because the government wanted a tunnel in the area.

** [[FridgeBrilliance That's exactly what the government wants you to think...]]

* LeftHanging: The final scene jumps forward at least a few hours, and perhaps days, to a point where [[spoilers: the crew is running from the government, Thomas is bleeding from a head wound, Hans is nowhere to be seen and Johanna is carrying his UV gun.]] Then the movie ends.