Thale
Release date: 2012-02-16
Votes: 160
Genres: Horror, Fantasy
Norwegian folklore turns out to be real when Leo and Elvis encounter a girl called Thale in a basement. A regular cleaning job turns into a struggle for survival, while they're trying to figure out what or who Thale is. Could Thale be a huldra? A seductive forest spirit who appears from the front to be a beautiful young woman, but who also has a cow's tale and whose back appears to be like a hollowed out tree. The huldra has been known to offer rewards to those who satisfy them sexually, while death to those who fail to do so and are also prone to stealing human babies.
Reviews
Dsnake1
Thale is an atmospheric horror film from Norway based on the huldra from Norwegian folklore. A pair of crime scene cleaners stumbles across a hidden room containing Thale, a huldra who holds the appearance of a woman. The first two-thirds of the movie are the pair unraveling the mystery of who and what Thale is and why she is in this hidden compartment. These two-thirds are fantastic. The world building is fun and pulls from the folklore, and the mystery of it all ramps up and up. We don't know that Thale is there, and once we find that out in a spectacular fashion, we slowly begin to unravel the puzzle of it all. Is Thale an abused little girl? Is she a monster? Is someone looking for her? As this draws out, we begin to find out more and more about the characters. Each of the main three has a story to tell and a backstory worth investigating, but we really only catch glimpses of everyone's story, although we do see significant amounts of Thale's. While the atmosphere, the world building, and the character building are excellent in the first two-thirds of the movie, this seems to fall off during the climax. It turns out that there are people hunting Thale. They incapacitate the two cleaners using gas while Thale hides back in a bathtub with a gas mask hooked up to air. After a cut, we find that the two men are outside, tied up and blindfolded. A man moves to dispose of them after giving the standard evil villain monologue but is interrupted by an explosion. The explosion destroyed the building where Thale had been picking off the remaining people hunting her down. After the explosion, a pack of huldra come through and rip the man to shreds, leaving the two cleaners alive. The film ends with all of the problems being solved. Thale is back with the rest of the huldra, and the problems that the two other protagonists were dealing with were magically solved. While the first two-thirds of the film was full of strong aspects, the last third flipped all of that on its head. The atmosphere shifted from creepy and mysterious to something you'd find in an action movie, and the ending was simply everyone getting what they wanted without a satisfying resolution to the buildup of tension and mystery. Is it worth a watch? Sure. Don't expect to be blown away, though. The slow burn of the first forty to fifty minutes is incredibly enjoyable and the last parts of the movie are fine, even if they don't follow the same mold.
Movie Recommendation
The Windmill Massacre2016-08-29Jennifer, an Australian girl on the run from her past, turns up in Amsterdam and, in a desperate attempt to blend in, joins a coach-load of tourists on a tour of Holland's old windmills. When the bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere, she and the other tourists are forced to seek shelter in a disused shed beside a sinister windmill where a devil-worshiping miller once ground the bones of locals instead of grain. As members of the group start to disappear, Jennifer learns that they all have something in common – a shared secret that seems to mark them all for doom.More...
All the Moons2020-12-25During the final throes of the last Carlist war, a little girl is rescued from an orphanage by a mysterious woman who lives deep inside the forest.More...
Mojave2016-01-22A suicidal artist goes into the desert, where he finds his doppelgänger, a homicidal drifter.More...
Havoc2005-10-16A wealthy Los Angeles teen and her superficial friends wants to break out of suburbia and experience Southern California's "gangsta" lifestyle. But problems arise when the preppies get in over their heads and provoke the wrath of a violent Latino gang. Suddenly, their role-playing seems a little too real.More...
The Barrens2012-09-28A man takes his family on a camping trip and becomes convinced they are being stalked by the legendary monster of the New Jersey Pine Barrens: the Jersey Devil.More...
Shadow of God2025-03-26While performing an unauthorized exorcism on his father, an elite exorcist suspects the entity he's doing battle with might be a holy being – perhaps even God.More...
