Troll / Troll 2 (Double Feature) [DVD]

This DVD is one of those double feature presentations that studios use to bundle together a couple of clunkers in order to make a fast buck. "Troll" is the story of the Potter family and the wacky adventures they experience when they move into a new apartment building. Harry Potter and his wife Anne (played by a spacey Michael Moriarty and Shelley Hack, respectively), along with their two children Wendy and Harry soon discover an odd assortment of characters living in the building, including Sonny Bono as a wild swinger with an extreme dislike for children, Gary Sandy (Andy Travis from "WKRP"!) as a macho ex-marine with a suspicion for book lovers and liberals, and June Lockhart as a mysterious lady living on the top floor of the building. Brad Hall and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, recovering from their disastrous stint on "Saturday Night Live," turn up as a smoochy young couple. It isn't too long before Wendy Potter discovers a troll in the basement of the apartment building, and from that point forward "Troll" is a wild, wacky, and enormously cheesy excursion into fantasyland. It turns out that the troll is trying to recreate a fairy dimension within the confines of the building in order to start a war against humanity. Oh, the madcap wackiness of "Troll"! The scenes with Julia Louis-Dreyfus frolicking with the troll should provide all the convincing you'll need to watch this objet d'art.The real treasure on this disc is the inclusion of "Troll 2." I first saw this movie on video back in 1998 or 1999, and my enthusiasm for the film reached a fever pitch when I learned it would soon arrive on DVD. B movie fans should note that none other than trash director Joe D'Amato directed this tremendously terrible film. "Troll 2" is so bad in EVERY aspect that it ranks as the greatest "worst" movie ever made. People will tell you there are plenty of other films worse than this one, but believe me when I tell you that D'Amato's efforts here trump every other contender. The script, the effects, the acting, the editing; everything is so marvelously, deliriously, deliciously awful that this movie sends me into paroxysms of joy every time I watch it. Viewing "Troll 2" makes you doubt your very conceptions of what a bad film means: did the people who made this film deliberately set out to create a nightmare of these proportions, or was it merely accidental? We'll never know, but every minute of this movie is sheer delight for lovers of yuck cinema. Goodness, where do I start? Well, "Troll 2" tells the story about a family moving to the village of Nilbog where they encounter a town full of goblins (no trolls here, sorry) led by a wacky queen who wishes to turn the visitors into goblin food. That's the plot in a nutshell, and I won't spend more time on it because I really want to discuss other aspects of the film.You haven't lived until you have seen the people playing the characters in this movie. First, the hero of the film is Joshua, performed with screeching abrasiveness by Michael Stephenson. Accompanying Joshua to Nilbog is his dull father Michael, his hilariously wacked out Mom Diana, older sister Holly, her boyfriend Elliot, and the ghost of his grandpa Seth. Folks, you just can't imagine how bad the acting is here! The Mom speaks sentences that make little sense because the emphasis of the words is completely wrong. Holly, played by Connie McFarland, deserves a special place in our hearts with her performance. That dance she does in front of the mirror! Her lines of dialogue delivered with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer! Grandpa Seth is not only a scream; he keeps flashing a sinister smile throughout the film that should creep anyone out. The townspeople of Nilbog also deserve a special mention, especially the guy playing Sheriff Gene Freak (!). His best line: "Otherwise, we'll be forced to kill you violently!" I'm not even going to delve into the weird relationship between Elliot and his friends, or the outrageously over the top performance of Deborah Reed as the Queen of the Goblins. A thousand reviews would fail to convey the depths of badness "Troll 2" plumbs. You need to see it to believe it.The production values here are cosmically appalling. D'Amato regular Laura Gemser did the costume work for this film, and what a job she did. The goblins wear potato sacks and plastic masks that fit so loosely around the actors' heads that you can often see bare skin around the edges. In many scenes of the film, the editing is so poor that people look in the opposite direction of the person they talk to or react to things in completely unnatural ways. On one occasion, the Dad tells the family that there are no farmers on the streets of Nilbog because they are asleep for the evening, and it is broad daylight when he says it. By the way, did anyone else notice Joshua's skateboard magically reappears in his bedroom towards the end of the film? Yep, Ed Wood quality editing here, folks. Who knew we would see such an overtly atrocious picture as late as 1991?"Troll 2" is pure magic and truly deserving of a five star ranking. I absolutely adore MGM for releasing this on DVD with such a good transfer along with a "Troll 2" trailer. What this movie really needs is a commentary track with the actors who played Joshua, Holly, Diana, Michael, Elliot, and Grandpa Seth. Hearing what these guys would say about the film would be a dream come true for this B movie fan, and I would have paid double the price if such a commentary came with the DVD.

