(Originally from Facebook – August 15, 2013)

So I go from one low-budget film (Bath Salt Zombies) to another (Thale). This one, however, did not disappoint. This little film out of Norway is steeped in Norwegian folklore, much like the great Troll Hunter. It doesn’t quite rise to the level of that film, but I thought it was very well done.

The plot is simple–two death scene cleaners go to a house to…well, clean. When they stumble upon a rather bizarre room in the house, and a series of audiotapes, things take a strange turn…although not in the way you may expect. (And that’s all I’m going to say about it.)

It’s a short film (76 minutes), and I think it might be a little too short. It leaves some things unexplained, but I think if you’re a close-watching, intelligent filmgoer, you should be able to follow it. I also think that this might be ripe for a larger-budget remake. They did well with what they have to work with. The CGI is a little off (but still better than some Hollywood studio pics I’ve seen), and it is a minimalist story, set, and cast (with really only three characters). A lot of this is made up for, though, by the direction and the acting, especially the gorgeous Silje Reinamo, as the title character. She reminds me a lot of Charisma Carpenter, although not so much in this film.

There are a couple of groan-inducing scenes (“Star Trek” fans will notice, I think), but overall I liked it. I’ve seen mixed reviews of the film. My feeling is that if you go in with overly high expectations, you’ll be disappointed, but if you give it a chance, you’ll find a fairly well-done twist on a Norwegian fairy tale. And I hope up-and-coming director Aleksander Nordaas does get a chance to remake it with a little more money. But keep two of the three actors.

IMDB reflects the mixed reviews with a 5.4. That’s probably a fair score, but I’d be willing to go up to a 6. (running time 1:16)