Struck by Lightning2013-06-19After being struck and killed by lightning, a young man recounts the way he blackmailed his fellow classmates into contributing to his literary magazine.More...
Fender Bender2016-05-23In a small New Mexico town, teenager Hilary gets into a fender bender and innocently exchanges her personal information with the other driver, a terrifying and bizarre serial killer who stalks the country’s endless miles of roads and streets with his old rusty car, hungrily searching for his next unsuspecting victim.More...
He Took His Skin Off for Me2014-10-18A simple, domestic love story about a man who takes his skin off for his girlfriend, and why it probably wasn't the best idea...More...
Lesbian Schoolgirls and the Pleasure of Perverting1983-02-21Aunt Mary is not happy with her recent marriage. Her husband always wants to go to bed, and she doesn’t like it. Her sister’s daughter comes with a girl to spend some days in the house. Mary learns how to love both men and women.More...
What Lies Ahead2019-03-01When two young women embark on a road trip from Georgia to New York, an unseen peril emerges that grows stronger with each passing mile.More...
Girls Gone Dead2012-03-28A group of six ex-high school cheerleaders are stalked by a killer with a medieval war hammer and battle axe during their first Spring Break from college.More...
In Darkness We Fall2014-01-24Three boys and two girls go backpacking from the city to a paradisiacal island. There they rent motorcycles, travel around the prettiest and most remote spots, camp out in the woods, on a coastal cliff, get drunk and swim in the sea. The following day they enter a deep, maze-like cave to explore it and get lost inside.More...
Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away2012-11-09An original story featuring performances by Cirque du Soleil. A young woman is entranced by an Aerialist. When they fall into the dreamlike world of Cirque du Soleil and are separated, they travel through the different tent worlds trying to find each other.More...
They Look Like People2016-02-26Suspecting that people are transforming into malevolent shape-shifters, Wyatt flees to New York City to seek out his estranged childhood friend Christian.More...
Samsara2011-09-16Filmed over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five continents, and shot on seventy-millimetre film, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders.More...
Catwoman2004-07-22Liquidated after discovering a corporate conspiracy, mild-mannered graphic artist Patience Phillips washes up on an island, where she's resurrected and endowed with the prowess of a cat — and she's eager to use her new skills... as a vigilante. Before you can say "cat and mouse", handsome gumshoe Tom Lone is on her tail, fascinated by both of her personas.More...
The Ninth Gate1999-08-25A rare book dealer finds himself at the heart of a string of paranormal events when he is hired to find the last two copies of a text, The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows, capable of summoning the Devil.More...
From Up on Poppy Hill2011-07-16Yokohama, 1963. Japan is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics—and the mood is one of both optimism and conflict as the young generation struggles to throw off the shackles of a troubled past. Against this backdrop of hope and change, a friendship begins to blossom between high school students Umi and Shun—but a buried secret from their past emerges to cast a shadow on the future and pull them apart.More...
The Woman in Black2012-02-03The story follows a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps, who is ordered to travel to a remote village and sort out a recently deceased client’s papers. As he works alone in the client’s isolated house, Kipps begins to uncover tragic secrets, his unease growing when he glimpses a mysterious woman dressed only in black. Receiving only silence from the locals, Kipps is forced to uncover the true identity of the Woman in Black on his own, leading to a desperate race against time when he discovers her true identity.More...
