Review of Best Worst Movie (2009) by Eric A — 09 May 2010

In the ranks of modern cinematic trainwrecks such as "The Room" and the Nic Cage/Neil LaBute "Wicker Man" stands "Troll 2," a gloriously inept horror movie with its own legion of devotees spreading the gospel through midnight screenings and cherry-picked clips on YouTube. What sets "Troll 2" apart, though, is its age--shot in 1989 with an inexperienced semi-Mormon cast and a laissez-faire Italian crew, its badness has been allowed to age like fine, skunky wine.

"Best Worst Movie" is a chronicle of how the people involved in this disaster try to reconcile the reasons for "Troll 2"'s recent popularity with the fact that (as Jason Squire will be glad to re-iterate) nobody was setting out to make an intentionally bad movie. For some, particularly for former child actor/current director Michael Stephenson, the goal is catharsis. For others, the goal is to act as if it's a storm that will pass with enough ambivalence. For others still, it's simultaneously a complete surprise and an insignificant event that has no bearing on lives with enough problems to fill a DSM IV bingo card.

At the heart of "Best Worst Movie" is Alabama dentist and number-one citizen George Hardy, who's tickled by his sudden, albeit delayed, fame and embraces the joke as much as humanly possible. He's like a one-man promotional machine, happily repeating his signature line--"You can't piss on hospitality!"--to anyone within earshot. But the film becomes ever more fascinating as even a man of Hardy's indomitable optimism cannot stand the inane demands of cult stardom, not to mention the insults of "Troll 2"'s Italian director, who's still convinced that a cabal of untalented actors ruined his painstakingly-crafted artwork. It's an unexpected commentary on the polarizing nature of Ironic America and a reminder that even the most sanguine among us get tired with being the butt of the joke.