Tonight, I watched Troll 2. This is considered by many to be the worst film ever made.
And that’s a tough pill for me to swallow. I’ve seen pretty much every episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I’ve seen some weird, empty films. I see a phrase like “worst film ever made” as a phrase to be challenged.
Then I ask myself, Am I looking for bright spots just to be contrary, to “prove” that i really know bad movies? Am I just using this as an excuse to look smug and superior?
I hope not. I believe genuinely found some bright spots in Troll 2.
(I’m not going to summarize the plot here. It doesn’t matter.)
The film is effectively edited. Not well, but it’s effective. The camera doesn’t linger
There are a couple of downright lovely shots, particularly as the family’s camper pulls in to the vacation home. The location scout picked locations that fit the movie’s mood.
The main character is a pretty good child actor, as child actors go. Kids have a raw simplicity to their performances that usually don’t translate to film well. The actor communicated quite a few different emotions throughout the film.
If you’re willing to suspend your disbelief–which I grant is an extremely difficult task–there are a couple of creepy moments. The representations of tainted food literally liquifying people into green ooze disturbed me, and there are a few (brief) scares.
Note that I’m not suggesting that Troll 2 is good. (I’ll save the subject of “good”‘s meaning for another post.) I’m just saying that the film’s not a complete failure in every respect. It didn’t fail in a few respects.
Everything else is ridiculous.