There’s something to be said for bad movies. There are bad movies, and then there are BAAADDDDDD movies. Movies that are soooo bad, that you feel the need to tell everyone about it. It’s so bad that you actually recommend people watch it. The best part about these movies isn’t the actual movie, but the experience in seeing it with a group of people and laughing until it hurts. Troll 2 is the ultimate bad movie. What’s even worse is that it has nothing to do with the first Troll; in fact, there aren’t even trolls in Troll 2.
But something odd happened over the last 20 years, Troll 2 became a cult classic. It became one of those movies that you loved because it was ridiculous, and it was fun sharing the ridiculousness with friends and more friends. Eventually, Michael Stephenson, who played the little boy in Troll 2, decided to take it upon himself and make a documentary about the worst movie ever made, thus Best Worst Movie came about. Michael first finds George Hardy, who played his dad, and finds out he is a dentist. George becomes kind of the center of the documentary and travels with Michael to find all the other old co-stars.
Where Michael lacked in acting skills in Troll 2, he makes up for as a filmmaker. His documentary is insightful, funny, poignant, and charming. It makes you want to watch Troll 2, if you’ve never seen it, to see what all the fuss is about. As he researched and interviewed people for the movie, he found this almost underground cult following of the movie. There were Troll 2 watching parties across the country, and people began screening the movie in theatres to sold out crowds. George eventually begins going to some of these screenings and becomes completely engrossed in this sub-culture.
The documentary isn’t all fun and games. There’s a point where Michael and George go and visit Margo, who played the mother, and it’s heartbreaking to watch where her life has taken her since making Troll 2. They also go visit the men who played the Grandpa and shop owner, and those visits also twinge on the heartstrings. Michael takes treats these visits with great respect. He never makes these people out to be crazy; he just shots the honest truth.
Michael is a brilliant filmmaker, and he captures the phenomenon of this cult classic. After watching Best Worst Movie, I was so excited to watch Troll 2. But first we were treated with an amazing Q&A by the guys at Gordonandthewhale.com with George Hardy! He was actually as every bit as energetic and charming as he was in the movie. He appeared to be having the time of his life in Dallas, and he seem to have all the time in the world for the audience. We were even lucky to get a reenactment of his famous line live!
After the Q&A, we were treated to a midnight showing of Troll 2. Now, I’ve been to a few awesomely bad movie premieres before, and I was insanely excited for this one. The movie itself is absolutely horrific. It’s bad in every sense. I mean there is literally no redeeming quality in it. However, the point is not to enjoy the movie, but to enjoy the experience of seeing it with people who dig bad movies.
Now, this experience was fun, but it wasn’t as “involved” as other screenings I’ve been to, such as The Room (where people yell at the screen and throw spoons) and Rocky Horror (need I say more about this one?). Most at the screening had never actually seen Troll 2, including myself, so we were interested in what made the movie so bad. It’s a lot more fun to see it with an audience who has seen it and laugh at all the jokes coming up. Maybe the mojo in the audience wasn’t flowing that night or maybe I wasn‘t in on the joke, but I would go back now that I’ve seen it. For awesomely bad movies, it’s always better to suffer through it beforehand so you know what to expect. Therefore, you can enjoy the inside joke of what’s going on in the movie with an interactive audience
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