TROLL 2 (1990) started life as another latter-day Italian horror film with a special twist. It was a vegetarian spoofing nightmare filmed in the US with American actors. It was a common practice, but somehow the movie found new life on VHS as a notorious “so bad it’s good” movie in the same vein as Ed Wood’s PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. It became such a hit that it led to a documentary from its child star Michael Paul Stephenson, in the form of BEST WORST MOVIE (2009). Eureka! Now brings two films together with the not related 1st TROLL movie from special effects master turned Director John Carl Buechler.
TROLL (1986) tells the story of the Harry Potter family and the troubles they have as they move into a new apartment building. Their basement is a portal into a magical world with trolls, goblins, and witches. Sadly, the film is dull with a bland pace and style. Maybe I’m the wrong person to view Empire or Full Movie movies, but between the drone music style and effects, it just didn’t hold up for me. Filmed with very little visual flair, TROLL is a mostly forgettable oddity.
TROLL 2 (1990) is a completely different beast. Coming from Joe D’Amato’s company Filmirage, and director Claudio Fragasso (Alice Cooper’s MONSTER DOG), TROLL 2 is a bizarre fusion of comedy and horror. The story follows Michael (Michael Paul Stephenson) and his family doing a house exchange in the town of Nilbog. Once there he discovers that the town is the home of the evil plant hungry Goblins who want to turn the family into plants and eat them.
The story was originally written under the title GOBLIN and was planned as a strange take on the monster movie. Co-writer Rossella Drudi said she also wrote it as a gag against her friends who recently started using a vegetarian lifestyle. The film was soon retitled as a Troll sequel in the hopes of sailing more VHS tapes.
As is the film being a bizarre marriage of a bonkers idea and a language barrier from the Italian crew and new American actors. There are some truly spooky shots mixed in the film, but the tonal issues and outrageous directing choices have turned this movie into a cult classic.
In 2009 Michael Paul Stephenson released BEST WORST MOVIE about his experiences making TROLL 2 and how the film has affected fans and the people who made it. Mostly following dentist turned actor George Hardy who plays the dad in the film, the documentary is an emotional love letter to fandom and the real people behind a movie. It’s a touching and realistic look into all the aspects of the production and it’s new life as a cult classic. The film goes to some dark places with some of the cast’s life’s and even shows some contempt from director Fragasso as he yells at fans and says they don’t understand anything. I don’t want to spoil much but this a truly life changing documentary.
Audio/ Video (4.5/5)
All three films are brought on disc with a clear 2.0 English LPCM track. Of the three, BEST WORST MOVIE has the roughest audio with a few moments of hiss and a few pops. The rest of the tracks are clear with no hollow effects in terms of ADR work or the musical scores. English subtitles are included for all three films.
The 1080p HD transfers are huge improvements on older discs. TROLL is a little over lit and too clear. The rubber effects on some of the ghouls is too noticeable. There is also some minor film grain. TROLL 2 looks impressive with plenty of care given to its daylight scenes. The night time scenes are a little rougher with some grain and a couple moments of digital noise.
Extras (5/5)
Disc one’s biggest extra is a 50-minute documentary on the making of TROLL entitled Troll Empire. It features interviews with producer Charles Band, Writer Ed Naha, director John Carl Buechler, and music composer Richard Band. The documentary talks about the work of Charles Band’s father Albert Band, the origin of the screenplay, Band’s studio in Italy for Empire pictures, the money that helped fund the production thanks to the success of GHOULIES, and the actual post-production.
Also, on disc 1 is a commentary for TROLL 2 with stars George Hardy and Deborah Reed. There is also a second commentary track which audio carried over from a Q&A with the cast and crew. Both tracks are full of stories and confusion over the cult following around TROLL 2 and its status as one of the notorious so bad it’s good bad movies. Rounding out the disc is some trailers for the films.
Disc 2’s extras cover some deleted scenes and outtakes from BEST WORST MOVIE. The biggest being a strange interview with actress Deborah Reed who played the Goblin queen. There is also a trailer and a music video from Monsterous. The Blu-ray itself comes with alternative cover art and a 32-page booklet of liner notes and VHS artwork.
Overall (4.5/5)
For fans of TROLL 2, this set is a great addition to their collections. Eureka! Has done a fine job putting together a deluxe collection with plenty of cool extras. This set comes highly recommended.
Directors- John Carl Buechler, Claudio Fragasso, Michael Paul Stephenson
Cast- George Hardy, Michael Paul Stephenson.
Country of Origin- US, Italy
Discs- 2
Distributor- Eureka!
Reviewer- Tyler Miller