Director – Aleksander Nordass (Mushroom Monster)
Starring – Silje Reinamo (A Turtle’s Tale 2: Sammy’s Escape from Paradies), Erlend Nervold (Sirkel), and Jon Sigve Skard (Hidden)
Release Date – 2012
Rating – 3.5/5
Tagline – “In a cellar, dark and deep, I lay my dearest down to sleep; a secret they would like to keep”
I fucking love the $5 dollar movie bin at Wal-Mart and any other store that sells DVDs. I always, and I mean always, check out those bins if I ever come across one while traveling or just out shopping at the local stores. Most of the time it is the same old shit that no one wants to own but sometimes we get some amazing shit out of that bin.
Over the years I have found some pretty impressive films along with some films I have never heard of before that interested me. One such film is the Norwegian folk horror film Thale. The artwork looked awesome and the synopsis on the back sounded awesome so I grabbed it. Hell, for $5 it would be a nice addition to my collection even if it sucked.
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows two crime scene cleaners, Leo and Elvis, who have the horrible task of cleaning up dead bodies, blood, guts, and other bits of gore from crime scenes. They are sent to clean up the remains of an old man and discover a hole in the wall leading to a cellar full of things. Inside they find an old audio player and turn it on where they listen to an old man talk about raising a child that is different from the others. They soon find a young woman in a bathtub full of murky water with a tube forced down her throat.
They pull her out and dry her off where they find that she once had a tail and it was removed by the old man. They try to comfort her while they wait on the police, However, the three of them are not alone and soon Leo and Elvis find themselves captured by a man and his para-military group who are looking for the young girl that is named Thale. They are unable to find Thale but keep Leo and Elvis tied up in the woods but they do not pay attention to their surroundings. Soon several hulders arrive and take out the men and freeing Leo and Elvis before getting Thale back.**Spoiler Alert**
Norway has released several solid horror and fantasy films that dive deep into their folklore and culture. The filmTrollhunter stands as my favorite and the film I often what I compare other films from the region to. When I first found Thale in the bin I thought that it looked fun and would be nowhere near as awesome as Trollhunter is and for the most part I am right. The film does tale a decent story but leaves the folklore out of it.
The acting in this one is great by the entire cast with no weak links in this one. Every cast member created fun and memorable characters with Leo and Elvis leading the charge. Their scenes were amazing and never a dull moment. These two deserve to be in more films together.
The story for this one is based in folklore but honestly feels like a science experiment gone wrong horror flick. The film begins with the introduction of the two main characters who discover Thale. We then meet Thale but very little is given about her and the other creatures in the woods. If you are not familiar with Norwegian fairy tales, like me, then this may be a bit of a let down for you.
Finally, the film does lack on screen kills but still offers up a small bit of gore in the way of an elderly deceased man and some CGI effects that are hit and miss. The CGI for Thale and her tail are fucking brilliant and look nothing short of brilliant but the CGI for the creatures in the woods are on the level of a SyFy or an Asylum flick. Overall, Thale is another fine film from Norway for the horror fan looking for a little fantasy. The film skips on the folklore section of the story that some of the fans were looking for but it is well worth your time. Check it out!
