Psycho's Movie Reviews #73: Troll (1986)

{And before you ask NO, the Troll isn't flipping us off, he's supposed to be beckoning us in... which isn't any better}

Troll is a 1986 American horror comedy film directed by John Carl Buechler and produced by Charles Band of Empire Pictures, starring Noah Hathaway, Michael Moriarty, Shelley Hack, Jenny Beck, and Sonny Bono. The film was shot in Italy in the Stabilimenti Cinematografici Pontini studios near Rome.

{I didn't know this at first, but Harry Jr Potter is played by bloody Atreyo from The Neverending Story. No this isn't relevant to the Harry Potter series, this came out before... Man JK Rowling ripped this movie off hard!}.

Plot:

The Potter family – Harry Sr. and Anne with teenage son Harry Jr. and young daughter Wendy – move into a new apartment complex in San Francisco. While unpacking, Wendy is attacked by a grotesque little creature wielding a magic ring. The troll captures Wendy and takes on her appearance. After meeting the other eccentric tenants, the family notices Wendy's unusual and aggressive behavior, but they attribute her behavior to the stress of the move. The troll goes from apartment to apartment transforming the tenants into fairy tale creatures (such as goblins, nymphs and elves) and their apartments into lush forests. Concerned by his sister's behavior, Harry Jr. seeks solace in the company of a mysterious old woman named Eunice St. Clair, who reveals herself to be a witch. Long ago, she and a powerful wizard named Torok were in love. At that time, the world was divided between fairies and humans. The realms were equal and independent of each other; however, Torok and some of the fairies challenged this balance, resulting in a great war in which the humans prevailed. Torok was mutated into a troll as punishment.

Torok seeks to regain his power, destroy humanity and recreate the fairy tale world he had once lived in. As Torok requires a princess, he is keeping Wendy alive. Eunice and Harry Jr. discover that all the apartments have been transformed into a part of the magical world. Eunice gives Harry Jr. a magic spear capable of killing the largest and most vicious creature in this world. Eunice is attacked by Torok and mutated into a tree stump, and Harry finds his sister trapped in a coffin of glass. Harry Jr. saves Wendy, but loses the magic spear when Torok's great bat like monster attacks.

Before the monster can kill Harry Jr. and Wendy, Torok kills it himself to spare Wendy, destroying his carefully constructed fairy realm. As the magic world collapses around them, Harry Jr. and his family are given a chance to escape, leaving just as the police arrive. Eunice is restored to normal as well as she bids Harry farewell and departs. As the police investigate the house, one of them is drawn into a remaining fragment of the alternate fairy world. Torok's arm rises into view, preparing to use his ring on the cop.

{I couldn't find anything to do with the production shockingly}

Release/Reception/Box Office:

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 30% based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 3.67/10. On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 30 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally unfavourable reviews".

Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote: "Troll has a knowing tone that's more smart-alecky than clever. And it hovers uncomfortably between comedy and horror, without ever landing decisively in either camp." Variety gave a mixed review and called it "predictable, dim-witted premise executed for the most part with surprising style." Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times called it "A clunky, poorly executed shocker."

In 1986, Beck was nominated to 8thYouth in Film Association, for the exceptional performance by a Young Actress.

The estimated budget for Troll was between $700,000 and $1.1 million. Troll opened in the U.S. on January 19, 1986, on 959 screens, earning $2,595,054 that weekend. The film placed ninth on the box office charts for opening weekend.

Legacy:

Troll's plot has no relation to the film Troll 2 or the two Troll 3 films, which are intended to be more horror than fantasy. Its first "sequel", Troll 2, produced under the title Goblins, is considered one of the worst films of all time, and was retitled Troll 2 to cash in on the success of the original. Over time, it has developed a cult following.

The films Creepers (also known as Contamination .7 or The Crawlers) and Quest for the Mighty Sword (also known as Ator IV, Ator III: The Hobgoblin, or Hobgoblins) both adopted the name Troll 3 at some point as an alternate title despite neither having a plot relation to the two previous Troll films (with the exception that the Hobgoblin in Quest does resemble the Goblins in Troll 2).

In August 2011, rumors circulated of another sequel. In July 2015, new plans arose in the form of a prequel, titled Troll: The Rise of Harry Potter Jr., along with an animated series. The film, starring Patricia Arquette and Baxter Bartlett, was supposed to be released in 2017, with the animated series broadcast in 2018.

My Review:

You know, a few weeks ago I was scrolling through movies, I was alone and wanted to find some crap movie for me to take the mick out of it, for entertainment purposes. And I came across this one; and boy am I glad I did. This did it. I went into it with no expectations and came out swimmingly. There are lots of movies out there for people that are born with Munchausen by proxy oh, but this one takes the cake. Troll is a funny ass film and has hilariously bad acting, but the effects are pretty decent at times but still one of my favourite. Also most of the effects are pretty good! I love this film, the story is good, the movie as a whole is wonderful.

If you're expecting to see Justin Timberlake, you've got the wrong movie {Honestly this movie is better than that Trolls film! Not gonna lie}. That's all I can say. If you're at the right age to watch this, check it out. Otherwise, don't bother. I highly recommend this film, 7/10.

I know of the sequel Troll 2 (1990), but that's mainly due to the iconic scene that's recently turned into a meme..... "OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOD".