Troll 2 is a 1990 In Name Only sequel to the 1986 B-movie, Troll. Note that throughout the movie, not a single troll appears in the film, nor is the word "troll" spoken once. There are two different films called Troll 3, and neither have anything to do with either Troll or Troll 2.Here's the movie in a nutshell:The Waits family (no relation) goes to a village called Nilbog, who are unaware that the townsfolk are actually trollsgoblins; specifically, 'vegetarians', who would try to get their vic... guests, to eat their all-vegetable food, which would turn their victims into a "half man, half plant" troll goblin food. It is up to the Waits' son, Joshua, who can communicate with his dead grandpa, Seth, to save his family from the trollsgoblins before his family becomes trollGoblin Chow.Troll 2 has been dubbed the "Best Worst Movie Ever Made" by its fans and has gained a cult following over the years. Little Joshua grew up and made a documentary about the movie and its fan base.A planned sequel titled Troll 2, Part 2 is currently in Development Hell due to lack of funding.
More like "All Troll Movies Are Different." The only real connection between the three "primary" Troll movies is a weird focus upon plants; Troll 1's troll turned people into plant-pods to spawn more trolls, Troll 2's goblins turn humans to plants (and then eat those plants), and Troll 3 (the one also called "Creepers") was about killer radioactive tree roots.
Aside Glance: Credence does a very slooooow and overdramatic one of these.
As You Know: When Mrs. Waits is talking to Joshua at the beginning, she feels to need to mention that Grandpa Seth was her father.
Awesome McCoolname: Credence Leonore Gielgud (of ancient Druid origins!).
Her ancestors came from Stonehenge!
Sheriff Gene Freak.
Badass Grandpa: Being dead doesn't stop Grandpa from stopping time, throwing lightning bolts, chopping Goblins up with an axe or making molotov cocktails.
Well, half-plant, really. He still maintains most of his human properties, even if his abilities as a human becomes limited, like bark growing over his mouth and his legs grown stuck into a plant pot, but he definitely still has enough human traits to be able to be aware of his surroundings, and once the bark covering his mouth is removed, speak. It's pretty hilarious to see him being pulled out from the house stiff as a stick by the pot.
Big OMG: And watch for a fly that appears on Arnold's forehead.
Apparently the reason why they don't eat meat is because they're incapable of digesting it (which suggests a more appropriate term would be "herbivore"), rather than any ethical concerns. Of course, since the film was designed to be a Take That against vegetarians, it does undermine that intention quite severely, since only a tiny minority of vegetarians stay off of meat because of health reasons rather than ethical ones.
The sermon their minister gives seems to imply they find carnivory somewhat abhorrent, which seems to be indicative of an extreme case of Blue and Orange Morality.
Can Only Move The Eyes: Arnold, when he's paralyzed by Creedence, and later gets turned into a plant.
Cassandra Truth: Joshua telling his dad about how the people were really Goblins who wanted to turn him into a plant so they could eat him.
Corrupt Hick: They appear, with the added kicker that the evil townsfolk are also goblins in disguise.
Cruel Twist Ending: The ending seems to have been an attempt at this. It was a bit too nonsensical to really be effective.
Rossella Drudi (the woman who wrote the script and director Claudio Fergasso's wife) apparently got the idea by being annoyed at how many of her friends had recently become vocally vegetarian. Take that as you will.
If you want to have sex get rid of your friends.
Fantastic Aesop: Only the power of goodness can defeat the trolls goblins.
Of course, a double decker baloney sandwich always helps.
Erotic Eating: The scene with Creedence and the corncob was probably intended to be this. In-universe it seems to work; to the viewer...not so much.
Filler: The sequence where Creedence begs for more power, turns into a Hot Witch, then completely wastes her new powers seducing minor secondary character Brent with a corncob. She uses up her powers, doesn't even kill the guy, and none of this has any relevance to the rest of the movie whatsoever.
