Editorials
What’s Your Favorite Character-Building Scene In Horror?
There’s a reason you’ll often find me touting The Conjuring 2 as the best horror movie of 2016, and it’s not simply that the movie scared the daylights out of me – it did, I must point out, as no filmmaker alive today is more skilled at executing scares than James Wan. Rather, what’s most impressive about the hit sequel is the focus on the characters; notably, supernatural superheroes Ed and Lorraine Warren. Wan’s love for the Warrens is plainly evident in the film, and there’s one scene in particular that stands out as being perhaps the very best in a horror movie this year.
And no, it’s not a scary scene. Quite the opposite, in fact.
As our own Jess Hicks noted in a wonderful piece she wrote about The Conjuring 2 here on Bloody Disgusting earlier this year, there’s a scene where Patrick Wilson’s Ed Warren picks up a guitar and sings Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling In Love” to the Hodgson family; more importantly, to his wife Lorraine. It’s a quiet moment nestled inside all the terror, and the film is infinitely better because of the scene. It’s in that moment that we realize just how much love there is between Ed and Lorraine, and I strongly believe that it’s the single most important scene in the entire movie.
“Patrick Wilson looked at Vera Farmiga in such a comforting and loving way that it made me entirely lose it,” wrote Jess Hicks in the aforementioned piece, echoing my own sentiments to a tee.
Watching the scene play out, it reminded me of another from a horror movie past.
Like The Conjuring 2, the original Poltergeist is anchored by a set of extremely likable characters that ensure you’re deeply invested in their horrifying plight; and it takes but one scene to get you firmly on their side. Beginning 14-minutes into the film, the scene is fittingly labeled “Smoking with the Freelings” on the Poltergeist DVD, though I like to call it “The Bedroom Scene.” It runs just a few minutes long, taking us inside the Freeling bedroom for an intimate moment that, like Patrick Wilson’s feels-inducing Elvis cover, tells us everything we need to know about the Freeling parents.
Lying on their bed together, Steve and Diane Freeling are unwinding by reading books, watching television, and smoking a little pot; it is, though they’re not aware of it, the last peaceful night they’ll be having for a good long while. Nothing much happens in the scene. Nothing at all, really. Rolling a joint, Diane relays a sleepwalking story from her childhood, and then the marijuana-induced paranoia of her nightly trip kicks in. She begins to fear that young Carol Anne will sleepwalk into the pool being constructed in their backyard, but Steve swiftly calms her down by jumping around on the bed and flexing in the mirror. They laugh like teenagers, coming off less like actors spouting movie dialogue and more like two real people who you’d love to hang out with… and perhaps even be.
Steve and Diane clearly love one another, and that’s really all we need to know in order to love them. And guess what happens when Carol Anne is taken to the other side? Because of scenes like “The Bedroom Scene,” we care. We fear for the family. We want nothing more than for Steve and Diane to be back on that bed, smoking pot, making each other laugh, and just generally enjoying each other’s company. Such is the power of quality character-development. Sometimes, it only takes one scene.
The best horror writers and filmmakers? They all understand that.
“I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose,” Stephen King famously once said, stressing perhaps THE single greatest key to making effective horror.
So what’s your favorite character-building scene in horror? Let us know!
In this day and age, the word “troll” is often used to describe various online nuisances. Yet as abundant and irksome as the modern troll can be, they aren’t usually as fearsome as their mythological counterparts. I’m not talking about the small and gentler versions that have become more common to see in media. No, there are much bigger and scarier trolls out there—and André Øvredal’s movie Troll Hunter is one of the best places to find them.
It doesn’t take long for Troll Hunter (or Trolljegeren) to dump the Blair Witch Project-esque setup and aim for something a lot fresher. The trajectory of the story is augmented by Otto Jespersen’s character Hans, the titular Troll Hunter. The second he comes barreling out of the deep, dark woods and shouts “troll” at the camera, this movie takes a turn into what feels like uncharted territory. Not only subject-wise, but also conceptually.
For fantastical and made-up subject matter in cinema, found footage is a fast way to add a guise of believability. After all, what we accept to be the most crucial aspect of documentaries—the truth—rubs off on pseudo-documentaries, despite our understanding of the pretense involved. That is what Øvredal delivered with Troll Hunter: a movie so convincing that some viewers wondered if trolls really do exist. So, had this been straightforwardly made, it likely wouldn’t have been as effective. Conventional narratives would be more inclined to treat something like trolls as flat out unreal, and never try to convince the audience to think otherwise.
