Screening Sat, May 31, 9:30pm at The Bloor Cinema, 506 Bloor W. $10.
Many pieces of celluloid trash have garnered the delightful “so-bad-it’s-good” reputation, but few are as admired as Troll 2, a 1990 direct-to-video oddity by director Claudio Fragasso about a family terrorized by omnivore goblins who turn humans into plants before eating them. (There are no trolls. That title was added later.)
The acting is amateur, the monsters wear rubber masks and potato sacks, the plot is barely comprehensible, and the dialogue is laughable. (“There’s no coffee in Nilbog. It’s the devil’s drink.”) In short, Troll 2 is the perfect bad movie. Recently, its reputation among bad-movie lovers has grown, with revival screenings popping up all over the globe. This Saturday’s screening at the Bloor, co-presented by the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, will be introduced by Michael Stephenson, who was 10 years old when he starred in the film.
According to Stephenson, the shoot was “very fast paced and crazy. Most of the crew spoke very little English, the on-set interpreter wasn’t very good and Claudio was always yelling and only shooting one or two takes.”
Stephenson admits that he actually enjoyed the experience, but heard nothing more about the movie after production wrapped. Eventually, his parents found a video and gave it to Michael as a Christmas present. “Our jaws dropped. My dad turned to me and said, ‘This is a terrible movie.’”
The embarrassed actor was thus surprised when he began hearing from fans. “People started sending me pictures of Troll 2 parties. At first I thought it was a joke, then I realized what happened: Troll 2 had become an unintentional comedy.” Suddenly, Stephenson was a bad-movie celebrity.
Stephenson even started directing a documentary about Troll 2, appropriately titled Best Worst Movie. In the process, he’s managed to reconnect with almost the entire cast, even tracking down Claudio Fragasso in Rome. (Stephenson says the director is hard at work writing Trolls 3!)
So what is it about Troll 2 that makes it stand out against entire racks of direct-to-video fodder? Stephenson says, “The biggest factor is its innocence and the fact that it wasn’t meant to be campy.” He’s probably right; Troll 2 transcends the stacks of unwatchable fare because it was clearly never made with laughs in mind. The goal was to scare — only budgetary limitations, language barriers, inexperienced actors, poor planning and misguided vision turned it into a comedy. Its failures pull you in like an effective drama and it’s impossible to turn away. Bad movie lovers should bring popcorn and a double-decker bologna sandwich to the screening. Trust me, you’ll need it.