Sean Parker
Keep your eyes open for this folktale-inspired monster movie! Day two of Netflix’s geeked week has revealed the first teaser for director Roar Uthaug’s (Cold Prey, The Wave) upcoming thriller Troll. Written by Vikingulven (Viking Wolf) writer Espen Aukan, Troll chronicles the awakening of a centuries-old monster laying dormant in the Dovrefjell mountains heading to Oslo on a rampant path of destruction.
The first Troll teaser is short and subtle. I didn’t even catch some of the background spectacles on first viewing, like the broken home behind the cast as they walked and got into the troll’s footprint drawing a Godzilla (1998) comparison. Also, I literally blinked and missed the “eye-opening” reveal of the monster. Though I may not have seen everything on my first watch, that last moment with the troll reaching toward the characters was enough for me to look again, and it was well worth a second look.
The film will obviously draw horror fans to insist the film is stealing from André Øvredal’s 2010 film Trollhunter, or the ire of those wishing this was a reboot of the 1986 film that spawned the Best Worst Movie, Troll 2. While the latter may have a point in seeing some resemblance, I have an immense feeling Troll will lean more on the side of an action film and deliver a different experience than the cult classic low-budget found-footage thriller.
I’m a huge fan of Uthaug’s and rushed out to see The Wave after its release in 2015. The low-budget nail-biter provided exceptional intensity while depicting a divided family desperate to find each other during a cataclysmic event. The film even garnered a sequel in 2018, The Quake, but without Uthaug directing as he was tapped to bring Lara Croft back to life in the Alicia Vikander led Tomb Raider. While Tomb Raider wasn’t the best adaptation of the Square Enix games, Uthaug’s direction is still solid, and the director shows he has a penchant for large-scale special-effects-laden destruction.
Troll does not have an exact release date yet but is due out later this year.
