Troll 2 (1990)

   
Directed by: Claudio Fragasso

Written by:
Claudio Fragasso & Rosella Drudi

Starring:

Michael Stephenson .... Joshua Waits
George Hardy .... Michael Waits
Margo Prey .... Diana Waits
Connie Young .... Holly Waits
.... Grandpa Seth
.... Creedence Leonore Gielgud
.... Elliott Cooper
.... Arnold
.... Drew
David McConnell .... Brent
.... Sheriff Gene Freak
.... Bells

Release Dates: Direct-to-Video: October 3, 1990 (Germany)' Silverdocs Film Festival: June 19, 2009; Starz Denver Film Festival: November, 2009; Phoenix Film Festival: April 10, 2010; RiverRun International Film Festival: April 23, 2010; Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival: April 24, 2010; Milwaukee Film Festival: September 25, 2010; Cinedelphia Film Festival: April 25, 2015

*Images courtesy at: www.outnow.ch

       

 

 

 

Rating:

 

 

Joshua Paul (Michael Stephenson) talks to his dead Granpa Seth (Robert Ormsby) about goblins residing in an isolated town where his family is going on a vacation in which these creatures plan to eat them and he must find some way to stop their evil doings before it's too late.

 

A real corny beginning is told by Grandpa Seth with his grandson Joshua Waits talking about some twisted fairy tale invovling a guy in the woods as well as trying to get away from goblins but then it draws you in with these creepy creatures as well as what goes on in the story.
But then the writing and situations are terribly put in later on when Joshua's mother Diana talks to him about his Grandpa being dead for a few months as none of this looked realistic or when we have rebellious teenage sister Holly talking to her boyfriend Elliott on making choices on who he should spend time with in which all of this looekd terribly corny and very stale.
There's a cheesy but twisted moment when both Michael and Diana act wicked whilke driving their vehicle and we spot Joshua suddenly having green liquid forming on him as you definetely think to yourself that he's having a nightmare. It almost works in but like the rest of the film it looked rather lame.
Also the makers tried to give it a Twilight Zone type of feel when they arrive in the strange town with locals just staring at them as well as the people that were supposed to have gone to their home for a change and their expressionless behaviors in which makes the moments mysterious. It is strange but yet we've seen stuff like this in movies before such as Halloween III: Season of the Witch and so fourth.
Then there's a moment when Grandpa Seth talks to Joshua about the food his family is about to eat is bad and it does make you wonder if it will be too late to stop them from biting into it as well as him using his powers to freeze them in order for Joshua to think of an idea to make them not eat it. You can see the cast fidgeting due to it being a little long with what to do. It doesn't look too convincing.
We spot a moment with a dweeby teen Arnold trying to help a woman out when she is running away in the woods from some goblins as their discussions looked terribly phony but interesting camera shots on the goblins in the woods along with them trying to run away and spotting a church but yet inside is a home for an evil sorcerer Creedence Leonore Gielgud as the settings looked good here as well as some nice intense moments on this woman turning into slime which was mildly impressive for a low budget horror flick.
Also very strange moments with Arnold turning into a plant and Creedence talking to him which makes you chuckle a bit as this also looked perfectly twisted.
An effective moment when Joshua looks into what is being preached by Bells discussing vegetation and how bad eating meat is which also looked twisted as well as Joshua being caught and they try to force him to eat ice cream as this keeps you in suspense wondering if he will be able to get away. Good effects when we spot the locals cheering on and then we see them as goblins too.
Cheesy but well focused moments on the locals bringing desserts to the family and celebrating for their temporary stay there as well as good close up shots on cakes saying eat it or them bringing the food to them and focused moments on them deciding on whether to eat it or not. Makes you cringe wondering if they will.
Also a good moment with Joshua trying to summon up his Grandpa and a nice effective moment with Creedence crashing out of a mirror and then turning into a goblin and attacking which I must admit looked quite impressive.
A real stupid moment with Creedence disguising herself as a lustful woman and appearing on TV and tempting a teenage kid with corn and appearing in fron of him as I was thinking to myself ho hum!
Good moment with Joshua and then a goblin attacks with others which adds some mild suspense to the story and then we have more bad writing with Elliott trying to say something to them when the family is cornered.
Nice action moments when Joshua is battling against Creedence and her goblins as well as what he does by finidng a bologna sandwich with nice special effects on what happens here.
Bottom line is that this film bears no resemblance to the original flick and it was by a group of italian filmmakers that decided to travel to Utah to make this one. It was a strange flick and definetely not a film to watch if you're in a bad headspace. Badly written and fogettable as well. Skip this and watch Demons instead.

