Thale (2012)

After a death in a cabin in the woods, Leo (Jon Sigve Skard) is hired to clean the crime scene. He brings his recently hired assistant Elvis (Erlend Nervold) that is not accustomed to the blood. He accidentally discovers a female creature with appearance of woman hidden in the basement and tapes. He learns that Thale (Silje Reinåmo) was kept in captivity and submitted to experiments by her captor. Further she is not able to speak and only sings. Out of the blue, Leo and Elvis are captured by a group of paramilitary soldiers and their leader wants to know where Thale is. What will happen to Thales?"Thale" is an eerie Norwegian supernatural film. The story is based on the hulder of the Scandinavian folklore and in accordance with the Wikipedia, "a hulder is a seductive forest creature". Unfortunately the story is too short and consequently the plot is developed in too slow pace with a boring narrative. My vote is four.Title (Brazil): "Segredo Sombrio" ("Dark Secret")

This successful film works on every level. Proof that filmmakers don't need blockbuster budgets to create believable and suspenseful sci-fi/fantasy films. Even the subtitles didn't detract from the story given the minimal dialog (and I generally hate subtitles). The pacing was perfect, the dialog very natural, and the story intriguing (as well as easy to buy into even without knowing the folklore behind the mystery). It was easy to feel for every character as a fully realized personality (and very quickly) without the need of exposition--or even much of a back story. The mystery and suspense are maintained throughout the film without leaving the viewer feeling left out or confused (as many modern films of this type seem to do) and while there is some violence, it is not overtly graphic. I highly recommend this movie--it harks back to the best of traditional story telling in film.

This movie didn't get a 10 because, being low-budget, the CGI wasn't perfect. Apart from that, I thoroughly and absolutely loved it! The current era favors fast-paced films full of action, quick changes of scene, and tight plots that jump from moment to moment. This movie doesn't do any of that. It's slow, cerebral, quirky, very creepy, and full of wonder.I don't think anyone has ever put the Hulder-folk into a film before, and it was wonderful to see this interpretation of them. Very much in keeping with the varied and mysterious folklore that they're based on.I was a bit sad that it was so short!

I was encouraged to buy this DVD on the back of some of the reviews I'd read here and at amazon.com. I also really enjoyed Troll Hunter which compared to this "effort" is an Oscar Winner.I found Thale to be a total disappointment. The "special effects" are not special and look like they cost less than £500. The plot which is incredibly slow and at times hard to understand must have been written on the back of a cigarette packet. The characters, apart from Thale, speak and move at a snail's pace adding to the shear frustration felt in trying to follow the story. My advice is not to waste the 1 hour 15 minutes of your life in watching it.