Troll 2

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Movie
German title Troll 2
Original title Troll 2
Country of production United States / Italy
original language English
Publishing year 1990
length 95 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Claudio Fragasso
script Rossella Drudi
Claudio Fragasso
production Joe D'Amato
Brenda Norris
music Carlo Maria Cordio
camera Giancarlo Ferrando
cut Vanio Amici
occupation
chronology

←  Predecessor
Troll

Troll 2 is an Italian-American horror film from 1990 by the Italian director Claudio Fragasso , who also wrote the screenplay with his partner Rossella Drudi . A young boy and his family fights against goblins who turn humans into plants and then eat them. Because of gross technical defects, involuntary comedy and the absence of trolls - despite the title Troll 2 - the film is considered trash and has achieved cult status . In Germany, the film was marketed on VHS from October 3, 1990 .

action

The Waits family moves to a town called Nilbog ("Goblin" backwards). They receive a visit from daughter Holly's friend and his three friends. In the new house, the Waits find a feast and want to eat it when little Joshua sees his dead grandfather Seth and tells him that if they are eaten they would be turned into green plant slime, the food of malicious, "vegetarian" goblins. Joshua saves his family by urinating on the food and is house arrested.

On a foray through the woods, Arnold (one of the friends) meets a girl, and they both meet goblins and their queen. When they eat their food, the girl is turned into green slime and eaten, and Arnold is turned into a plant being. Family man Michael Waits is also captured, but Joshua saves him by making a Molotov cocktail on Seth's advice and driving off the goblins. Then they hold a séance , and Seth tells them that they have to touch the goblins' Stonehenge Magic Stone in order to avert the danger. In the final battle against the queen, Joshua drives away the vegetarian monsters by eating a sausage sandwich in front of her eyes, touches the stone and banishes the monsters. The family returns home apparently saved. While the father drives to work, Joshua is alone with his mother. But Joshua soon notices that the goblins were already waiting in the house and then cannot prevent his mother from being eaten.

History of origin

The film was shot in Morgan, Utah. It was originally supposed to be called Goblin , but to promote sales it was sold as a sequel to the 1986 Sonny Bono film Troll , although the two films have nothing to do with each other in terms of content; this also explains the absence of trolls in the film. The production was extremely low-budget : no actors were hired, but the roles were all cast by laypeople who had only recently been sought in the area via newspaper advertisement. The pay was correspondingly low: lead actor George Hardy received a total of only 1,500 US dollars. The underfunding of the film made itself felt, among other things, in the accommodation of the film crew and in inadequate catering .

In a 2004 interview, George Hardy ( Michael Waits ) commented on this film. He reported that he applied to be an extra in a B horror film in 1986 that was overseen by "smoking Italians who didn't speak a word of English" and eventually got the lead role. According to Hardy, communication with the Italian B-movie director Claudio Fragasso was limited to the sentences “You have good energy! You have good energy! '”And due to the language barrier, translation errors were common. Hardy felt disoriented and overwhelmed. Another explanation for the extremely poor acting performance was the fact that the all inexperienced actors never saw the full version of the script and thus did not understand the context. Also noteworthy were the cheap special effects for which soft porn actress Laura Gemser was responsible. Gemser literally sewed the goblin costumes together from potato sacks and latex masks.

Michael Stephenson ( Joshua Waits , the only child actor) recalled the older colleagues speculating that the film would look better after post-production. But when Hardy and Stephenson saw the film on videotape, no one could believe how bad the film was. Both Hardy and Stephenson wanted to sink into the ground in shame and were teased by those around them. The turning point came when Troll 2 was released on DVD in 2003 together with Troll . Because of the involuntary comedy, it was enthusiastically received by bloggers and became a cult.

Cult status

Over the years, Troll 2 has become a cult film among trash horror fans. In April 2006, the first official "Troll 2 Reunion" took place in Provo, Utah, in front of several hundred fans, and since then "Troll 2 parties" with several participating actors have been celebrated in New York , Boston , Seattle and other places who asked questions and watched the film with the fans. According to Stephenson, it is customary for fans to interact with the film in three extremely embarrassing scenes: everyone sings along when the mother sings "Row, row, row your boat" in the car; everyone tosses popcorn when Holly makes out with her boyfriend Elliott in front of a popcorn machine ; and finally everyone eats sausage sandwiches when Joshua attacks the goblin queen with a sausage sandwich.

