Troll 2: The 20th Anniversary Nilbog Edition

Claudio Fragasso

BY Cam LindsayPublished Nov 1, 2010

There's a reason why Troll 2 is the subject of a documentary called Best Worst Movie. The 1990 horror flick is arguably just that. The zero percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and claim that it's the worst film of all time by IMDB is convincing enough, but Claudio Fragasso's abomination is well worth experiencing, if not once, then repeatedly. Set in a fictional American town called Nilbog, an unsuspecting family does an exchange with some townsfolk. But something isn't right with the place and soon they uncover a secret plot to kill off visitors by transforming them into plants and eating them. That's a pretty streamlined version of the plot, which is plagued with all sorts of unexplainable digressions and harebrained twists ― the best of which is the complete absence of any trolls whatsoever (spell Nilbog backwards and you'll know what the baddies are). The acting is hilariously wooden and overdone, the music is terribly cheesy, the makeup and effects are high school production grade and the overall message of good defeats evil is far too easy for a film so perplexing. Also, the sickening misuse of food as a plot device is enough to turn you off popcorn, double-decker bologna sandwiches and green icing forever. It's easy to pick Troll 2 apart, but the reason why it has such a diehard cult following is because as bad, awful and obtuse as it is, it's also one of the most entertaining, quotable ("They're eating her! Then they're going to eat me! Oh my Gaaaawwwwwwd!") and most fascinating movies ever made. Sadly, the DVD is devoid of any extras other than the requisite trailer. But you have to wonder were it not for the forthcoming DVD release of Best Worst Movie, would MGM have even let this out of the vault? Probably not, but even this barebones "Nilbog Edition" is worth something.
(MGM)

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