Hans petrifies the three-headed Tusseladd troll.
The viewers, like the characters trailing Hans, are quickly thrown into the deeper end of that extraordinary story. They have to process all this new information while staying on the go. So, although there is no significant amount of meandering, narratively or physically, there is still a good amount of atmosphere, not to mention tension building. It’s never anything frightful, but then again, Troll Hunter isn’t your standard offering of horror; it’s more on the low end of the dark fantasy spectrum. We aren’t ever spirited away to a faraway world—we stay in rather familiar surroundings, as well as dip into those less so. The outcome is a movie where you’re constantly more in awe than in terror.
As fantasy fiction might do, Troll Hunter prefers not to deal with incredulity. There is no time to waste on doubt, as interviewer Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), soundperson Johanna (Johanna Mørck), and cameraman Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) all follow Hans around, recording whatever this character is willing to reveal about his bizarre job. Of course, the Troll Hunter himself is not an open book; in that respect, the diegetic documentary fails to fully capture and unpack the more interesting of its two subjects. Yes, all those giant, monstrous trolls are indeed incredible, but understandably, your mind wanders to their pursuer. What kind of person signs up for this gig and then chooses to stick with it for so long?
Reviews have called out Troll Hunter for its lack of character development. In regard to Thomas and his fellow documentarians, that criticism is valid, but bear in mind, they aren’t the focus of the story, either. Meanwhile, Hans is a well-crafted character. At least better than first realized. Before he was introduced, Hans had already grown tired of the troll grind. Fed up with that low compensation for his services, resentful of the bureaucracy, and wanting to expose his employer on a large scale, Hans’ discontent is glaring.
Then there are those finer details about the Troll Hunter, such as that indifference to both the natural splendor of his everyday surroundings and the affections of an obviously smitten colleague, that also suggest some level of despondency. So it is fair to say this movie doesn’t feature any sizable growth for its characters; however, the namesake isn’t underwritten. No doubt, putting a real-life character like Otto Jespersen in that role is partly why Hans is so fascinating—maybe even relatable.
Otto Jespersen as Hans the Troll Hunter.
There is always a small risk whenever using the term “mockumentary” to describe a found-footage movie, as the word could imply humor where there is none. In the case of Troll Hunter, the term’s usage is appropriate. Some folks have claimed the English-dubbed version has the more comedic tone, however, the Norwegian cut isn’t exactly humorless. Apart from the trolls’ absurd appearances, this is a movie where the characters nearly choke on the monsters’ farts, and Christians are like walking targets. Hans’ complete apathy towards everything is another cause of laughter. Overall, the comedy is intentionally dry and inconsistent. Unfunny, though? Absolutely not.
In a movie where endemic creatures are maltreated, as well as disavowed from living freely and peacefully, it’s hard not to notice the ecological message buried beneath the story. In addition to that is the unmistakable political satire. There is this whole business about intrusive and unsightly power lines—like trolls, they’re big blemishes on the land—that leads to what is perhaps the movie’s funniest moment. The scene in question is that one where certain electric lines, the ones secretly being used to keep the trolls at bay, go in a loop and don’t actually send power to any residents. Yet the monitors of said lines don’t find this at all weird. So it stands to reason that Øvredal was having a go at those who accept the government’s doings without question.
Looking past the fact that trolls aren’t actually real, this movie is an enlightening source of information. And not just for international audiences; Norwegians, too, get schooled about their homeland’s own mythology. It’s also evident from everything on screen that Øvredal and his crew were enthusiastic about the topic. The creature designs are the most indicative of that zeal; those imaginative yet myth-accurate manifestations are equally amusing and grotesque. One second you’re laughing at their phallic noses, the next you’re white-knuckling during a hairy sequence. Most surprisingly is how well the trolls’ visual effects hold up after fifteen years. It’s not all spotless, but on the whole, they remain impressive.
Vouching for a mockumentary about trolls isn’t easy, but those who do come around and give it a shot will more than likely be grateful for the recommendation. For Troll Hunter is a real find in that vast and varied genre we call “found footage“.
A bridge troll reaches up for food and finds Hans decked out in armor.
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