Charles Band has made some bad movies in his long-ongoing career and he's made some decent ones. Troll falls some where in between. Unfortunately it's left in the shadows due to the false popularity of its "sequel" Troll 2. I say false because A) it's only famous because of how bad it is and due to the "oh my god" guy meme. B) People don't genuinely like it. While it's neat to see a cult film receive recognition, Troll 2 really doesn't deserve it. Cult films like Basket Case and Evil Dead deserved their attention because they were made with sincerity. Troll 2 was just made for the purpose of money and to cash in on the minor success of Band's film. It's similar to Silent Night, Deadly Night and the popularity of its bad but fun sequel. The difference is Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 has minor qualities to it which I feel makes it re-watchable. All this in mind, Troll 2 really doesn't deserve to be called 'best worst movie" as there are far better ones out there.Troll (1986):Plot: The Potter family has just moved into an apartment complex. One in which a troll resides in for world domination. He begins his conquest with the family's daughter and then moves from apartment to apartment as he forms an army of trolls...Troll was made during the heyday of Charles Band's Empire Pictures, which became famous for Ghoulies and Re-Animator. The film was directed by special effects wizard John C. Buechler, ho worked on Cellar Dweller and Dungeonmaster. The film stars Michael Moriarty famous for mostly playing in Larry Cohen productions like The Stuff and Q. It also stars Noah Hathaway, famous for The Neverending Story. Charles Band produced the film and his brother, Richard Band scored it.Review: Troll isn't a great film nor is it a terrible film. The effects and sets are all pretty damn good. However the acting is varied with some over the top performances and some really weak ones. It's certainly a "so bad it's good" movie. What makes it work are its effects, original story, atmosphere and strangely likeable but bizarre characters. Richard Band's score is actually pretty good too but not as amazing as his scores for Re-Animator and House on Sorority Row.Troll 2 (1989):Plot: A family moves to a town called Nilbog (how very unassuming) and becomes concerned when the locals behave strangely.Troll 2 as directed by Claudio Fragasso, who made the enjoyably bad-Monster Dog (1984). It was produced by Joe D'Amato famous for the terrific Italian horror classics, Beyond the Darkness (1979) and Anthropophagous (1980). It stars nobody worth mentioning except for Robert Ormsby, who was a good man and not that bad of an actor.Review: Troll 2 has no connections to its predecessor and should've been called Goblin(s). There are no trolls, no recurring actors or crew members, no returning characters or plot elements. I have a like/hate relationship with this movie. It has some interesting elements like a town where people are disguised as monsters but it has way too many issues. None of the characters are likeable or enjoyable except for Grampa Seth, who has little screen time. Robert Ormsby actually tries and succeeds at giving a decent performance. Everybody else either tries and fails or barely tries at all. The dialogue is bad and the story is so bizarre that it becomes ridiculously absurd. The effects are lousy except for the guy on fire and the green vegetable slime. The pacing varies a lot and really hinders the enjoyability of the film's awfulness. There are movies that are so bad they're good like Saturday the 14th and then there are movies that are just bad followed by movies that are so abysmally bad like Manos the hands of blah blah blah. Troll 2 falls some where in between the latter two. It has its enjoyably bad or absurd moments like the Goblins eating green goop or the dinner scene or Seth's scenes but they're minor and are undermined by the film's overall cheap terrible qualities. It's slightly fun but fairly dull at times. Surprisingly though, the town and scenery is nice at least.The DVD: It's a 2 sided disc with Troll on side A and Troll 2 on side B.Disc Content:Main featuresscene accessTroll (1986) trailerFinal Thoughts: Troll is certainly a cult classic. Troll 2 is a classic of bad movies. Troll 2 has received unfair notoriety with a special edition Blu ray and dvd as well as being featured in a documentary. Both are suited for the b-movie crowd. However, Troll has better quality and is re-watchable. Where as Troll 2 is not re-watchable. All in all Troll 2 isn't my cup of tea when it comes to bad movies as absurdly lovably bad it is, it just doesn't have enough charms.Ratings:Troll-3/5, Troll is a genuine b-movie worthy of enjoyment.Troll 2-2/5, Troll 2 is a terrible movie with only minor enjoyability.DVD-3/5