The acting is so terrible it's not even funny as these actors remained virtual unknowns which isn't a surprise at all. Lead child actor Michael Stephenson (Joshua Waits) however really knew his stuff as an eager kid as well as showing off upsetting energy when he knows on what will happen as well as just running to the scene a great deal for the suepsneful situations. Brings everything to a hype when he freaks out on situations or trying to get someone to listen to him.
George Hardy (Michael Waits) however was incredibly stiff with his performance as the family man and only had the looks which did all the talking. He is so wooden and low on energy when he gets stern which doesn't look believeable or when he's having a discussion and is stiff while doing this as well. Nope not a convincing character actor.
Margo Prey (Diana Waits) was by far the worst one out of the whole cast in which she can't act even if she was forced to do so. She was just saying her lines and not getting into character. Plus it looked like that she was forced to play this part as you could tell that she had no interest in what she was doing here. She got on my nerves and was lacking a great deal. She needed to find a new career big time.
Connie Young (Holly Waits) was the next one whom was absolutely horrid in her performance and only had the beautiful looks in which it looked like she only had experience as a model by how she was doing stuff and was still with her speaking especially when she shows aggressions or has attitude in which she forced it out too much. In other words way too over the top terrible. She can get work in other badly acted films due to her looks but that's about it.
(Grandpa Seth) seemed to be one of the very few who does not too bad here. Really gets into his words especially while telling the story on the goblins as well as trying to help out on the terrors that happens. Offers a great courageousness along with a good serious attitude too. He tried his best as you could tell here. Had the right looks for this part.
(Creedence Leonore Gielgud) was the best out of the whole cast and lived to play an evil sorceress/witch type of character. Does great with her slick speaking and hissy attitude. Offers a perfect wickedness as well as coming across as funny too. Also adds a nice versatality when she turns herself into someone lustful later on and acting okay with her tempting attitude. Plus does well with her raging behavior or when she is freaking out. She will be fondly remembered for anyone who saw this flick.
(Elliott Cooper) seemed pretty dorky as the guy next door in which he lacked confidence into what he did throughout his performance. Doesn't seem to react well to conversations or other situations. He was vadly miscast in this role. I couldn't see him goping places at all.
(Bells) seemed to do fairly okay as an evil preacher with his growly voice just letting it all out and getting into what he did in a passable manner. Also offers a creepy type of charm to his role too and acting perfectly deceiving. Plus was great by acting forceful along with showing good raging expressions or aggressions too when calling out. He rolls with the punches not too badly I must say.

A body is turning into slime
Goblin's hand is chopped off
A slimy corpse is being eaten

Some cheesy composing done by Carlo Maria Cordio in which there's bell chiming sounds as well as tapping and moments like that in which didn't sound overly spectuacular but seemed to fit in for the cheesiness of the story at the same time as well as some country guitar twanging when the family is going to the countryside. There's the odd high pitched icy synthesizer music which catches your attention but this also sounds quite cheesy.

[Elliott sneaks into Holly's bedroom]
Holly: Elliott! What kind of idiotic joke is this? You scared the shit out of me!
Elliott: I'm the victim of a nocturnal rapture. I have to release my lowest instincts with a woman.
Holly: [Punches Elliott in the groin] Release your instincts in the bathroom.
Elliott: Are you nuts? You tryin' to turn me into a homo?
Holly: Wouldn't be too hard. If my father discovers you here, he'd cut off your little nuts and eat them. He can't stand you.

Diana: Joshua, start singing. Come on, sing that song I like so much.
Joshua: I don't feel like singing, Mom!
Diana: Just sing.
Joshua: [singing] Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream...
Diana, Joshua: [both singing] Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily. Life is but a dream...

Arnold: They're eating her... and then they're going to eat me... OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!

Michael: Do you see this writing...? Do you know what it means...? Hospitality. And you can't piss on hospitality! I WON'T ALLOW IT! [reaching for his belt]
Joshua: What are you going to do to me, Daddy?
Michael: Tightening my belt one loop so that I don't feel hunger pains, and your sister and mother will have to do likewise. Okay, Joshua. You wanna get rough with me? You wanna show me that you don't like the choice of this house for our vacation by going on a hunger strike? Well, I'll accept the challenge. But just remember when I was your age, I really did suffer from hunger. We'll se who gets through this, but just remember I've got more practice than you. I'll see you tomorrow.

Drew: Coffee.
Drugstore Owner: There's no coffee in Nilbog. It's the devil's drink.
Drew: Eggs.
Drugstore Owner: Bleah!
Drew: Bacon.
Drugstore Owner: Are you crazy, boy? We're vegetarians here in Nilbog. Didn't you know that? Here's some Nilbog milk. Special milk. High in vitamin content. Here, it's free.
Drew: Free?
Drugstore Owner: Of course it's free. We love tourists here in Nilbog. Try some, boy, and have some of your friends drink some also.

Joshua: Nilbog! It's goblin spelled backwards! This is their kingdom!

Joshua: We NEED Grandpa Seth here!
Holly: But how do we get him to come? By having a seance maybe?
Joshua: You're genius big sister!

Joshua: A double-decker bologna sandwich!
Creedence: Aaahhh! Think about the cholesterol! Think about... THE TOXINS...!

Brent: [gasping for air after being covered with popcorn] No more... no more popcorn!