Troll & Troll 2 B-Horror Double Feature
Troll (1986)
So my favourite Harry Potter film is Troll from 1986, which sees Harry Potter and his family move to a new apartment in San Francisco, and Harry Potter Jr's little sister gets possessed by a Troll and wreaks havoc, and turns the residents of the apartment building in to trolls and other fairy folks, and their apartments into lands of magic. Then young Harry makes friends with an old lady in the building who happens to be a witch and teaches him a little magic to help him fight against the troll and save his sister. J.K. Rowling has always denied that Troll was an inspiration for her magic wielding Harry Potter, though it is undeniable that there was another magical Harry Potter around long before those wonderful books about young wizards was written by Rowling.
One of the many things that fascinates me about this film is that most of the creative minds that created this film got their starts working under the B-Movie god Roger Corman. Maybe that is part of why I love this film so much, being a huge fan of Roger Corman's, I can see the techniques used in this film were learned though the Roger Corman style of filming, where you work quick with a very small budget. There is something to be said about that, when there is very little budget to go around, things can be more efficient and what money is spend on might have more thought given to it. This film didn't have a large budget, but with what they had they created some amazing special effects, combining stop motion effects, puppet work, and actors in costumes, and no matter what else someone might say against this film, the effects look really good. Some of the Troll effects look on par with the quality that one might expect from a Jim Henson film. The other thing that this film really had going for it was a great cast of actors, one of which was an A list child actor by the name of Noah Hathaway who played Harry Potter Jr. Hathaway you might recognize as Atrayu from The Neverending Story, which had come out just a year or two previously.
One of the many things that fascinates me about this film is that most of the creative minds that created this film got their starts working under the B-Movie god Roger Corman. Maybe that is part of why I love this film so much, being a huge fan of Roger Corman's, I can see the techniques used in this film were learned though the Roger Corman style of filming, where you work quick with a very small budget. There is something to be said about that, when there is very little budget to go around, things can be more efficient and what money is spend on might have more thought given to it. This film didn't have a large budget, but with what they had they created some amazing special effects, combining stop motion effects, puppet work, and actors in costumes, and no matter what else someone might say against this film, the effects look really good. Some of the Troll effects look on par with the quality that one might expect from a Jim Henson film. The other thing that this film really had going for it was a great cast of actors, one of which was an A list child actor by the name of Noah Hathaway who played Harry Potter Jr. Hathaway you might recognize as Atrayu from The Neverending Story, which had come out just a year or two previously.
What really works well for this film is the amazing cast of characters and the actors gotten to play them.
Noah Hathaway plays our hero Harry Potter Jr, and of course Hathaway we know from The Neverending Story.
Michael Moriarty plays his father Harry Potter Sr. Fans of B-horror films will recognize Moriarty from The Stuff.
Shelley Hack plays Harry's wife Anne Potter
Jenny Beck plays as Wendy Anne Potter (the little sister of Harry Potter Jr), this young girl is an amazing actress and played the role so absolutely perfectly. This role won her a Youth in Film Award nomination.
Sonny Bono plays as their playboy neighbor Peter Dickinson, and of course we all know who Sonny Bono is, husband of Cher, famous musician, and actor.
Phil Fondacaro plays as their literary professor neighbor Malcolm Malory as well as playing the roll of Torok The Troll. Fondacaro is a great actor that has appeared in films ranging from Willow, Land Of The Dead, The Black Culderon, Tales From The Crypt Bordello of Blood, and even played an Ewok in the original Star Wars trilogy.
The Role of Harry Jr's witch friend and neighbor Eunice St. Clair is played by June Lockhart (famous for roles in television shows such as Lassie and Lost In Space), and the younger Eunice St. Clair is played by her daughter Anne Lockhart (who was known for her role in the original Battle Star Galactica telvision series).
This was also the first film for Julia Louis-Dreyfus who would go on to become super famous for her role in the television sitcom Seinfeld. She played Jeanette Cooper another of the neighbors in the building.
Gary Sandy plays Barry Tabor the rightwing neighbor that lives across the hall from Harry Potter and his family. He was well known for his work in the television sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati.
This film really did have all of the ingredients to be a great film, it had a great cast, great special effects, a great comedic horror story, and even a really solid cast. The film was even a moderate success in the box office making around $5.5 million, against its budget of an estimated $700,000-1 million. However the film was met with generally negative reviews, and even to this day it is often dismissed by critics and fans of the horror genre. However this was one of the top rented films in the home video market at the time, and has become a major cult classic. There are fans like myself who absolutely love this film, and then there are others who have strongly negative views on this film. I think that this is a film that should be seen before it is judged. Sadly on Rotten Tomatoes it still has a low score, even for a cult classic.
