|
Written by Mandroid3000
|
|
TROLL
*1/2 out of *****
Genres
Horror
Tiny Terrors
1986
Directed by
John Carl Buechler
Written by
Ed Naha
John Carl Buechler (story)
Cast
Noah Hathaway .... Harry Potter Jr.
Michael Moriarty .... Harry Potter Sr.
Shelley Hack .... Anne Potter
Jenny Beck .... Wendy Potter
Sonny Bono .... Peter Dickinson
Phil Fondacaro .... Malcolm Mallory/Torok the Troll
Brad Hall .... William Daniels
June Lockhart .... Eunice St. Clair
Anne Lockhart .... Young Eunice St. Clair
Julia Louis-Dreyfus .... Jeanette Cooper
Gary Sandy .... Barry Tabor
The Potter family are moving into a new apartment building when their daughter, Wendy, wanders into the laundry room and is caught by a troll. The troll assumes her identity, rejoins the family, but sneaks out to turns the other residents of the apartment building into large growths of foliage which then sprout little goblins. He’s trying to create some troll kingdom, but a witch who was engaged to the troll lives in the upstairs apartment and is determined to stop him. Meanwhile, Wendy’s brother Harry (yes, Harry Potter) is getting suspicious of his sister and befriends the witch.
This really is the story of this movie. It’s a weird mixture of children’s fantasy film and gory horror. Certainly a scene where Sonny Bono’s body pulsates and expands, with close-ups of throbbing welts, isn’t meant for children. But surely the witch with a singing mushroom who befriends a plucky young boy isn’t for the grown-ups. So I don’t know who this is aimed at. Sometimes this sort of confusion leads to an unique (if financially unsuccessful) cult film. Sometimes it leads to Troll.
Troll threw up several irritating things, and raised a number of perplexing questions. Eunice, the witch, tells Harry, Jr. twice to go and keep an eye on his sister. Both times he goes back to his apartment, sits in a chair and waits for her to come back. Harry, Jr. this does not constitute watching her. And it’s not clear why the troll is in the Potter’s apartment for the whole movie and never kills them. And what’s with the weird song sung by the baby trolls in various apartments? And why does Eunice’s mushroom sing as well? These things irritated me, but not to the extent that I enjoyed being irritated (something Troll 2 achieved).
The daughter Wendy (who seems to have been cast because of her resemblance to Heather O’Rourke from Poltergeist) isn’t a terrible child actor. She just has to do some really lame things that make her look rubbish. There’s something so unscary about watching her run around ranting and frothing at the mouth. I think kids can be spooky. Wendy is just cute.
I did like some of the costumes, and the special effects were passable. Sonny Bono as a swinger was mildly amusing. But Troll never achieves a sense of dread or wonder. This doesn’t go on the list of the worst movies I’ve seen (though Troll 2 has a spot), it goes on a list with hundreds of other inconsequential films. Which may be worse.
Discuss this article on the forums. (0 posts) |
