This is a documentary about the "so bad it's good" movie "Troll 2 (1990)", a movie that is so bad that it gained cult classic status, like "The Room (2003)", with sold-out screening, etc.The documentary is pretty interesting and well made. Everyone in the cast is interviewed - many of them are aware of how bad the movie is, and take it lightly. Others (including the director himself) take the movie extremely seriously, completely unaware (or in denial) that people like the movie because it's terrible. One of the actresses actually compares it to movies such as "Casablanca". The Italian director - who, like Ed Wood, actually believes he made a great movie - goes so far as to call his actors "dogs" when they criticize the movie and tell people "you don't understand nothing" when they ask him simple questions about flaws in the movie. You get to meet some weirdos, but most of them are nice people and they all have one thing in common - they all like the movie industry.5.5/10 Recommended

A look at the making of the film Troll 2 (1990) and its journey from being crowned the "worst film of all time" to a cherished cult classic.You have to love how seriously the Italian creators took the film, with Fragasso going so far as to call it an "important" film that examines important social issues. And his cheapskate methods of making the actors buy their own wardrobes and then destroying them on set.While the biggest problem with "Troll 2" was probably the inexperienced actors, the documentary highlights a key issue in Italian-American productions: the language barrier. When the director does not know English and the actors do not know Italian, there is no way to judge if a line is being delivered correctly. And then it could sound terrible. Even the biggest names (Bava, Argento) in Italian horror have run into this issue, but generally hire experienced actors who know how to give good performances without much effort...

The actors just hoped for the best with Troll 2, at the time of shooting called Goblin (named for the name of the town in the film, 'Nilbog', get it?). The script was awkward, the creature effects shoddy, and most of the Italian crew, including director Claudio Fragasso, and nobody really knew what would happen with the movie. No theatrical release, straight to video and HBO, and when people saw it (save for the director, who still thinks it's a good movie, and the actress who played the mother, Margo Prey, who thought it was a solid "actors" movie) they knew how bad it was... and that included what is now the director of the documentary on Troll 2, Michael Stephenson, who played the lead kid/protagonist in Troll 2. He goes back to visit all the actors in the film, what they're up to, and then confront them with an astounding fact: Troll 2, in small-certain circles, is a big, big deal.One of the main keys here is that the documentary works kind of like a cross between American Movie and Overnight, only it's all taking place many years after the fact. You have the 'characters' who are kind of nutty (the guy who was actually in a mental asylum and let out one day to play the store clerk in the film, Don Packard), and the ones who just tried to put it aside and get on with a career without Troll 2 (Connie Young as the daughter Waits in the film). And then there's George Hardy, who is like the anti Troy Duffy: instead of an obnoxious jerk, Hardy is the guy everybody likes (which could be to a fault, but who cares) and has that nice, sweet, all-American disposition working as a dentist and always with a smile or a laugh. And when he finds out Troll 2 is such a cult, he not only embraces it, he goes with it on tour! This is also a wonderful treat for those film fans who know what it's like to find a movie so-bad-it's-fun like Troll 2. We see them here at the screenings that take place midnight all across the country, from New York to Los Angeles and cities in-between (most touching is the first screening that happens almost underground at a comedy club of all places and where the first real rise of Troll-mania happens). Stephenson gets what it's like for these people to be such fans, and that the cast (save for Prey who doesn't show up cause of her sick mother, and the director who is bitter about the guilty-pleasure love) gets what kind of audience loves Troll 2. As a cult you get the guy who tattoos Troll 2 on his arm. You get the people wearing their hand-made t-shirts. You get people who drive six hundred God-knows-how-many miles for a screening. And of course they all know all the words.Stephenson captures what a phenomena like this is like, and at the same time the bittersweet coin of sudden "fame". Hardy goes all the way to Britain to promote Troll 2, and it's a little staggering to find out a) he didn't see if, you know, there were actual FANS of the film willing to go to conventions for it like they did the screenings in the states, and b) people don't seem to automatically find it cool all the time to be the "worst movie ever made" (smile). This also happens in Dallas at a convention we see, albeit the one time Hardy loses the admiration (at least from me) is when he slams the people who come to horror conventions, without realizing how horror audiences can be at such places, or that, you know, Troll 2 is still and always will be a big film for some, and for others they'll have a blank look on their faces.Which, at the end of it all is fine for someone like Hardy, a genuine real-deal of a man who is fine with his dentist practice (albeit he is now acting in a few intentionally crappy movies like Ghost Shark 2), and for the director Fragasso and his co-writer wife who continue to berate the cast's friendly bashing of the film and the production, since, well, they think they did a good job with the movie (at one point, kind of unintentionally funny, Fragasso ponders why the audience laughs at the parts that "aren't meant to be funny", while also pointing out that the audience "saved" the movie from obscurity). Stephenson gets the human angle of everyone in the movie and understands them, even someone who could have been painted as a crazy like Margo Prey (who for some she may be anyway). And for such a movie like Troll 2 to get mainstream attention, if just for a little while, it's a swell treat for a movie so hilariously s***ty.Moral of the story: You can't p*** on hospitality, I WONT ALLOW IT!

Best Worst Movie is a documentary about the people who made the movie Troll 2, and the fans who love it. Troll 2 is a ridiculous movie and is considered one of the worst ever made. It is pointed out numerous times that every aspect of the film was poorly done--the story, the acting, the effects, not to mention that it is NOT an official sequel to the first movie, Troll, or that there are no Trolls in the movie.The documentary was done by the actor who played the central character in the movie, Joshua. He connects with most of the cast members to discuss what directions their lives have taken, giving most of the screen time to the actor who played the dad (he has a successful dental practice). Friends and family continually praise this guy, George Hardy, as being one of the nicest people you'll ever meet and a pillar of his community, but over the course of the movie I got pretty sick of listening him talk about himself. The actress I was most interested in hearing from was the crazy lady who lived in the church, but they make no mention of her.The documentary doesn't contain any making-of footage. Some of the actors share memories of filming, but most of the time is spent listening to fans talk about how much they enjoy Troll 2 and all the ways they pay tribute to it. Personally, I thought Troll 2 was kind of a depressing movie, but you will meet people who have found it to be a joyful, life-affirming experience.There were some people you will definitely remember in this doc. The woman who played the mother, Margo Prey, comes off as a very troubled person. The director, Claudio, keeps insisting that the movie is not only good, but contains some deep allegory about the family unit. I couldn't decide if he was totally delusional or just had different cultural values. And the guy who played the store owner admits on camera that he was so wacked during the making of the movie that he contemplated killing the child actor he played opposite of (who is now the man that filmed the interview in which this was admitted).I can't really fault this documentary for spending as much time as it did on the cult status of the movie, but I was hoping for more of the history behind its making. Also, I got really sick of hearing George repeat the line about p###ing on hospitality (and George got sick of saying it). 5 out of 10.