Hollywood Darkness: When the family first arrives in Nilbog, Michael comments that the stores are closed because everyone's gone to bed for the night; the scene looks like it takes place at noon.
Human Resources: It's easy to miss it because the sound-mixing is poorly done, but Arnold gets turned into a milkshake and fed to Drew.
Large Ham: They may be vegetarians, but Creedence, the General Store Owner, and the Preacher are pretty hammy.
Hamminess in Joshua's family seems to come from the father's side.
You can't piss on hospitality. I WON'T ALLOW IT!
Magic Countdown: 30 seconds of frozen time last for close to a minute of screen time.
Makes Just as Much Sense in Context: Whoa boy. Just to start with, the scene where the grandfather stops time was never set up, and this ability was never spoken of again; it'd be a Big Lipped Alligator Moment, except that it's crucial to the plot.
New Powers as the Plot Demands: Grandpa Seth can come back from the dead, freeze time, and summon the power of lightning, whenever it is convenient to do so.
Likewise, it's established that everyone focusing their goodness on the Stonehenge Magic Stone will kill all the goblins. Except apparently some of them survive for the Cruel Twist Ending.
Our Ghosts Are Different: Grandpa Seth, as noted above, doesn't seem to obey any particular rules as to what he can do or how he can appear in the mortal realm. He can shoot lightning, stop time, appear corporeal or incorporeal and bring back various weapons from the afterlife, including an axe and a molotov cocktail. Really, he could just kill all the goblins himself.
Planimal: The goblins turn people into edible plantmen, because they are vegetarians.
Plot Hole: Unsurprisingly there are several, mostly in regards to characters having information they shouldn't have or going places they should have no reason to go to. For instance, why did Joshua wander into the barn where the sermon was being held?
Real Life Writes the Plot: Don Packard's performance as the demented, creepy, slightly schizophrenic store owner? Yeah... at the time of this "performance", Don Packard was living at an insane asylum, being treated for schizophrenia. He was on a day pass when he was found by the producers, cast in the part, and filmed all his lines all in one afternoon... and then he returned to the asylum to continue his treatment. Packard himself says of his performance, "That's not me acting... I was really that crazy." (He has since been able to control his schizophrenia through medication.)
Sdrawkcab Name: "Nilbog! It's goblin spelled backwards! This is their kingdom!" It's the picture on that page for a reason.
Sinister Minister: Yeah, so it turns out that goblins are evangelical Protestants.
Spirit Advisor: Grandpa Seth, when he isn't taking matters into his own hands and dispensing justice to the goblins with his nebulously-defined ghost powers.
Stuffed into the Fridge: The goblins eat the mom and then offer some to Joshua. That's cold.
There's No "B" in Movie: The guys are all sitting around watching a movie about a crystal-stealing gorilla with rocket powers.
Veganopia: Subverted in that this probably the first ever depiction of an outright evil vegan society.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Brent and Drew both disappear abruptly from the film without explanation. It's implied that the goblins ate Drew, after he ate a sandwich from Sheriff Gene Freak (yes, that's his name), drank a bit of Nilbog milk ("High in vitamin content!") and then was presumably forcefed a milkshake made of Arnold. Brent was supposed to be transformed into popcorn, but it was so badly executed it just looked like he had some very weird sex and then goes to sleep.
You Keep Using That Word: The goblins are supposedly 'vegetarians'...who, rather than, say, growing plants and eating them, turn people into plant-things and then eat them. How this is different from just eating meat is never really explained. Presumably, they're vegetarians for health reasons, not ethical ones. Once a person is turned enough toward being a plant, they can be healthily consumed, apparently. Must be less cholesterol.
Or they're oathbound against consuming flesh. But for magical, possibly-fey creatures, health concerns and oathbinding might not be so different.
about the movie and its fan base.A planned sequel titled Troll 2, Part 2 is currently in Development Hell due to lack of funding.
0 reviews