A new family the Potters move into an apartment in San Francisco expecting it to be the home of their dreams but centuries ago the Earth was once inhabited by trolls, fantastic beings who lived a fairytale existence.
Well one of them Torok (Frank Welker) resides in the basement of the building and took little Wendy Potter to become one of his victims and he disguises himself as her.
Wendy's older brother Harry Jr. (Noah Hathaway) notices a strange behavior on his sister plus he realises that she's very powerful to top it all off.
Well Torok goes to each suite to turn the residents there into one of his people so his world can be born again that was destroyed centuries ago.
Harry Jr. goes to the aid of a resident Eunice St. Clair (June Lockhart) who was once wed to a Sorcerer (John Carl Buechler) and lived during that time in order to protect him and his family from this disaster.
One of the beginnings looked not too badly done when the family moves into their dream apartment suite and we spot the little girl Wendy Anne playing with her ball and then it bounces into the laundry room of the suite as she stares at the ball in which this leaves off a clue that something creepy will happen to her. However it's not as frightening as this moment was intended to be.
Later on in the story we have a setting with the family eating fast food and Wendy Anne pigging out and then going nuts running around the hallway of the apartment which looked silly to watch as well as corny moments on the residents and their personalities which was awfully corny to watch as well.
A crafty moment however was when she enters a resiendets suite which happens to be Peter Dickinson and plays a game with him when he tries to find her proving to be a good hider which the story reveals that trolls are the best at that and then revealing the trolls true form which looked mildly amusing to watch and then this troll using this ring and stabbing him which there's nice close up shots on him transforming into a plant as I thought looked quite kooky but yet his suite is turned into a jungle with other creatures surrounding as this looked not too shabby for a cheesy horror flick.
Decent moments with Harry coming into Enice St. Clair's suite showing that she's hard to warm up to and then showing that they're getting along and discussing stuff as well as what she does which draws you in a bit and well put into the story.
Another effective moment is when Wendy Anne throws Harry up in the air which looked intimidating to watch.
A good moment when Harry is in his room watching TV of an old fashioned sci-fi flick wondering if that's who his sister is now.
Interesting moment with Wendy Anne talking to a midget Malcolm Mallory asking if he's an elf as well as other interactions as this grabs your attention a great deal by their outcomes on everything.
In the story we have the family man Harry Sr. blaring some rock tunes and dancing around the room which seemed pointless to watch.
Then later on we have him coming to her birthday as he tells a tale of a legend as well as the creatures in that suite that was turned into a jungle doing some chants with good close up shots on them doing this which is supposed to look intimidating but again seemed a little too corny but an effective moment with Eunice solving the problem by using a bullhorn and then a good moment with Wendy Anee coughing while drinking some milk which is a good sign that she's indeed a troll disguised. This was one of the better parts of this bad flick.
Another discussion between Harry and Eunice telling her that his sister is an alien and describing on what she does as well as her telling him she's something more terrifying as well as discussing on whom her husband was centuries ago and what he does now. This left a nice effect to the film.
Another attention grabber is when one of the other residents is turned into a lustful type with leaves around her running away in her suite when her boyfriend tries to catch up to her and realising that he's in a jungle outside which was a bizarre situation but when he tries to catch up or find her you get the feeling that something deadly is going to happen to him.
Nice discussion between Wendy Anne being sympathetic towards Malcolm when he explains to her that he's sick as you get a sinking feeling that he's going to die from this illenss. This moment really grabs your attention a great deal and another nice pointer in this clunker.
The action looked impressive when Eunice transforms herself into a younger form and is about to do battle to end the madness but it becomes disappointing a bit later and corny by what she turns into. It's also more corny when she damands the family to keep the door closed when they check to see on what's the matter. Tried to be funny here but misses by a longshot.
The best moments
is when Harry goes into that suite to save the day and to rescue his sister as welll as struggling against a giant troll as this thing is about to throw a giant boulder as well as some decent effects on the two siblings trying to run for their lives to get out of that dimension. Plus there's good effects on the building outside seing vines sprawling out of the roof and the locals watching in shock.
