Vintage Vault: Troll 2
By J. Kyle LeBel
Lance Writer
January 27, 2010
 Sometimes a film becomes a revered hit instantaneously, whereas other films must wait years, or even decades, to find a place in the heart of cinephiles everywhere.
It took Troll 2 nearly two decades to gain the reverence it so dearly deserves, but, it’s better late than never.
There is a part one to the Troll series, but that film is irrelevant. Only Troll 2 matters, for Troll 2 took it to the next level, and managed to break new ground within the cinematic medium.
Directed by Drake Floyd (a.k.a. Claudio Fragasso), who also made the astounding film Zombie 4: After Death, Troll 2 demonstrates how a director can have such firm confidence in the material given, that Fragasso’s inability to speak English while working on an English-language film is irrelevant.
Floyd/Fragasso, along with the cast and crew, know they have a masterpiece in their hands.
So, the language barrier between an Italian-speaking crew and an English-speaking cast need not matter, because Fragasso and co-scribe Rossella Drudi’s script is strong enough to be followed word for word.
The thespians within Troll 2 give complete respect to their dialogue, allowing for insightful lines like “they’re eating her, and then they’re going to eat me!” resonate with such fervour.
Much regards must be sent to the main actor Michael Stephenson, who was only 10 years-old when making the film.
The demands for his character, the naïve and impressionable Joshua Waits, required much mental stamina, and Stephenson definitely meets this challenge head-on.
The film’s intricate plot follows Joshua, who talks to his dead grandfather about his fears of the goblins from the stories he was told by the same grandfather.
The goblins could be lurking around the corner, and things get really troublesome for young Joshua when the family decides to take a summer vacation to Nilbog, a serene little town in rural Utah, adjacent to the mountains and deep in the heart of Mormon-Country.
On top of already addressing complex themes like trust in a grandfather-grandson relationship and the paranoia of young boys, Troll 2 also contains a subplot involving Joshua’s sister Holly trying to deal with her boyfriend Elliott, a conflicted young man who tries to show how much he loves Holly, yet has a difficult time doing so when under the constant presence of his pals.
There is a lot to follow, but the film seamlessly integrates all of these plot points to an incoherent whole, leaving for a puzzling denouement that boggles the mind, while simultaneously being intellectually satisfying.
It took Troll 2 too long to find its audience, but now that the film is revered by many, its rightful place within the cinematic pantheon has been granted, and the film will no doubt survive for generations to come.
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