Recently, I've been going down a folklore rabbit hole. I'm the kind of person who, once I start down a rabbit hole, finds it quickly becomes an absolute obsession. This particular journey started with a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) called Vaesen (check out Free League's website for more info). I'll talk more about Vaesen in a later post, but for brevity’s sake—so I can get straight to the review of Troll—it is heavily based on Scandinavian folklore. I started looking up movies with that same theme, and you can guess what came up. Troll has been sitting on my Netflix watchlist ever since it debuted in 2022.
Troll is absolutely steeped in Nordic folklore. It plays out like a Norwegian love letter to the genre where "kaiju meets folklore." Being a massive fan of Godzilla, King Kong, Gamera, and other giant monster franchises, this movie seemed like an excellent fit for my current obsession. It did not disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I'll try to keep this review spoiler-free, but just know the movie has been out for over three years now, so I don't think I'm giving too much away. Structurally, it hits all the beats of a classic kaiju movie, beat for beat.
A Brief Synopsis
When a blasting operation working deep in the mountains of Dovre, Norway, accidentally frees a skyscraper-sized stone troll, a government desperate to understand the creature's motivations sets an intrepid group on a crash-course adventure.
It takes Nora Tidemann, a paleontologist; her father Tobias, a former professor of folklore; Andreas Isaksen, the Prime Minister's assistant; and a sprinkling of help from the military in the form of Captain Kris Holm, to solve this ancient puzzle. All the while, the massive creature is relentlessly plodding its way toward Oslo, the capital city of Norway. Together, they must try to stop it before it destroys the entire city.
Thoughts on Theme and Style
At its heart, Troll is a classic "wannabe Hollywood disaster meets monster movie." Seriously—Tokyo has Godzilla, the U.S. has King Kong, and Norway has... a Troll. Albeit, a gigantic Troll. I know I'm coming off as really sarcastic here, but seriously, I love it. That tongue-in-cheek grandeur is exactly what it feels like director Roar Uthaug was going for, and in my opinion, he succeeded in spades.
The troll itself was pulled off brilliantly. The CGI was amazing and didn't detract at all from my immersion in the movie. I loved the design of the creature and how the film compared Uthaug’s vision with classic pieces of fairy tale artwork. As with my other favorite kaiju movies, my favorite parts are always where you get to see the sheer destruction the monster causes. I felt like the pacing and the build-up to revealing the monster were done incredibly well. We don't get to see all of the monster at first during its early interactions, but when we finally do, it's used to great effect.
The atmosphere and setting are also used beautifully. I love the way the landscape was filmed. There are tons of sweeping visuals of the Norwegian scenery, shifting from awesome, high mountain peaks to the concrete and asphalt streets of Oslo. For someone who yearns to explore distant lands, this movie gave me a great presentation of what Norway actually looks like. Real locations like Nordenga Bru and the Ekeberg area were used, as well as the actual Royal Norwegian Palace in Oslo. The filmmakers used these real-life locations to great dramatic effect.
The film has a run time of 1 hour and 41 minutes. Now, I am not a purist, so I watched the film with the English dubbing. I felt it was done very well, and at most points, I even forgot it was a dub and thought the cast was natively speaking English. Don't get me wrong, there were a few parts—as there always are in foreign films—where the dubbing is obvious, but for the most part, it was carried out seamlessly.
The characters were a lot of fun and the actors portrayed them beautifully. I particularly found myself liking the character of Andreas Isaksen, the Prime Minister’s aide portrayed by Kim S. Falck-Jørgensen. I think I really identified with his Star Trek nerdiness. On the opposite side of things, I loved to hate the Minister of Defense character portrayed by Fridtjov Såheim. He did a great job playing the villain of the film.
The Final Cut
If you enjoy a little bit of folklore horror mixed with a massive kaiju spectacle, then this film is absolutely for you. It's a fun, easy watch that earned a great place down my current rabbit hole.
Review: Hellblazer, Vol. 3 – The Fear Machine
I started reading the 1980s Hellblazer run because I really liked the Keanu Reeves movie Constantine (2005). Needless to say, things are much different in the original comics than they are in the film. In fact, I’m not even to the story arc yet where the plot that inspired the movie came from. I say “inspired” because from what I understand, the story arc in the comics has very little to do with what actually happened on screen. Yes, there’s a bit of story crossover, but it’s not huge. The original John Constantine is English. Keep in mind I’m relaying this because I wasn’t familiar with the character before I saw the movie. And yes, I have read the previous volumes leading up to this one, but as stated, that was all after I saw the film. This specific volume ran from December of 1988 to September of 1989. From the research that I’ve done on the series, this story arc by writer Jamie Delano was considered one of the most deeply political storylines of the entire run. I’m someone who tries my best to stay out of politics and keep my opinions to myself, but it was easy to see the social commentary of the time bleeding through as I was reading. Even though this was set in the late '80s, I felt the social commentary was very relevant to today’s political climate as well.
A Brief Summary of the Plot Constantine is on the run from the chaotic events that happened prior to this story. He gets out of London and heads into the surrounding rural areas. There, he meets a young girl named Mercury, who takes a liking to John and invites him to the eco-commune she and her mother, Marj, belong to. Mercury has powerful psychic abilities, and she and John eventually stumble into a massive government conspiracy. A high-tech shadow branch is harvesting fear, anxiety, and other psychological trauma from the British populace, using machinery to channel and weaponize it through ancient ley lines. When Mercury gets kidnapped, it spurs Constantine into action. The story takes on a very detective-noir feel as John falls down a rabbit hole that leads straight to a sinister group trying to awaken an ancient eldritch monster.
