The story is ludicrous and the execution is generally confused in terms of tone and target audience, but Troll does manage to muster a certain charm through its puppet design, designed by director John Carl Buechler. There is a bizarre moment at around the half way mark where the troll and his creatures burst into a macabre sing-a-long, and single-handedly manages to rescue the film from complete disaster. Add to that the intense watchability of the great Michael Moriarty, whose hangdog face and impeccable comic timing always raises a laugh, and you have a shit film, rather than a very shit one.It's confusing as to what it is trying to be, whether a twisted take on familiar fairytale conventions, a creepy kids film, or a horror-comedy. It manages to be all of these, but they are thrown together to create a huge mess of a film. The plot is far too incoherent to make any real sense of, and the film babbles its way to a silly, yet colourful climax. It's one of those films that would be a laugh if watched with friends and many beers, but watched alone stone cold sober, it's a drag. Possibly the only interesting fact that comes from Troll is its involvement in a legal battle with J.K. Rowling, due to similarities with the character names (Moriarty and Hathaway are name Harry Potter Sr. and Jr.) and magical aspects, but it seems a bit far-fetched to me. Worth a watch for fans of 80's puppet horror, and for a young and very beautiful Julia Louis-Dreyfus, but otherwise this is destined for bargain-bin obscurity.
Directed by: John Carl Buechler
Starring: Noah Hathaway, Michael Moriarty, Shelley Hack, Jenny Beck, June Lockhart, Sonny Bono
Country: USA/Italy
Rating: **
Tom Gillespie
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