‘Troll 2’ is definitely so bad it’s good

By John Soltes

The Troll 2 phenomenon is a hilarious one to follow. This direct-to-video 1990 release defies explanation. But count me as a passenger on this wayward bandwagon.

The movie is a horribly acted tale of goblins run loose in the town of Nilbog (Goblin spelled backwards). Why call it Troll 2? Apparently the studio wanted to link to the original Troll to earn a few more bucks. The problem, of course, is that Troll 2 has goblins, not trolls. That’s the first piece of evidence that this may be the worst movie of all time.

Next up is the acting. And it’s a doozy.

Michael Stephenson plays Joshua Waits, a young boy who travels with his family to the countryside to swap houses with another family. The deal is that the Waits family will live in Nilbog, enjoying some of that country hospitality, while the other family heads to the city, enjoying the Waits suburban house.

But all hell breaks loose. The townfolk of Nilbog want to turn the Waits family into goblin plant life and then proceed to eat them. Their ringleader is Creedence Leonore Gielgud (Deborah Reed), a witch-like conjurer who seems to control the goblins.

Helping Joshua escape the clutches of the goblins is his deceased grandfather (Robert Ormsby), who appears in visions to the young boy, offering up suggestions on what to do next.

George Hardy plays Michael Waits, Joshua’s father. Margo Prey plays Diana Waits, Joshua’s mother. Completing the family is Connie Young as Holly Waits, Joshua’s sister.

From father to son, and mother to daughter, the acting in Troll 2 is horrendous. The lines of dialogue, which are painfully bad, are said with such a wooden quality that you’ll be laughing in no time.

Claudio Fragasso directed the film (under the name Drago Floyd) and co-wrote the screenplay with his wife, Rossella Drudi (although the credits list a Clyde Anderson and Sarah Asproon as writing the movie).

The visuals are fairly atrocious as well. The creature effects of the goblins are poor (essentially their just people in costumes). The camerawork is shoddy. The sight gags are disgusting, but still technically unappealing. Everything is just about as bad as it can get.

But perhaps that’s why Troll 2 still sells out in movie theaters across the nation. The movie has taken on a life of its own. Fans hold annual Troll 2 parties. Midnight screenings see lines wrapped around the block. The unintended sequel even spawned a documentary aptly named Best Worst Movie (directed by Stephenson, the little boy in the film). A few scenes from the movie have become YouTube sensations.

There’s a good reason for this fandom: The movie is a hoot. Because it’s so bad, watching the film with friends is a hilarious experience. It’s a movie ripe for riffing (someone call those guys at Mystery Science Theater 3000).

Does this make we want to watch Troll 2 again? No, unless I was in the middle of a sold-out crowd on a Saturday night. Then, I would happily join up to experience the awfulness again and again.

Troll 2 deserves to ride the cult circuit, like The Rocky Horror Picture Show (though Troll 2 is unintentionally bad, while Rocky Horror knows its tongue is permanently stuck in its cheek).

One final note: Just like Troll (read the review here), Troll 2 scared me as a child. I remember watching it on the movie channels and being completely enthralled. For this sake, I can’t call the movie the worst film of all time. There is an obvious effort behind the film, and so it must be respected on that most basic of levels.

Or not.

Troll 2

1990

Directed by Claudio Fragasso

Starring Michael Stephenson, George Hardy and Margo Prey

Running time: 95 minutes

Bubble score: 1.5 out of 4 (just for the laughs)

(Click here to purchase Troll 2 on DVD.)