To me this film is a classic, and I absolutely love it! This film actually makes me laugh out loud, and simultaneously marvel at the beautiful special effects work. I love this cast of characters and the actors tasked to play them, and also I really enjoy the story, I felt excited watching it again, and I've seen it countless of times before. It is definitely up there among my favourite films, and one that I return to frequently. If you have never seen it, please watch it, but go into it expecting a fun off-beat comedic horror film, and enjoy yourself, let yourself have fun, let yourself see the effects as a kid in 1986 would and not through the lens of the jaded modern horror film viewer. This is a seriously great film, and a great part of my childhood. This is the Harry Potter that I was raised on as a young kid, long before the young wizard and his friends appeared in their first book or film, and I would still rather watch Troll any day.
To me this film is a classic, and I absolutely love it! This film actually makes me laugh out loud, and simultaneously marvel at the beautiful special effects work. I love this cast of characters and the actors tasked to play them, and also I really enjoy the story, I felt excited watching it again, and I've seen it countless of times before. It is definitely up there among my favourite films, and one that I return to frequently. If you have never seen it, please watch it, but go into it expecting a fun off-beat comedic horror film, and enjoy yourself, let yourself have fun, let yourself see the effects as a kid in 1986 would and not through the lens of the jaded modern horror film viewer. This is a seriously great film, and a great part of my childhood. This is the Harry Potter that I was raised on as a young kid, long before the young wizard and his friends appeared in their first book or film, and I would still rather watch Troll any day.
Troll 2 (1990)
Have you ever thought, hmm, I really loved a film, and oh boy do I wish that they would make a sequel that had nothing to do with the original, and for that matter didn't even have Trolls in it at all, but instead had Gobilins! Of course not, but that is Troll 2. Troll 2 has nothing to do with the original Troll film, nor for that matter anything to do with Trolls at all. There is a reason for that, it is because this film was never meant to be a sequel to Troll, matter of fact this film was originally called Goblins, but when the producers and distributers were skeptical of it's ability to succeed (rightfully so mind you), it was decided to change the name to Troll 2 as a way to capitalize on the success of the 1986 film Troll (which to the chagrin of the critics, was a successful and popular film).
So, Troll 2. Yep, this is an interesting film for many reasons. Is it good, no not even remotely, the acting feels like watching a high school production where only the the understudies are on stage, no strike that, the understudies in a high school play would have been more competent than this cast, and the writers who came up with this script are really no better. And for all of these reasons this is an amazing must see-film, it isn't the quality that makes this film a classic, it is the absurdity of the whole thing's existence is what makes it great. This entire film is like an inside joke, if someone just mentions "Troll 2" another person in the know will get excited because of the shared knowledge of such an absurd work in existence. This film was like the Room, years before that groundbreaking bad movie was released. Seriously with Troll 2 in existence, I never want to hear how Plan 9 From Outer Space is the worst movie of all time. This movie is one of the worst made films ever and that is why it is so loved by those who know it.
To be completely fair there is a reason that this film turned out the way it did, and it wasn't wholly unintentional. First of all the film was meant as a comedic horror film, and was intended as a way to show the director Claudio Fragrasso's wife Rosella Drudi's anger at so many of her friends becoming vegetarian. So the film is meant to be ridiculous and absurd. Not to add to this, the film was made with a director and crew who are Italian and spoke very little English, who chose to shoot the film in a couple small towns in Utah, which would be one thing if they had a cast that could speak or at least understand Italian. But no the most absurd thing is that they didn't professional actors for this film, matter of fact they didn't really even hire actors. They put out a casting call in a local paper, and people showed up hoping to get parts as extras in the film, and to their surprise were cast in the leading roles in the film. Matter of fact one of the actors who played a shopkeeper was committed to a local mental institution and filmed his parts while on a day-trip from the hospital. I mean could you imagine just random folks off the street from a small town in Utah get cast in leading roles, by a director and crew that can't speak fluid English, and then attempt to shoot a comedic horror film, and end up crossing the line into absolute absurdity. Everything about this is a recipe for a film that would qualify for one of the worst films ever loved, and a beloved cult classic.
I can't even pretend that I don't love this film, and knowing the back story of the film, I believe makes me love it even more. I mean the fact that this film has a 5% rating on Rotten Tomatoes makes me love it even more, like that is amazing that a film can score so low, just another level to the absurdity of it all. The absurdity doesn't end there even, one of the best parts of this film is the film being watched within the film, James from Cinnemassacre did a great video about that, and I highly recommend checking it out. This film just has layers upon layers of absurdity. This film has a 5% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but has a huge cult following that can quote many of the film's lines, and has an audience participation nearly on the level of Rocky Horror Picture Show, and I have read is even shown together as a double feature from time to time in midnight cinemas.
But why should the absurdity stop here, lets talk about the sequels to Troll 2, which is a film that has nothing to do with the original Troll. So why should Troll 3 (either one of the Troll 3s). So there is Quest For The Mighty Sword (aka Troll 3) that features a Hobgoblin wearing the same suit as the goblins in Troll 2, but in no other way related. Then there is The Crawlers, aka Contamination .7, aka Troll 3 which also had nothing to do with anything at all in Troll or Troll 2 or even the other Troll 3. Then the directors of Troll 2 hinted at wanting to make a sequel, and when an audience was polled to propose a title, the suggestion the audience decided was Troll 2 Part 2, which is amazing in its absurdity. However that proposed sequel was never made. Many years later a sequel called Under Con Troll was released on Amazon Prime Video, which I will admit I have not seen, so if you have please let me know your thoughts on it.
