4.7 | / 10 |
Users | 3.8 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Those greedy goblins are back and hungrier than ever in this gourmet gross-out! Disguised as friendly country folk, a pugnacious posse of people-eating trolls lures visitors to their town. But a family of four is about to discover this place is a real tourist trap...and they're the prey! Now, the no-good gnomes must be destroyed before the family gets flambéed...and the world becomes a buffet in this feeding frenzy of fear!
Starring: Michael Paul Stephenson, George Hardy, Margo Prey, Connie Young, Robert OrmsbyHorror | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (224 kbps)
English SDH, French, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Anyone who thinks Troll 2 is the worst movie in cinema history clearly hasn’t sat through nigh-unwatchable turds like Manos: The Hands of Fate, The Beast of Yucca Flats, or, I’ll say it, Avatar. (Calm down, just kidding on that last one.) It is, however, definitely in the running for the dubious distinction of Best Worst Movie, which also happens to be the title of a 2009 documentary about Troll 2 —made by Michael Stephenson, the child “star” of the 1990 horror disaster—which explores the film’s newfound cult status. Why best worst? Simply put, watching Troll 2 is an experience like no other. “So bad it’s good” doesn’t even come close to describing the guileless ineptitude— the stilted line readings, utter absurdity, and complete disregard for narrative logic—that makes Troll 2 so unendingly and unintentionally hilarious. This is a movie best enjoyed—and oh it can be enjoyed—with likeminded friends and a healthy supply of alcohol.
"Let me give you some advice you dwarves: Get out of here or you're going to be in a lot of trouble."
Well, color me chlorophyll green and call me Creedence Leonor Gielgud—Troll 2 and Blu-ray actually make fine bedfellows. MGM has given this piece of "vicious, stinky excrement"—to borrow a quote—a satisfying 1080p/AVC-encoded, 1.85:1-framed transfer. Granted, you won't exactly be wowed by the high definition image on display, but Troll 2 looks far better than you'd ever think possible. Compared to the murky, smeary DVD release —which is charming in its own craptastic way—the Blu-ray presents a terrific leap in clarity. It's rarely sharp sharp, but then again, this is Troll 2, not freaking Avatar, and the level of detail we get here is more than enough. (With an image this clear, the cheapo papier-mâché goblin masks look more laughably ridiculous than ever.) Skintones err on the ruddy side, but otherwise, color is great as well, with an obvious prevalence of gross-out greens. Blacks, especially during the nighttime scenes, are more of a soupy gray than anything, but contrast is stable and the picture has a surprising amount of pop at times. Furthermore, the grain structure looks natural and besides some light noise, there are no real compression-related problems. So, it's apparently not true what they say—you can polish a turd.
It's with nearly the same amount of surprised satisfaction that I approach the film's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, which certainly ain't no sonic smorgasbord, but manages to sound better than it has any right being. MGM has taken the movie's original mono soundtrack and mildly expanded it into a multi-channel presentation. I only caught one or two distinct cross-channel movements throughout—the most notable being the family minivan zipping through the rears—but surround speakers occasionally broadcast ambience, like buzzing insects, tweeting birds, and the gurgle of cauldrons in Creedence Gielgud's cheesy lair. The most indelible, awesomely awful aspect of the track, though, is the completely helter-skelter score, which lurches from fist-pumping butt-rock with face-melting guitar solos, to wonky synthesizer tunes and plucky banjos. None of this is what you might call dynamically rich, but there aren't any crackles, hisses, or dropouts, so that's something. A few snatches of dialogue get lost in the shuffle, but most of the time you'll have no trouble hearing the actors, with all the passion of cardboard cutouts, spouting their increasingly stupid lines.
How brain-meltingly awesome would it have been if MGM had somehow obtained the rights to Mike T. Nelson's "RiffTrax" for Troll 2? Or, better yet, had incorporated Best Worst Movie in this release? Alas, the sole supplement here is a high definition theatrical trailer (2:19).
Troll 2 is not so much a film as it is an experience. Few movies are so unremittingly—and naively—awful as to go beyond "so bad it's good" and create a whole new level of unintentional hilariousness. This one very well could be the Best Worst Movie, and it certainly deserves its cult following. There's simply nothing like it. Bravo to MGM for seeing that the film has a dedicated fan base and putting out a Blu-ray release that—minus a lack of substantial bonus features—deserves a place on the shelf of every compulsive collector of cinematic oddities. Bizarrely recommended!
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