Description

Oh boy, where to start? Maybe with a little clarification—while this film is called TROLL 2, you needn’t have seen the first instalment to get the gist of things. As a matter of fact, the two films have nothing in common beyond their titles. Moreover, there’s no darn troll to be found in TROLL 2, just a bunch of awful goblins. Now, be forewarned, folks—the following synopsis is no practical joke. It’s the real deal. Little Joshua, an obnoxious little rugrat with a shrill voice, has just been paid a visit by the phantom of his dear grandpa, who left his comfy tomb to inform Joshua that the world is threatened by a horde of goblins who crave nothing more than to turn humans into plants and eat them. Good timing, seeing as Joshua and his family are leaving the next day for a month-long vacation in a Godforsaken jerkwater town called Nilbog (yup, TROLL 2 is that subtle). The little village is inhabited by sleazy farmers who Joshua quickly realizes are in fact... that’s right, those terrible goblins his granddad’s ghost was carrying on about! Imagine that! Will Joshua be able to protect his parents and sister from the monsters’ voracious appetites? And will you, dear viewer, be able to glean a lick of sense from this cinematic mess-terpiece, so dearly loved by psychotronic film fiends since its release?

TROLL 2 is unquestionably a bad movie, capital-B Bad, but it’s among that rare breed of film in which the faults are so astounding, they’re hilarious—so bad it’s good, as they say. On par with Ed Wood’s legendary PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, this Italian effort from director Claudio Fragasso (ZOMBI 4: AFTER DEATH), co-written by the notorious Joe d’Amato, is overflowing with dubious dialogue, incomprehensible plot twists, lousy special effects and odious outfits concocted by Laura Gemser, the “Black Emanuelle” herself! Following the release of BEST WORST MOVIE, a fascinating doc about TROLL 2 that’s also screening at Fantasia this year, the film has been making the rounds of American cinemas, at last finding an audience that can truly appreciate its splendour. Call your doctor and tell him you’ll be sick from laughing at what may well be the all-time worst film ever crafted. TROLL 2 will genuinely change your life… oh, hell, no it won’t, but it is not to be missed, not in the company of one of the wildest audiences in the world!

—Simon Laperričre (translated by Rupert Bottenberg)