The Art and Reading Experience This volume was about 200 pages. Comics are usually fast reads for me, but I found the text here very dense to get through, so it took me a little over a week to finish. Along with the story, one of my favorite parts of any comic is the art, and this one hit a little differently than my usual forays. The principal artist on this arc was Mark Buckingham, with inking done by Alfredo Alcala. At first, the artwork had an almost airy, ethereal quality to it, and I wasn’t really digging it. But the more I read and got into the story, the more the style fit. The horror scenes were really good; there were many horrific—and psychologically horrific—parts where the art style totally clicked. While the first part of the book and the initial setup were hard to get into, the last half flew by once you finally knew what was going on.
Final Thoughts I can’t say that this was my favorite Constantine story I’ve read so far, but I did really love the twist. I’m a big fan of cosmic horror, ancient cults, and Lovecraft, and this tapped into those exact vibes very well for me. I’m looking forward to getting to Volume 5 of this series, which is when Garth Ennis takes over and I finally get to read the story arc that inspired the movie. The Final Cut: If you can push through the dense setup in the first part of the book, you’ll be well rewarded with a great final half.
Although Clown in a Cornfield came out in 2020, I was a bit late to the party and didn't discover it until early 2025. The title caught me off guard and made me pause while browsing the horror section at Barnes & Noble. I was just getting back into reading horror and picked the book up on a whim. Little did I know that this would be my gateway into a genre I had forgotten I loved so much. After finishing it, I promptly went back to B&N and picked up books two and three.
After tackling a couple of other books in my TBR pile, I finally got to Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives. I was anxious to see what was happening with the characters I grew to like and cheer for in book one. I'll try not to overly spoil the plot of the first book for those who haven't read it—though I guess you wouldn't be reading this review if you hadn't! However, it is a given spoiler that the three main characters we followed in book one are back: Quinn, Cole, and Rust.
All of them are trying to put the past in the past and move forward with their lives. Quinn starts college in Philadelphia and soon meets up with Rust and Cole. Things go sideways, as they tend to do in horror fiction, and eventually, they head back to where it all started—back to Kettle Springs, baby! As with the first book, I didn't see the meta-twist coming, and the way Adam Cesare pulled it off is brilliant. I absolutely loved it. While there is a "main" villain, the real antagonist here for me was the internet. I loved the social commentary on the state of the world, where people are so quick to believe unverified sources.
We find out that Quinn's dad is now the mayor of Kettle Springs and faces a whole new set of trials with the public. This is primarily driven by Eli Duvall, an entrepreneur of sorts who has opened a haunt experience in Tillerson's field—the exact location where the climax of book one took place. Speaking of Tillerson’s field, another standout character in book two for me was Jeri Shaw. I really liked the dynamic Cesare added with this character, which brings the events of the first book directly into the sequel. Jeri is suffering from PTSD after the events of book one, which affected her in a very real way. Cesare did a great job portraying someone suffering from this debilitating disorder and grief in a grounded, realistic manner.
The rising action of the book revolves around new events (and bloody kills!) in Kettle Springs. As the title suggests, Cesare's monster has come back to life to wreak more havoc on our main characters' lives. There's plenty of suspense in this part of the book as we start to understand all the forces at play. The action sequences were well-thought-out and incredibly well-written; I could vividly imagine the terror the characters were going through in my mind's eye. Being a horror novel, you already expect a lot of graphic violence, and it absolutely delivers. The kills are superbly masterful and made me physically cringe—so awesome job there. I know it sounds weird, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The climax of the book was great, and seeing a certain character's demise felt fulfilling in all the right ways. It left me anxious to see where the next book takes us.
The wrap-up and falling action do a good job of tying up most of the hanging threads and plotlines. I found myself particularly moved during a scene between Jeri Shaw and Izzy Reyes. To say more would give major spoilers away, but I really loved this scene in the closing moments of the book. I also thoroughly enjoyed the closing chapter, seeing what Quinn was embarking upon, which gave a hopeful sense of direction for the next installment. I loved this book, I love the series, and I can't say enough good things about it. However, with all of my praises, and this being a review, I should briefly mention the one thing that didn't quite work for me. Truly, in the grand scheme of the book, it's a very minor complaint: Cole. His role in the book felt incredibly small. While there was a certain amount of dramatic tension between him, Rust, and Hunter, his overall presence felt almost negligible and didn't have much impact on the main story. By saying this, I know I'm talking about a major character I've tried my best not to mention. I'm aware of his role and why he's there, but he just felt underused and... honestly, a bit douchey.
To be frank, where I was cheering for him in the first book, I found myself wanting him to disappear in the second. There! I said it. The guy reached total douchebag levels for me in this book. I'm chalking it up to him dealing with personal trauma from the first book—real life reflects fiction, and people deal with crap differently—but it was a minor issue that didn't take away from my enjoyment.
To wrap up this review, I'm still a massive fan of this series and Adam Cesare. If you're looking for a great slasher romp, this series delivers. Readers can genuinely connect with the characters and enjoy watching them navigate the terrifying situations they're put in. The plot is complex but not hard to follow, featuring fantastic layers that I loved. The meta-twist was my favorite element; it was something I didn't expect but really enjoyed, and it gave me a lot to think about. It's an accessible read, and Cesare's style was appropriately awarded and well-earned.
My final cut: if you're looking for a bloody good time, you'll absolutely find it with this book.
Xander and I played the lets go series in tandem
This was one of those games that sat in my backlog for years after I bought it. It was fun finally getting through it together and sharing the adventure with him.
One more game completed, one less game sitting on the shelf waiting to be played. On to the next one!
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