In June 2008 there was the big "Nilbog Invasion" in the tiny then filming location Morgan (Utah), in which Troll 2 , bonus material and other film material by Fragasso and the actors was shown for three days . The highlight was the handover of the key to the town of Morgan by the mayor to Fragasso and script writer Rosella Drudi.

Hardy is approached to this day about the film, signs autographs and sells copies of the film in his doctor's office. He remembered that he once got a call from a US soldier from Iraq and the GI was completely delighted that he was actually allowed to talk to "Michael Waits". The effect on Jason F. Wright (“Elliott”, one of the friends), who is now a successful book author, was similarly “positive”. Wright is approached to this day about the film and also has to sign autographs. He advertises himself with the film on his website. Darren Ewing ("Arnold") also said that he was overwhelmed by fan interest and felt "like a movie star".

As an explanation, Stephenson (who to this day receives 75 emails a week from fans) said: “The movie shouldn't be ridiculous. Everyone wanted to make a big horror film. But we failed miserably. "

actor

  • Michael Stephenson as Joshua Waits. Stephenson works as a director today.
  • George Hardy as Michael Waits. Hardy is now a dentist and sells copies of the film in his practice.
  • Margo Prey as Diana Waits. Prey suffers from manic depression and lives secluded in her home.
  • Connie Young as Holly Waits. Young played under her maiden name McFarland and has since acted in several television productions.
  • Robert Ormsby as Seth's grandfather. This was Ormsby's only film role.
  • Deborah Reed as the Goblin Queen. For Reed, too, this was the only film role.
  • Jason F. Wright as Elliott, Holly's friend. Wright is now a conservative author.
  • Darren Ewing as Arnold, one of Elliott's sidekicks. Since 2003 he has appeared in various B horror movies.
  • Jason Steadman as Drew, one of Elliott's sidekicks. In 2007 he starred in the film The Deaths of Ian Stone .
  • David McConnell as Brent, one of Elliott's sidekicks. He played in various TV series.
  • Gary Carlson as Sheriff Gene Freak. For him it was the only film role.

reception

In the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), Troll 2 receives a rating of 3.2 out of 10 points and is in 31st place (as of April 2020) in the “Bottom 100” of the worst films of all time. MTV described the film as an “absolute disaster”, “so bad it's good again” and “a top 10 cult film”. Local The Salt Lake Tribune called the film "spectacularly bad ... so bad it's compelling again," with "pointless story, wooden actors, and ridiculous special effects and dialog." The Rotten Tomatoes review collection  lists 16 reviews, only one of which is positive. For Oliver Kalkofe and Peter Rütten from the Schlefaz series , Troll 2 is considered one of the "world's best worst films of all time".

documentary

Michael Stephenson , the only child actor in the film, shot the documentary Best Worst Movie in 2009, which explores the genesis of Troll 2 and the path to becoming a cult film.

Sequels

With the film Contamination .7 a kind of sequel was made in 1990 .

In 2015, Eva Habermann , Jiří Lábus , Katy Karrenbauer and Helmut Krauss shot the controversial film Goblin - That's Real Troll (working title Goblin 2 ), which was inspired by 'Troll 2'. It serves as the unofficial successor as the working title of 'Troll 2' was originally 'Goblin'.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Brandon Griggs: Troll 2: As camp as it gets. The Salt Lake Tribune , March 18, 2007, accessed August 10, 2011 .
  2. ↑ SLTrib.com: Troll 2: As camp as it gets. Retrieved April 26, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g Movie Star, Aerobics Instructor, Dentist
  4. ↑ https://tv.de/sendung/schlefaz-troll-2/schlefaz-troll-2,1220468304/
  5. ↑ a b Cult classic: Return to Nilbog
  6. ↑ a b Fans Of Cult Flick 'Troll 2' Invading Tiny Utah Town
  7. ↑ TROLL 2 writer Rosella Drudi and director Claudio Fragasso receive the key to Nilbog
  8. ↑ [1]
  9. ↑ Rotten Tomatoes
  10. ↑ [2]
  11. ↑ https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/18504/best-worst-of-2009-david-harley-picks-his-top-10/
  12. ↑ Goblin 2 startnext.de
  13. ↑ German stars in GOBLIN 2 gamona.de