deadwitchflying
Joined Nov 2014
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deadwitchflying's rating
I think like most of us here, I've discovered Troll 2 thanks to its notoriety online as one of the worst films of all time. Now, I'm not gonna go ahead and claim that this movie is well-made by any conventional standards of cinema, but I do think that Troll 2 is truly a one-of-a-kind film, and that its qualities lie in at a different level of analysis, one that doesn't really care about conventional standards of artistic quality.
The premise itself is fairly simple: on a family vacation to a small village named Nilbog, our heroes are going to be ambushed by vegetarian monsters known as goblins. The movie follows Joshua, a young child, as he figures out how to fight back against them, with the help of his ghostly grandpa.
This idea for the film came from the fact that, back in the late 80's, the director and his wife (who co-wrote the film together) had increasingly more friends that turned vegetarian and thus they came up with this concept for a vegetarian vampire, presumably out of spite.
Now, what's very interesting with that concept is that not only is it charged politically (more on that later) but it also gave them the opportunity to draw inspiration from body horror. At several points of the film, we see characters transformed into plants in a moderately gruesome fashion only to be eaten by goblins, and that in and of itself might get a rise out of you.
The movie's overall production quality is fairly low. Most of the effects, props and costumes are fairly cheap looking, which makes them stick out. For instance, several scenes of the film display a sort of green paste that's relatively gross to look at, as well as what is supposed to be green blood, I assume. I find it fairly cool that the colour of nature is portrayed in such a gross, unappealing manner throughout the film, even if that's just a result of budgetary constraints.
This also reflects in the food,... which I guess is the main cultural conflict of the film. Goblins have this food that is mostly normal looking except for the fact that it systematically contains that green paste. The characters in the film don't have a problem with the way it looks (aside from Joshua), but as the audience we understand that their food is supposed to be gross and basically inedible. By the same token, the goblins look particularly cheap but they are absolute nightmare fuel in their own right.
The acting is absolutely horrendous, but it's bad in a way that is fun and unique. Every single actor plays terribly in their own little style, which gives their characters unique personalities, as a result. Now, maybe if the script wasn't so weird they might have given "better" performances but honestly, I don't think so. Also worth noting: I believe the actors were instructed to not stray away from the material, even if their dialogue was clunky or nonsensical...
Which brings me to the script! What's very particular about the script is that it is written by Italians, trying to emulate a language they are not very familiar with, I.E. English, but also trying to paint their own picture of the late-80's American traditional family. And why I think this is valuable is because getting a look into the way Americans are portrayed by people other than themselves, in a genuine manner, is fairly interesting, given the hegemony of their culture.
What I believe the film is trying to say is that the American way of life is incompatible with vegetarianism, but not just that. The goblins in the film represent a way of life that is diametrically opposed to that of the traditional nuclear family. Goblins don't even seem to have families, or if they do they don't seem to value that unit very much. They also engage in sex outside of marriage and they presumably have different religious traditions, which puts them in a position of outsider to the hegemonic culture to begin with.
On a side note: when it comes to films like these, that have acquired a reputation for being terrible/a laughing stock, we should analyse what they have to say and try to understand what their authors wanted us to take out of them. Because no art to devoid of meaning, and in fact all art carries with it a set of values for us to talk about.
In conclusion, I think the reason I love this movie from the bottom of my heart is not because it's "so bad it's good", as some may say, but rather because it's a genuine piece of art, and that none other makes me feel this way. I think it has a charm that far surpasses its ineptitude, in the conventional sense of the term. The film isn't devoid of sense and its plot is no accident: our two writers experienced something in the world and wanted to talk about it in the form of a horror film. There is, I believe, genuine artistic intent in this movie, and this is what makes me come back to it every so often.
I cannot look at a movie I enjoy this much and say "oh yeah this film is bad". That doesn't make sense. it's otherworldly qualities are strength rather than weaknesses, and to say this movie is "so bad it's good" undercuts the very reason why I like it so much in the first place. It's bizarre, it's fun, and it's entertaining. It is a truly joyful experience. 10/10
The premise itself is fairly simple: on a family vacation to a small village named Nilbog, our heroes are going to be ambushed by vegetarian monsters known as goblins. The movie follows Joshua, a young child, as he figures out how to fight back against them, with the help of his ghostly grandpa.
This idea for the film came from the fact that, back in the late 80's, the director and his wife (who co-wrote the film together) had increasingly more friends that turned vegetarian and thus they came up with this concept for a vegetarian vampire, presumably out of spite.