Similar Movies
The Huldra
2020-02-19A film student works to reenact one of the most famous images in movie history with help from his love, a beautiful creature from Nordic mythology.Back in High School
2017-07-27In high school, Lan Feichi and Qi Shu fell in love. Nine years later, the two met again at Qi Shu's wedding. Lan Feichi saw Qi Shu's ordinary desolation and felt guilty. Later, Lan Feichi accidentally entered a magic watch shop that can transport time and space and returned to the high school era with the pocket watch donated by Qi Shu. Lan Feichi, who has returned to the past, has done many ridiculous things to change reality, but each time the ending is much worse than the original. When Lan Feichi returned to the scene of their first encounter, he decided not to meet Qi Shu again.The Changed
2021-08-27A group of ordinary people band together in a suburban home to battle imposters who have replaced their families, friends, and neighbors.Dirty Mindfreaks
2013-12-13OL, Karen who can manipulate the subconscious with supernatural powers. Yuko Suzuka, the female president, uses Kaiko to succeed in instilling a memory of fear in her cheating husband. However, Kakoi who knows the secret will leave the company ... After losing her job, she decided to work at a psychiatric clinic she used to attend. There was also Aya, who had the same power, and was thinking about the director's teacher's office. But that's the same with Kakoi ...Sleeping City
2021-08-19All the parents suddenly fall asleep, and children have to survive in the world. A thrilling adventure showing what can happen when chaos reigns and children are forced to face the pitfalls of the world on their own.Mark of the Witch
2014-05-17A young orphan discovers her occult lineage and the curse she is destined to fulfill.Curse of the Mayans
2017-01-02Danielle Noble (played by Carla Ortiz) and her team of expert cave divers led by an ambitious american archaeologist (Steve Wilcox), undertake an expedition in search of the lost Mayan Library, without imagining they will instead find the hidden gates of hell known as Xib'alb'a.Barbarous Mexico
2014-10-18Eight tales based on the most brutally terrifying Mexican traditions and legends, an anthology of haunting stories woven into the fabric of the Mexican culture, some told through the centuries and some new, but all equally frightening. Bogeymen, trolls, ghosts, monsters, all brought to life. Time for Aztec sacrifices. This is the Day of the Dead.Psycho Sleepover
2008-10-18After accidentally murdering her boyfriend, Debbie Dicky moves to a new town and meets three girls who invite her to a sleepover. The very same night there is a breakout at the local insane asylum where forty serial killers escape and head over to crash the party. However, the girls at the slumber party might not be as helpless as the killers think.V/H/S: Viral
2014-11-21As the streets of Los Angeles overflow with camera-wielding gawkers seeking to capture images of a bizarre police pursuit, the same people who sought to exploit the suffering of others for amusement on the Internet become the stars of a gruesome viral video from which no one gets out alive.Black Mountain Side
2016-01-26A group of archaeologists uncover a strange structure in Northern Canada, dating over ten thousand years before the present. The team finds themselves isolated when their communication systems fail and it's not long before they begin to feel the effects of the solitude.She Who Must Burn
2015-07-26When Angela refuses to leave her planned-parenthood clinic after it is shut down by the state, a family of fanatical evangelists vow to make her pay.The Brothers Garcia: ...
2003-06-21In this movie detour from the Brothers Garcia TV series, the Garcia family takes a trip to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula to learn more about their heritage. There, the kids get mixed up in a magical adventure that takes them directly to the historical roots of the Mayan culture when they encounter a living ancestor of theirs who must be reunited with his lady-love or else he'll be cursed to live as a shadow serpent forever.MutantLand
2010-06-01As the sun goes down in the dark and terrifying Mutantland, hunters are lured into a forbidden zone in their quest for food only to find themselves candidates for the main course.Beringin
2017-04-08Nisa newly aware of coma sent to a boarding school by her aunt. There, he often experienced strange events and the incident is related to a mysterious banyan tree at the schoolWir sagen Du! Schatz....
2007-11-01Oliver doesn’t have a family so he steals one.Ronia: The Robber's D...
1984-12-14Ronia lives happily in her father's castle until she comes across a new playmate, Birk, in the nearby dark forest. The two explore the wilderness, braving dangerous Witchbirds and Rump-Gnomes. But when their families find out Birk and Ronia have been playing together, they forbid them to see each other again. Indeed, their fathers are competing robber chieftains and bitter enemies. Now the two spunky children must try to tear down the barriers that have kept their families apart for so long.Underworld
2003-09-19Vampires and werewolves have waged a nocturnal war against each other for centuries. But all bets are off when a female vampire warrior named Selene, who's famous for her strength and werewolf-hunting prowess, becomes smitten with a peace-loving male werewolf, Michael, who wants to end the war.