Best Worst Movie

I had never seen Troll 2 before this film, but decided to watch it before viewing Best Worst Movie. After I saw it, I immediately watched the documentary as I was now hooked and had to know the story behind Troll 2.

Now, I liked Troll 2. As a connoisseur of "bad" movies, Troll 2 has it all. I keep putting "bad" in quotes because they are only labeled that, and in my mind are not REALLY bad. They are wonderful. And that's exactly why Best Worst Movie is wonderful. It celebrates with love the awesome earnestness of strange film making that is Troll 2.

It catches up with many of the film's stars and the highlight is George Hardy, the leading man in Troll 2. He's a living Ken Doll - you can't believe how sincere and likable he is. (I recently met George, and let me tell you, he is really the nice person he portrays.) At one point in the doc, George and the documentary's director (Michael Stevenson, who played the little boy in Troll 2) are on a mission to show the film to George's hometown. George, who is a dentist in his non-acting life, has known these people for years. But most them are not aware of this illustrious Hollywood moment he had in 1989. George goes door to door, handing out fliers, and acting out moments from the film. Even though many of his neighbors stare blankly as he repeats a classic line from Troll 2, he gives the moment his all - smiling and laughing the whole time. You know then that this is a man who loves to exist in a world where he can tell people to see a movie he starred in that most actors would remove from the IMDb page.

I can't do justice in this review the documentary's many great moments because the reality of those scenes have to be seen. But what you take away from this film is that the love true cinephiles have can breath life into films and give them meaning never meant by a filmmaker.

And this is the amazing magic of movies - like a good novel, they continually have new meaning. THAT is what makes "bad" movies - or any movie for that matter - a classic.

Although I love Troll 2, I cannot concur with the general consensus that it is even close to the "worst movie ever made." (For that honor, you have to look at something that takes itself really seriously, with pretenses to high art, like a "film" by Godard). Troll 2 is a nutty little comedy with a ridiculous plot, silly dialog and amateurish costumes, and, as such, I really enjoyed it. It's fun.

IMHO, the main fault of this good-natured and generally excellent documentary is its failure to mention Deborah Reed, whose way over-the-top portrayal of veggie villainess and hippie druid Queen "Creedence Leonor Gielgud" is the wacky heart of the movie. She morphs from maniac priestess to gorgeous Elvira-like vamp whose hotness can literally pop corn (in the film's most overtly comic scene). Did Deborah Reed ask to be excluded from the documentary? (She does have an incomplete website). Was there a conflict between the documentary's creator and the actress? The documentary's failure to make any mention of Reed causes a real WTF moment. Anyway, Deborah was a doll, full of manic comic energy, and I was surprised to see that her career as a film actress seems to be limited to Troll 2. What happened to her? We want to know! But all-in-all, I am very grateful for Troll 2, and for Michael Stephenson's delightful documentary. Both of these films have made my life a marginally happier place. Bravo! And hang in there Margo! I really sympathize with your feelings about crappy neighbors!

I'm a huge fan of bad movies and I'm particularly interested in the story behind these movies and how they got so bad. I've seen Troll 2 countless times and the narrative that has been developed about its production is incredible. So, I have been eager to see this documentary since I first heard about and went to a screening at the Music Box Theater recently.

Overall the movie was very interesting. However, it did exactly what I was afraid it would do and focus the documentary on the "midnight movie" cult phenomena aspect of Troll 2 rather than its back story. It primarily follows George Hardy, the father from Troll 2, as he explores this strange, sudden form of fame. He seems very humble and gregarious, so his experiences in going to conventions and trying to persuade country folk to see Troll 2 are a little amusing, but they take up a huge portion of the film. Similarly, we see lots and lots of footage of the cast at Troll 2 midnight showings which, while colorful, takes up way too much screen time. It seemed as though the film was developed to appeal more a wider audience who is totally unfamiliar with Troll 2 or the bad movie culture. Everyone who is in the know (which makes up a vast majority of the film's audience because it is a small release) won't be too captivated by scenes that just show a couple of random friends hanging out in an AV room and getting others to watch Troll 2 for the first time.

When the movie does explore the movie's origins and production history and interviews cast members, it is extremely entertaining. All of the story's rumors of unintelligible scripts and intended social commentary are all true. Many of the people involved with the movie are fascinating, if not heartbreaking, to see now. Grandpa Seth seems to realize he "frittered his life away," the general store owner relates that he was in a dementia/drug haze during production and was not quite aware he was in a movie, and Margo Prey (the mother) is a delusional, agoraphobic cat lady.

Most interesting of all is the segments with director Claudio Fragasso. He actually believes the movie is great and it takes him time to understand that the sudden revival of the movie is ridiculing it. Eventually, he comes to terms with the criticism all the while still berating its cast members and insisting on his skill as a filmmaker. The documentary would have been considerably more interesting had he been its main subject.

Overall, the film is definitely worth seeing, Troll 2 fan or not. However, it's frustrating to think would the movie could have been. Some scenes are amazing, but much of it is bogged down by footage of people in line for a Troll 2 showing screaming at the camera or George Hardy telling uninterested neighbors about his "piss on hospitality" scene.

I saw the infamous "Troll 2" many years ago on Cinemax or HBO or somewhere. It was a prime example of the "so bad it's funny" category. Every now and then I'd describe the crazy ending and horrible acting to friends, but for the most part it stayed below my radar.

Then I read a review about "Best Worst Movie", co-directed by the actor who played the kid. I didn't know that "Troll 2" had such a furious following. The film is being four walled at the Village East Cinema this week, and I thought I'd check it out. I expected that I would be one of the few people there. Imagine my surprise when there was a line to get in!

I thought the movie was a delight! Most of the actors in the film have moved on and take there odd notoriety in stride. The woman who played the mother, however, thinks that "Troll 2" is on par with "Cassablanca". The director, who seems to think he's the heir to Fellini's throne, genuinely thinks he made a great film and a parable about modern society. Still, everyone seems to have had a great time making this film. Like "Ed Wood", "Best Worst Movie" celebrates the people who made the movie. They may not have made a great movie, or even a good movie, but they did SOMETHING that has endured.

Every year, Wellington has a film festival and puts out a brochure with brief synopses of the films that will be shown. Something about the idea of a guy trying to track down the cast which he shared a movie with many years earlier appealed. It took a while to convince my other half that we should go and see a film about a horror film which neither of us had seen and had atrocious reviews on IMDb.

It was a risk.

However, it was a risk that with the benefit of hindsight I was very glad that we both took. Knowledge of the erstwhile Troll 2 was not necessary as the film is interspersed with relevant sections of the original movie as and when required.

I can only imagine that the previous reviewer has no sense of humour or has something against this film, because what I saw was one of the funniest films I'd seen in years. Some of the comic timing is absolutely perfect, as, for example, one of the cast members of Troll 2 is indulging in some ego massage only for the film maker to capture a telling glance or bemused expression from an onlooker.

At the screening, the director was present and took part in a Q&A after the fact. A question was somewhat rudely asked as to whether the director felt it was right to degrade his former colleagues in such a way, by displaying their insecurities, idiosyncrasies and foibles on celluloid. I, however, give this critic short shrift. With the potential exception of the director of the original Troll 2, these people have volunteered to be part of this film, and I found myself laughing along with these people rather than at them.

All in all, you won't find a much more amusing documentary to watch than this. Whether you are interested in the subject matter or not is largely unimportant. If you see this film advertised at a cinema, in a rental shop on DVD or maybe in your TV listings then make sure you too take the risk to see it. It'll be worth it.