Now, what's very interesting with that concept is that not only is it charged politically (more on that later) but it also gave them the opportunity to draw inspiration from body horror. At several points of the film, we see characters transformed into plants in a moderately gruesome fashion only to be eaten by goblins, and that in and of itself might get a rise out of you.
The movie's overall production quality is fairly low. Most of the effects, props and costumes are fairly cheap looking, which makes them stick out. For instance, several scenes of the film display a sort of green paste that's relatively gross to look at, as well as what is supposed to be green blood, I assume. I find it fairly cool that the colour of nature is portrayed in such a gross, unappealing manner throughout the film, even if that's just a result of budgetary constraints.
This also reflects in the food,... which I guess is the main cultural conflict of the film. Goblins have this food that is mostly normal looking except for the fact that it systematically contains that green paste. The characters in the film don't have a problem with the way it looks (aside from Joshua), but as the audience we understand that their food is supposed to be gross and basically inedible. By the same token, the goblins look particularly cheap but they are absolute nightmare fuel in their own right.
The acting is absolutely horrendous, but it's bad in a way that is fun and unique. Every single actor plays terribly in their own little style, which gives their characters unique personalities, as a result. Now, maybe if the script wasn't so weird they might have given "better" performances but honestly, I don't think so. Also worth noting: I believe the actors were instructed to not stray away from the material, even if their dialogue was clunky or nonsensical...
Which brings me to the script! What's very particular about the script is that it is written by Italians, trying to emulate a language they are not very familiar with, I.E. English, but also trying to paint their own picture of the late-80's American traditional family. And why I think this is valuable is because getting a look into the way Americans are portrayed by people other than themselves, in a genuine manner, is fairly interesting, given the hegemony of their culture.
What I believe the film is trying to say is that the American way of life is incompatible with vegetarianism, but not just that. The goblins in the film represent a way of life that is diametrically opposed to that of the traditional nuclear family. Goblins don't even seem to have families, or if they do they don't seem to value that unit very much. They also engage in sex outside of marriage and they presumably have different religious traditions, which puts them in a position of outsider to the hegemonic culture to begin with.
On a side note: when it comes to films like these, that have acquired a reputation for being terrible/a laughing stock, we should analyse what they have to say and try to understand what their authors wanted us to take out of them. Because no art to devoid of meaning, and in fact all art carries with it a set of values for us to talk about.
In conclusion, I think the reason I love this movie from the bottom of my heart is not because it's "so bad it's good", as some may say, but rather because it's a genuine piece of art, and that none other makes me feel this way. I think it has a charm that far surpasses its ineptitude, in the conventional sense of the term. The film isn't devoid of sense and its plot is no accident: our two writers experienced something in the world and wanted to talk about it in the form of a horror film. There is, I believe, genuine artistic intent in this movie, and this is what makes me come back to it every so often.
I cannot look at a movie I enjoy this much and say "oh yeah this film is bad". That doesn't make sense. it's otherworldly qualities are strength rather than weaknesses, and to say this movie is "so bad it's good" undercuts the very reason why I like it so much in the first place. It's bizarre, it's fun, and it's entertaining. It is a truly joyful experience. 10/10
This movie has been criticized for its lack of entertainment value and also because it's not convincing. I disagree with the entertainment part, because it entertained me. The only thing I found annoying was the sound-mixing.
It's a short period of the lives of Dawkins and Krauss, and was not meant to make people stop believing in god. It is more about what these two guys are trying to do, how they do it and why they do it. It's basically promotion for their movement, and I see no problem with that. I was a bit disappointed though, for various personal reasons and expectations, but the overall thing is kinda good at what it does. If you don't know about Dawkins and Krauss, this is the movie for you, because it is what the movie's about. Don't expect religious vs atheist debates in this documentary, like I did, because these are not included. They are all over the internet by the plenty though, so if you want you can check them out.
It's an interesting documentary to understand what atheism is about, what it is willing to do and who are the big names of the movement. Not necessary, but you can still watch it and learn something out of it. I know I did and I'm a atheist.
It's a short period of the lives of Dawkins and Krauss, and was not meant to make people stop believing in god. It is more about what these two guys are trying to do, how they do it and why they do it. It's basically promotion for their movement, and I see no problem with that. I was a bit disappointed though, for various personal reasons and expectations, but the overall thing is kinda good at what it does. If you don't know about Dawkins and Krauss, this is the movie for you, because it is what the movie's about. Don't expect religious vs atheist debates in this documentary, like I did, because these are not included. They are all over the internet by the plenty though, so if you want you can check them out.
It's an interesting documentary to understand what atheism is about, what it is willing to do and who are the big names of the movement. Not necessary, but you can still watch it and learn something out of it. I know I did and I'm a atheist.
