Best Worst Movie

Amazon.com Sometimes the past can come back to haunt you. In 1989, budding child actor Michael Paul Stephenson got a leading role in a movie. Unfortunately, that movie was Troll 2, an ultra-low-budget filmed-in-three-weeks-in-Utah schlocker that went direct to video. Nearly two decades later, thanks in part to broadcasts on HBO, Troll 2 developed a maniacal cult following that continues to pack theaters across the country for midnight screenings. Who were these people? Why had they embraced this particular bad movie? And what impact did the film's newfound cult status have on the people who made it, some of whom do not include it on their résumés? "This is my movie about that movie," Stephenson states, and it is by turns an affectionate, funny, and heartrending exploration of the Troll 2 phenomenon. Stephenson wisely focuses on George Hardy, the film's "star" and most prominent goodwill ambassador. The glad-handing Hardy is now a well-liked dentist in a small Alabama town. His life is upended when he begins to be recognized ("Stop watching right now," he urges a friend who calls mid-broadcast, "It only gets worse") and he hits the road to join his reunited cast members to reminisce, re-create the film's most ludicrous scenes, and meet and greet wildly enthusiastic fans. Best Worst Movie takes an unexpectedly poignant turn during a visit with Margo Prey, who portrays the mother in the film, and now lives reclusively and cannot bring herself to take part in Troll 2-mania. More cringe-worthy is the film's Italian director, who insists his is an important film (his wife, who wrote it, calls it "a ferocious analysis of today's society") and begins to resent the audiences' mocking laughter. As one genre buff observes, his sincerity may be why Troll 2 lives on. "Like Ed Wood," he says, "These people believed in what they were making." --Donald Liebenson Product Description Anyone who has seen "Troll 2" (1990) will understand why it perennially appears on lists of "worst films ever." Saddled with a low budget; a nonsensical script; amateur actors; and a veteran Italian film director; Claudio Fragasso; who could not communicate with his American cast; this straight-to-VHS horror debacle is neither a sequel to "Troll" (1986) nor does it include any trolls. In this highly entertaining documentary; Stephenson; who made his acting debut in that legendary horror show; reunites with fellow "Troll 2" actor George Hardy; and the two set out to find former castmates and connect with bad-movie fanatics who have made "Troll 2" an international cult phenomenon. By joining up with ex-castmates and meeting fans from Austin to Austria; the two discover the impact this disastrous movie has had on those involved in its making and those who relish its wretchedness. There is an entertaining mix of humor and poignancy here that should appeal to general audiences; not just genre fans. Stephenson shows just enough clips of the original film to convince those who have not seen it that; yes; it is as bad as the actors say it is. Generous bonus features include interview outtakes and deleted scenes. This celebration of shoddy moviemaking is highly recommended for fans and students and scholars of cinema and pop culture.--Douglas King; Univ. of South Carolina Lib.; Columbia Copyright 2011 Reed Business Information.
ASIN: B003X3BYHE
VSKU: DBV.B003X3BYHE.A
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