I had never seen Troll 2 before this film, but decided to watch it before viewing Best Worst Movie. After I saw it, I immediately watched the documentary as I was now hooked and had to know the story behind Troll 2.
Now, I liked Troll 2. As a connoisseur of "bad" movies, Troll 2 has it all. I keep putting "bad" in quotes because they are only labeled that, and in my mind are not REALLY bad. They are wonderful. And that's exactly why Best Worst Movie is wonderful. It celebrates with love the awesome earnestness of strange film making that is Troll 2.
It catches up with many of the film's stars and the highlight is George Hardy, the leading man in Troll 2. He's a living Ken Doll - you can't believe how sincere and likable he is. (I recently met George, and let me tell you, he is really the nice person he portrays.) At one point in the doc, George and the documentary's director (Michael Stevenson, who played the little boy in Troll 2) are on a mission to show the film to George's hometown. George, who is a dentist in his non-acting life, has known these people for years. But most them are not aware of this illustrious Hollywood moment he had in 1989. George goes door to door, handing out fliers, and acting out moments from the film. Even though many of his neighbors stare blankly as he repeats a classic line from Troll 2, he gives the moment his all - smiling and laughing the whole time. You know then that this is a man who loves to exist in a world where he can tell people to see a movie he starred in that most actors would remove from the IMDb page.
I can't do justice in this review the documentary's many great moments because the reality of those scenes have to be seen. But what you take away from this film is that the love true cinephiles have can breath life into films and give them meaning never meant by a filmmaker.
And this is the amazing magic of movies - like a good novel, they continually have new meaning. THAT is what makes "bad" movies - or any movie for that matter - a classic.