If you have not seen Troll 2, find a copy, snuggle up with a cute girl and pop some popcorn, and prepare to take a trip to Nilbog. This film is amazing, because it is just a whole new level of bad film, and an impressive act of absurdity. Also there is a band from Boston called Troll 2, they make amazing folk-punk music that has nothing to do with Troll 2, just like Troll 2 had nothing to do with Troll 1, creating this amazing act of absurdity that I can't help to smile at. I have two Troll 2 buttons pinned to the ceiling of my car, one from the band, and one from the film. So yeah if you haven't subjected yourself to Troll 2, get on it, because this movie is so amazing in how bad, and how good it is.
I can't find an actual trailer for the film, so here is clip from Troll 2.
So, Troll 2. Yep, this is an interesting film for many reasons. Is it good, no not even remotely, the acting feels like watching a high school production where only the the understudies are on stage, no strike that, the understudies in a high school play would have been more competent than this cast, and the writers who came up with this script are really no better. And for all of these reasons this is an amazing must see-film, it isn't the quality that makes this film a classic, it is the absurdity of the whole thing's existence is what makes it great. This entire film is like an inside joke, if someone just mentions "Troll 2" another person in the know will get excited because of the shared knowledge of such an absurd work in existence. This film was like the Room, years before that groundbreaking bad movie was released. Seriously with Troll 2 in existence, I never want to hear how Plan 9 From Outer Space is the worst movie of all time. This movie is one of the worst made films ever and that is why it is so loved by those who know it.
To be completely fair there is a reason that this film turned out the way it did, and it wasn't wholly unintentional. First of all the film was meant as a comedic horror film, and was intended as a way to show the director Claudio Fragrasso's wife Rosella Drudi's anger at so many of her friends becoming vegetarian. So the film is meant to be ridiculous and absurd. Not to add to this, the film was made with a director and crew who are Italian and spoke very little English, who chose to shoot the film in a couple small towns in Utah, which would be one thing if they had a cast that could speak or at least understand Italian. But no the most absurd thing is that they didn't professional actors for this film, matter of fact they didn't really even hire actors. They put out a casting call in a local paper, and people showed up hoping to get parts as extras in the film, and to their surprise were cast in the leading roles in the film. Matter of fact one of the actors who played a shopkeeper was committed to a local mental institution and filmed his parts while on a day-trip from the hospital. I mean could you imagine just random folks off the street from a small town in Utah get cast in leading roles, by a director and crew that can't speak fluid English, and then attempt to shoot a comedic horror film, and end up crossing the line into absolute absurdity. Everything about this is a recipe for a film that would qualify for one of the worst films ever loved, and a beloved cult classic.
I can't even pretend that I don't love this film, and knowing the back story of the film, I believe makes me love it even more. I mean the fact that this film has a 5% rating on Rotten Tomatoes makes me love it even more, like that is amazing that a film can score so low, just another level to the absurdity of it all. The absurdity doesn't end there even, one of the best parts of this film is the film being watched within the film, James from Cinnemassacre did a great video about that, and I highly recommend checking it out. This film just has layers upon layers of absurdity. This film has a 5% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but has a huge cult following that can quote many of the film's lines, and has an audience participation nearly on the level of Rocky Horror Picture Show, and I have read is even shown together as a double feature from time to time in midnight cinemas.
But why should the absurdity stop here, lets talk about the sequels to Troll 2, which is a film that has nothing to do with the original Troll. So why should Troll 3 (either one of the Troll 3s). So there is Quest For The Mighty Sword (aka Troll 3) that features a Hobgoblin wearing the same suit as the goblins in Troll 2, but in no other way related. Then there is The Crawlers, aka Contamination .7, aka Troll 3 which also had nothing to do with anything at all in Troll or Troll 2 or even the other Troll 3. Then the directors of Troll 2 hinted at wanting to make a sequel, and when an audience was polled to propose a title, the suggestion the audience decided was Troll 2 Part 2, which is amazing in its absurdity. However that proposed sequel was never made. Many years later a sequel called Under Con Troll was released on Amazon Prime Video, which I will admit I have not seen, so if you have please let me know your thoughts on it.
If you have not seen Troll 2, find a copy, snuggle up with a cute girl and pop some popcorn, and prepare to take a trip to Nilbog. This film is amazing, because it is just a whole new level of bad film, and an impressive act of absurdity. Also there is a band from Boston called Troll 2, they make amazing folk-punk music that has nothing to do with Troll 2, just like Troll 2 had nothing to do with Troll 1, creating this amazing act of absurdity that I can't help to smile at. I have two Troll 2 buttons pinned to the ceiling of my car, one from the band, and one from the film. So yeah if you haven't subjected yourself to Troll 2, get on it, because this movie is so amazing in how bad, and how good it is.
I can't find an actual trailer for the film, so here is clip from Troll 2.
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