The first movie was alright, they tried and I liked it. This second movie.. oh my god. How have I lived my life and never watched it?! I haven't laughed so hard in years! It's so awfully cheesy it's great!

Hmmm, not what I remember. I must be getting old

Le mythique troll 2 (qui n'est pas la suite du 1). un véritable phénomène aux US. Considéré comme le pire film du monde. Il vaut largement son pesant de cacahuètes. A voir et à revoir pour en comprendre toute la profondeur, à chaque fois vous allez découvrir de nouvelles pépites !Je vous recommande de regarder l'épisode 1 de Chroma (dailymotion) pour bien comprendre tous les enjeux autour de ce film incroyable. Et bien entendu, il faut voir le documentaire "The Best Worst Movie" réalisé par l'acteur qui joue Joshua des années plus tard. Bref c'est mythique, si vous êtes fan de nanar vous êtes obligés d'avoir ce film dans votre DVDthèque...Le DVD est bien, sans plus, pas de VF ni de sous titres français par contre. Je n'ai pas encore regardé troll 1, mais la perle c'est le 2 !!

Absolute Rarität in klasse gepflegtem Zustand.Der grosse Abschluss meiner Oldie-Horror-Sammlung. Gutes Bild guter Ton. Vielen Dank dafür. Der Sammler-Deckel schliesst sich.

Sorry, I have to say straight away that the film "Troll" is really brilliant! It has a very original premise for a story, is brilliantly acted, and leaves a lasting impression on you! So much so that I had to buy it in 2013 after seeing it on VHS in 1986!Although it's a fantasy, the characterization and the dialogue has an element of realism that makes the rest of the film believable, suspending your disbelief for the fantasy. It also contains a touch of moral ambiguity, which makes it seem more like real life than a fairy tale. The relationship between the young Noah Hathaway character and Eunice St. Claire (June Lockhart from Lost in Space) is very touching. But also, the relationship between the Troll, who is in the guise of the young sister, and the English Professor who the troll befriends, is also genuinely moving. I don't want to go into the themes because that would necessitate spoilers, but there are a lot of ideas in this film that you will think about long after you've watched it! There are also scenes that bring back the frustration of being a child trying to convince your parents of something when they just won't take you seriously, because it's you and you're a kid it's just a joke to them!"Troll" has a brilliant cast, with Michael Moriarty, Sonny Bono (Who is actually really good, although the over use of the term "babe" seems a bit disrespectful to his former hit, but I'm sure that's intentional), and a very young Julia Louise Dreyfus (from Seinfeld) naked! Well almost naked; in a body stocking with some judiciously placed vines sown on."Troll 2" though, which is also included on the DVD is awful! The lines are dreadful, some of the cast can't act at all (in fairness they aren't really given the best material to work with) and the rest of the cast and crew clearly realised it was going to be rubbish and just played it for laughs. It might appeal to some people, but we switched it off about 20 minutes in. It's worth buying the DVD just for the original Troll film though!