Troll Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.5

Troll Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 17, 2015

Those of us who make at least part of our livings via the internet have come to approach the term “troll” with a certain wariness. If the world wide web has been a “great democratizer” of sorts, allowing everyone of any given stripe and/or background to vent their “authoritative” opinion (and that of course includes us reviewers), it’s also made it clear that some people evidently live for no other reason than to disparage others, no matter what the context. There’s an obvious reason why the term troll came to be used to describe these folks who lurk around the edges of the internet, waiting to pounce upon others, for folklore has long been the home to similarly named and behaved creatures, nasty little beasts who traditionally live under bridges or in caves and who are prone to assaulting (both physically and psychologically) unprepared humans. While this particular tangential relationship to a “newly” defined word may interest at least some coming to Troll for the first time, there’s actually another referent which may pique the attention of certain inquiring minds. Troll came out in 1986 and posited a family called the Potters who encounter the titular mini-monster in a kind of gothic apartment complex in San Francisco. That surname may not provoke any major reaction, at least until it’s mentioned that both the father and son in the family are named Harry. That’s right, folks—over a decade before J.K. Rowling upended the modern book selling trade (and, later, its cinematic kin) by writing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, there were two similarly named characters, one of whom was a young boy dabbling in the magical arts and attempting to rein in the nefarious activities of a kind of Dark Lord. Rowling has stated that the idea for her Harry Potter just popped into her head one day (ostensibly circa 1990), but some associated with Troll have suggested that maybe Rowling caught the film at some point and subliminally ported over at least the character name, if not some more tangential magically related plot mechanics, to her enterprises. Whatever the “truth” behind this odd concatenation may be, there’s little doubt that Troll never attained the success that Rowling’s Harry Potter did, which indeed may be one reason why those associated with the film may be indulging in a bit of sour grapes revisionism.

Troll certainly has no pretensions toward any great horror film ambitions, and in fact one of the pleasures of this entry is how quickly it sets everything up, thrusting the viewer squarely into a kind of madcap enterprise that almost seems like screwball comedy at times. As the Potter family moves into their new abode, daughter Wendy Anne (Jenny Beck) chases an errant ball into a dank basement, where she’s confronted by a gruesome little beast named Torok (Phil Fondacaro), who, through the auspices of a magical ring, is able to “merge” with Wendy, taking over the little girl’s body and (as evidenced by her increasingly bizarre behavior), her psyche. Right away, Troll plays with certain tropes that were extant in The Exorcist, offering an obviously (except to her parents) possessed little tyke who isn’t above running amok and wreaking havoc of various kinds.

“Little” Harry Potter (Noah Hathaway) is (at first, anyway) the only one to notice that there’s something other than a sugar (and/or ratburger) high generating Wendy Anne’s peculiar metamorphosis, and soon enough his suspicions are confirmed when he teams up with the odd woman living in an upstairs apartment, Eunice St. Clair (June Lockhart). It shouldn’t come as any great surprise that Eunice is not an ordinary mortal, and in fact she may have a bit of a history with a certain Torok. Meanwhile, Torok (as Wendy Anne) has embarked on a kind of Miracle Gro quest where various residents of the apartment house become incubators in a way for a horde of goblin interlopers. (This aspect of the film may, kind of like Wendy Anne’s predicament itself, subtly or not so subtly reference Invasion of the Body Snatchers.)

A battle between the realms of the humans and trolls ensues, with Harry and Eunice at the front lines of the skirmishes, even as the apartment house starts to resemble something out of a Maurice Sendak book. Troll is frankly never that scary, tending to score more securely on its goofier aspects (including stunt casting like Sonny Bono as a lecherous neighbor, not to mention Julia Louis-Dreyfus in her film debut as—well, let’s just say not exactly Elaine or the Vice President). The film benefits immensely from some winning practical effects, an element which helps it to overcome some occasionally lurching performances and a somewhat haphazard overall feel.

Troll Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Troll is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This is a rather heavily grainy presentation, and that grain only increases during optical effects sequences, giving some moments a slightly swarmy appearance (see screenshot 3). That said, there are only very minor issues with grain resolution here, where (to cite one example) a slight yellowish quality can attend the grain field at various moments. The palette is rather remarkably vivid, offering a wide gamut of hues with excellent saturation. This is not a sharp looking transfer in the contemporary sense, nor should it be, but detail is often quite commendable, especially in close-ups where elements like the bristly hair of various trolls and/or goblins is almost palpable at times. While aspects like some brief telecine wobble during credits or the occasionally ungainly grain resolution may point to an older master, overall fans should be reasonably well pleased with the results on display here.

Troll Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Troll features a rather boisterous sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track, one with fairly wide stereo imaging and very good to excellent fidelity supporting the film's goofy dialogue and goofier sound effects. This is at times a rather noisy film, and prioritization is generally excellent. There is a slightly brash quality to some high frequencies, but overall this is a vivid and precise sounding track.

Troll Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Making of Troll (1080p; 50:07) is a typically excellent Scream supplement, giving some in depth background on the film courtesy of several interesting interviews with various people associated with the project.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:47)


• Photo Gallery (1080p; 1:27)

Note: Please see our Troll / Troll 2 Blu-ray review for a complete listing of supplements included with this release.

Troll Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Troll is certainly not some unappreciated masterpiece, but it's good, goofy fun in its own lo-fi way. This is another Scream release where the film (or in the case of the actual double feature, films) may not actually be the main attraction. Once again Scream has assembled some outstanding supplements, and the inclusion of Best Worst Movie (for at least the first 5000 customers) makes this even more attractive. Recommended.