Bottom line is that this flick isn't scary at all and very pointless as well as stupid to watch. Made by the same people that did Ghoulies which is a bit better but not much as some of the creatures looked similar. In other words phony looking. Not at all original either as we've seen flicks like this before. Avoid this embarrassing flick at all costs.
The acting is quite good since we have many familiar faces which is shocking that they'd participate in this. Former child star Noah Hathaway (Harry Potter Jr.) stole the film with his performance as a typical young teenage kid. He really brought out alot on what he had to do in this one with his sarcasm as well as his shocked attitude in other spots. Shows alot of dynamic energy too. Deserved a good pat on the back as he was in better shows but wasn't getting as successful gigs afterwards which was unfortunate.
Michael Moriarty (Harry Potter Sr.) seemed to show off a ton of spunk in his role as a witty goofballish family man adding alot of good charisma into what he did here. Also does well when getting stern the odd time. Also reacts not too badly to stuff. Seemed to come off as a nitwit. Had the right looks and appeal to his role.
Shelley Hack (Anne Potter) showed a nice caring attitude as the family woman in which she shows a good understanding and concerned behavior into her part of the story. Also had the healthy looks to her role which was a great plus to her character. Does well with her characteristics.
Jenny Beck (Wendy Anne Potter) really brought it out big time with her cheeky type of behavior as well as going wild and crazy. She knew on how to just lose control naturally. Plus shows off a nice evil cackly laughter as well as other moments like this too. Does well acting sympathetic in a scene too offering a good versatality. Yes she studied this challenging role inside out.
June Lockhart (Eunice St. Clair) represented herself wonderfully as she comes across as someone prickly at first but shows a nice warm attitude afterwards in which she proves this in both ways and coming good and clear within this. Also does a nice job being serious on telling someone about their sister and what danger they're in as she concentrated well by doing this. Also shows off a good courageous attitude.
Brad Hall (William Daniels) had quite a corny performance as a strange type of resident in which he knew on how to come across as someone somewhat a little immature and not taking things seriously. He for sure made his oddball appearance look realistic. Shows some good hyped attitude too.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Jeanette Cooper) shows off a good friendliness into her part of the story as she comes across as someone whom is understanding as well as open minded. Shows a good bubbly type of attitude too whom is good at socialising. Plus shows a nice creepiness to her part when she is turned into someone lustful with her giggly attitude as this was well remembered in her performance to anyone who watched this flick.
Anne Lockhart (Young Eunice St. Clair) strutted her stuff terrifically as she shows a good tough as nails behavior while going into battle and does it with pride. Also shows off a good charming type of appeal later on near the end of her role. Her role wasn't too big but shows it off great and had the knack for this part so she was worth mentioning.
Sonny Bono (Peter Dickinson) truly knew his stuff as a grouchy resident who likes to have a romp and shows off a nice sleazy and outspoken behavior. Does a great job acting irritable as well as reacting shocked to what he spots near the end of his performance. A shame he accepted roles in clunkers later on in his career such as this one.
A residents skin starts to puff up while being transformed into a plant which is the cause for this film to be rated PG-13.
Some decent composing by Richard Band as he offers some nice sounds for a fantasy type with string plucking as well as clarinet and flute playing too. Also other types of classical scores which sounded pretty well done. Of course we hear chiming sounds too which does the trick for the scene's that it was put into. The music works in well too during the near final moments with the main character trying to save the day by finding his sister.
Wendy Potter: Ratburgers!
Wendy Potter: Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold, pease porridge in the pot nine days old.
Peter Dickinson: [about Wendy] Is she rabid?
Anne Potter: She excitable... she's... Kids!
Peter Dickinson: You have the distinction of owning the only two children in the entire building.
Harry Potter Sr.: Oh, we don't own 'em, we just rent!
Peter Dickinson: Well, let me give it to you straight Harry Boy! You see, I am a single, unattached guy. And I live upstairs, right above you. Now, I'm into swinging, and children having pillow fights at all hours of the night while I'm trying to score, may cause a few strikeouts, you get me Harry Boy!
Harry Potter Sr.: Yes, sir.
Peter Dickinson: Good!
Harry Potter Sr.: Honey? Did you do a lot of drugs before we were married?
Torok the Troll: [after turning Malcolm into troll] Welcome, Brother Elf
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