An Unworthy Sequel that Made it Big (Troll 2)

        After watching Troll 2 at my friend's house, I had to go buy this movie straight away. While I was at a DVD store, I found a Troll/Troll 2 DVD and went up to a worker and asked if they had a Troll 2 only DVD, and he responded, “Oh, you’re one of those people.” This made me realize that there was a cult group going on with this particular movie. It’s fascinating to know that this movie, the one with vegetarian goblins instead of trolls, has actually found an audience while disregarding the first movie. Despite being labeled as one of the worst movies of all time and as human nature, we are supposed to hate bad things, I don't hate this movie for reasons because of its unintentional comedic nature, its unpredictability, and its memorable lines and moments.

In general, it was a bad movie.

            Troll 2, is considered one of the worst movies of all time. It has a zero percent on rotten tomatoes, and is currently number 73 on the IMDB's 100 bottom movies. Almost everything in the movie is horrible. The lines were cringing at times, and the story is ludicrous where the main character has to constantly rely on Deus Ex Machina in order to get out of the simplest situation. The basic idea of the movie is that the goblins (not trolls) are vegetarians and they need to trick the humans into eating their food in order for the humans to turn into plants so that the goblins can eat the humans. Why don't they just eat plants? The visuals are far beyond what's considered stupid. It completely destroys the suspense and makes it laughable. When the people turn into plants, they merely get covered in green dye. The goblins are horribly dressed and look like cardboard cutouts. The infamous "Oh My God" scene, where the character gives off the worst example of "on the nose dialogue,"  is a great example on continuity error. In one shot, he's talking, and in the next, there is a fly on him as he shouts "Oh My God."

            Troll 2 being called the best worst movie of all time, according to the documentary, Best Worst Movie. This movie has got to be one of the worst movies ever, and because of the way it's presented as a horror movie, I have to laugh at the farce of the fact that it's considered scary. Because of laughing, I am forced to experience this movie as a great comedy. It's a great movie to laugh at, rather than with. It's an atrocious film that gets you thinking, plot-wise. You question its logic and after a while, you learn to accept its awfulness. Because so, most people come in to watch it because it's a bad movie. ". . . it is possible for a movie to succeed because it has failed." (Hoberman, 517). In order to properly watch this movie, you must turn off your brain first before popping in the DVD. No one should ever try to properly digest this movie. However, when I typically see a movie that I hate, such as a Transformers movie, I would feel cheated in the end, knowing that I've wasted my time on such garbage that was supposed to be good. In Troll 2, I didn't feel cheated and in fact felt happier after watching it.

            I do give them some credit for making the movie a little unpredictable, even though they completely use it in the wrong direction. The ghost Grandpa is the perfect example that I would use on how Deus Ex Machina is a horrible storytelling device. In my opinion, this is where we get the laughs from. These scenes are unpredictably awful; such as, the ghost grandpa has the ability to stop time for one minute so the kid can urinate on the food, giving the kid a Double Decker baloney sandwich out of nowhere, and setting someone on fire by snapping his finger. If the grandpa was that useful, then there would be no point in this movie. Also, there is the famous scene after the kid urinates on the food where the dad is seemingly about to punish the kid by loosening his belt off. In everyone's mind, we would assume that the belt is used for whipping the little twerp, or to even go farther, so the dad can urinate on the kid. Instead, he tightens the belt so he won't feel hunger pains. Our expectations were far different from the reality and the reality is totally unrealistic. If I was in the scene, I would've whipped the kid for urinating on the food. The movie is unpredictable at times, making the movie unique in a time where most horror movies are clichéd, predictable, and boring.

Despite being so blatantly obvious, everybody who've seen
this movie will remember the town NILBOG
and how it's GOBLIN spelled backwards.

            The movie is so bad that I actually remembered it, as opposed to other movies, whether good or bad. When film people, including me, say that a movie is "interesting" or "unique," they are really saying that it's stupid. The bad moments in the movie are so bad that it stands out from other movies, thus making it extremely unique. It is so unique in that I actually remembered them as opposed to lines from movies, such as Pearl Harbor, in which I can never remember a single moment of importance. Because this movie is memorable, it trumps even certain good films out there that are not so memorable. Everyone seems to remember the infamous line “They’re eating her, and then they’re gonna eat me. . . Oh my God,” and the line, “you can’t piss on hospitality.” Everyone is going to remember the town of Nilbog and how it's goblins spelled backwards, showing that it's their kingdom. There are moments that we remember, and that means a whole lot considering that it’s a movie that’s not meant to be remembered for. In many ways, this movie is like Casablanca, where both never expected to be remembered, and yet, through the test of time, people continued to remember specific lines of dialogue from these movies.

Not a lot of movies get 20th anniversary releases. 

            There is even a 20th anniversary DVD re-release that I personally own. Not a lot of movies get a 20th anniversary release, showing that this movie is more than just a stupid horror movie. There is a documentary about the movie's cult fan base called Best Worst Movie, which seems fit, being that there is a documentary on the best movie of all time, The Battle over Citizen Kane. Ironically, it took a long time for both Citizen Kane and Troll 2 to find an audience. The "Oh My God" scene has been viewed two million times on YouTube and became an internet meme. There are underground parties regarding the movie, and there are even midnight showings that are always sold-out. The long lines for these showings go all the way outside. This is how memorable the movie is.

            In the documentary, Best Worst Movie, I love Drake Floyd's (the movie director) statement at the very end of Best Worst Movie. He comes to term that his movie is bad even though he constantly defends it as a good movie. However, he accepts the fans and the cult basis because of the way the movie evokes an emotion. Even though it's the wrong emotion, he would rather watch a bad horror movie that's actually funny instead of a cold emotionless movie. In many ways, I agree with the director on this. This is why we watch movies. This is why we will pay money and maybe even travel miles to watch movies, like Troll 2. We want to be emotionally invested in any kind of way, and Troll 2, is so full of it.

If you had to choose between emotionless (Pearl Harbor)
and the wrong emotions (Troll 2), I would go with the latter.

            Even though this movie is a bad movie, it was a watchable movie, and it's something that transcends other bad movies. It's so bad that it's good. Troll 2's awfulness is not just about whether it's good or bad movies. It's about what I like in a movie and there are good movies out there that fail to captivate me, despite its good story and/or remarkable visuals. Troll 2 on the other hand encompasses nothing on what makes a good movie. The story is stupid, the acting is horrendous, and the visuals were presented in a grade F style. However, despite all that, I still like this movie as it is; a bad movie.