Movies
The Grudge 3 (V)
“With a final 20 minutes uncharacteristically steeped in R-rated gore (the first two films were rated PG-13), watching The Grudge 3 is like eating the generic brand of your favorite cereal; you can try to tell yourself all day that its just as good as the real thing, but inside, deep inside, you know it tastes different.”
Immediately following the horrifying and convoluted events of The Grudge 2, the prologue for The Grudge 3 begins with Dr. Sullivan (Shawnee Smith, Queen of the SAW Franchise) interviewing Jake, the sole survivor of the haunting in Chicago. Having watched his stepmother murder his entire family, young Jake is understandably unsettled, cowering in a psychiatric hospital, fretting about Kayeko’s ghost, and Dr. Sullivan’s solemn vow (“I promise. I won’t ever let anything bad happen to you.”) does little to assuage his fears. Sure enough, moments after being left alone in his room, Jake is grabbed by a pair of pasty white hands, and a security guard watches on a monitor as Jake is tossed around the hospital room by an invisible force, bounced off the walls and ceiling and tiled floor until “practically every bone in his body is broken”. This, unfortunately, is the best scene of the movie.*
Following the traditionally creepy opening credits sequence, the action moves to the haunted building in Chicago, where apartment manager Max (Gil McKinney, E.R.) is attempting to fill empty units in the wake of the Grudge 2 tragedy. His ailing little sister Rose (Jadie Hobson, showcasing the occasional “reminder wheeze” to prevent the audience from forgetting that she’s ill) requires plenty of medical attention, and his other sister, Lisa (Johanna Braddy; Penny Dreadful), a selfish blonde about to take an internship in New York, isn’t much help. She’d much rather sneak off to one of the empty apartments to get boned by her skeezy boyfriend than actually contribute to their humble little Party of Five-style family. Max’s repeated attempts to make her feel guilty (“Well, I guess since you’re leaving, we won’t be your problem any more, will we?”) make up the majority of their dialogue as siblings, and it makes for some lazy character development.
Before long the Grudge curse starts killing peripheral characters somehow related to the Chicago apartment building. The trio of orphans is confused by the mysterious goings-on, but luckily, Dr. Sullivan shows up for a dour expository scene to catch Lisa up on the events that took place in the first two films. Nakeo, a mysterious new tenant from Japan, suddenly speaks up and announces that she’s the sister of dead Kayako. She expounds on the “soul eating” mythology introduced in part deux with a series of yawn-inducing flashbacks. Sounds like Nakeo is the only person who can stop the Grudge curse forever. But does anybody really care?
Not that The Grudge 2 was anything amazing, but director Takashi Shimizu’s “ghost attack” scenes still packed the same punch that they did in the first film. Comparably, director Toby Wilkins’ (Splinter) scares in The Grudge 3 are sorely lacking in subtlety and confidence. Shot with a grueling, in-your-face aggressiveness, every twitchy movement and throaty growl is exaggerated to the point of burn-out. Wilkins takes the looming scares of Shimizu’s superior efforts and transforms them into jangly dime-store skeletons.
The first two films—with their deliberately placed scares—were carnival rides intended to horrify and amuse, not to provoke thought. Unfortunately, The Grudge 3 attempts to build future interest in the franchise by continuing to develop its lame “soul eater” theme, a move that only alienates viewers that came into the film simply looking for a few cheap scares. With a final 20 minutes uncharacteristically steeped in R-rated gore (the first two films were rated PG-13), watching The Grudge 3 is like eating the generic brand of your favorite cereal; you can try to tell yourself all day that its just as good as the real thing, but inside, deep inside, you know it tastes different.
*The second best scene in the movie is the restaurant scene with Lisa and boyfriend Andy, wherein Andy attempts to sort of make himself cry while discussing their relationship. It’s an unparalleled “B-Movie Acting Moment” that’s worth of a few rewinds.
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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