In the beginning of June, Mrs. Doubtfire director Chris Columbus announced that he was going to make an American version of Norwegian docu-horror film TrollHunter. In response, every American who saw TrollHunter at film festivals (including SIFF) this spring cringed. We TrollHunter fans are upset in part because it's practically already an American genre picture: It's got the documentary-horror feel of movies like Blair Witch Project (it's about three young, attractive filmmaking students who get in over their heads while investigating a spate of strange bear maulings), it transitions from very European subtlety to over-the-top American exhibitionism during the troll fight scenes, and the titular troll hunter who takes the kids in—a motor-home-driving, lovably grousing, larger-than-life asshole played perfectly by Otto Jespersen—feels like an American eccentric, a slightly daffy, grizzled free spirit.

But the other reason TrollHunter won't work as a Hollywood remake is the setting. The beautiful, slightly intimidating Norwegian hills and fjords in the background of almost every shot feel like a mystical special effect on their own. This is the place where troll folktales were born, and it's easy to see why; when Columbus moves the film to, say, New Jersey, all the CGI in the world won't make up for the change in scenery.

Enough complaining about stupid Hollywood being stupid: Go see TrollHunter if you're at all a genre nerd. The less you know going in, the better. The world-building in this movie is superb, crafting a mythology that feels as though it's existed for hundreds of years and giving everything a nice lived-in feel. While all the actors admirably maintain their straight faces, TrollHunter isn't afraid to laugh at itself. It's a zippy, powerful horror/action hybrid that stands as one of the best of the year; any attempt to Americanize it will only end in doom, tears, and recriminations.