Review: Best Worst Movie

     In 1989, a movie was made. It was a terrible movie, so terrible in fact that it is heralded today as one of the worst movies of all time. IMDb lists it as the number 93 worst movie of all time. It's definitely one of the worst movies I've ever seen. This movie is titled Troll 2. It's the tale of a family that goes on vacation to the town of Nilbog (goblin spelled backwards) only to find that the local population wants to turn the family into goblins. The young son of the family tries to fight against the goblins with the help of his dead grandfather who appears as a ghost. You may be thinking, “Don't you mean they want to turn the family into trolls? The film is titled Troll 2, after all.” No, there are no trolls in Troll 2, in fact this movie has nothing to do with the original Troll. However, this isn't a review of Troll 2, it's a review of Best Worst Movie, a documentary about Troll 2's recent revival as a cult classic.

     Best Worst Movie is actually directed by the heroic young boy in Troll 2, Michael Stephenson. He meets up with his father in the movie, George Hardy, now a successful dentist in small town Alabama. One day when reading the New York Times, he came across an article about a screening of Troll 2 along with other terrible movies at the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theatre in Manhattan. Hardy called up the UCB, and organized another screening of the movie with a Q and A session. The theatre sells out, and Hardy is amazed and little befuddled by the incredible turnout. The fans of Troll 2 are passionate about the movie, saying that it is their favorite film. Hardy goes on to gather the rest of the cast as well as the director and screenwriter and they go across the country attending screenings and doing Q and A's. Most of the cast realize that the films recent appreciation is ironic, and they embrace it. However a few are frustrated by the fans laughter at the film's awfulness, most notably the director and the mother in the film, who goes so far to compare Troll 2 to Casablanca. Hardy goes on to organize a screening in his hometown in Alabama as well as attending a few movie conventions, but after disappointing appearances non-screening events make Hardy realize the limited nature of his fame, and after growing tired of watching Troll 2 over and over, he packs up and returns to his life as a dentist. A life that he admits that he loves, but he still wishes he pursued a career in acting when he had the chance.

     Having seen Troll 2, I enjoyed watching the fans appreciation of the awfulness of the movie. It was also very interesting to see where the cast members are now. I would've never imagined the dad in Troll 2 was a dentist. The crazy store owner in the movie turned out to actually be crazy, he said that he was smoking a lot of pot at the time, and was being treated at a mental health facility. He claims that his performance in Troll 2 wasn't acting and he didn't really know what was going on. It was a little depressing/unnerving to see the mother from Troll 2, who has since had a lot of plastic surgery and is still trying to make a career as an actress, despite not having a role in years and having to take care of her elderly mother. The film's ending is also pretty disappointing. The Alamo Drafthouse, an awesome theatre in Austin, Texas, organized a screening of the film in the town Troll 2 was filmed in, with the entire cast (minus the actress who played the mother), and the director. It was an uplifting note to end the film on, but the film goes on for another 20 minutes or so about Hardy returning to his life as a dentist and dealing with putting his fame behind him. It didn't really fit with the narrative of the film, and it changed the entire theme of the movie from being about this awful movie from the 80s, to being about the nature of fame and the effect it can have on people's lives. In the end though this film is pretty interesting, although I would only recommend it if you have seen Troll 2 first, and want to know more about how a film as bad as that could be made and the cultural and personal impact it has had in the last 23 years. Both Troll 2 and Best Worst Movie available on Netflix Instant if you want to check them out.

Rating: 6/10 - Moral