| Troll | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John Carl Buechler |
| Written by | Ed Naha and Oliver Gonzalez |
| Story by | Joanna Granillo (uncredited) |
| Produced by | Albert Band |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Romano Albani |
| Edited by | Lee Percy |
| Music by | Richard Band |
| Distributed by | Empire Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 82 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States[2] |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $700,000−1.1 million[citation needed] |
| Box office | $5.5 million[3] |
Troll is a 1986 Americandark fantasycomedy film directed byJohn Carl Buechler and produced byCharles Band ofEmpire Pictures, starringNoah Hathaway,Michael Moriarty,Shelley Hack,Jenny Beck, andSonny Bono. It is the first installment of the Troll film series.
The Potter family – Harry Potter Sr. and Anne Potter with teenage son Harry Potter Jr. and young daughter Wendy Potter– move into a new apartment complex in San Francisco. While unpacking, Wendy is attacked by a grotesque little creature wielding amagic ring. The troll captures Wendy and takes on her appearance. After meeting the other eccentric tenants, the family notices Wendy's unusual and aggressive behavior, but they attribute her behavior to the stress of the move. The troll goes from apartment to apartment transforming the tenants into fairy tale creatures (such asgoblins,nymphs andelves) and their apartments into lush forests.
Concerned by his sister's behavior, Harry Jr. seeks solace in the company of a mysterious older woman named Eunice St. Clair, who reveals herself to be awitch. Long ago, she and a powerful wizard named Torok were in love. At that time, the world was divided between fairies and humans. The realms were equal and independent of each other; however, Torok and some of the fairies challenged this balance, resulting in a great war in which the humans prevailed. Torok was mutated into a troll as punishment.
Torok seeks to regain his power, destroy humanity and recreate the fairy tale world in which he had once lived. As Torok requires a princess, he is keeping Wendy alive. Eunice and Harry Jr. discover that all the apartments have been transformed into a part of the magical world. Eunice gives Harry Jr. a magic spear capable of killing the largest and most vicious creature in this world. Eunice is attacked by Torok and mutated into a tree stump, and Harry finds his sister trapped in a coffin of glass. Harry Jr. saves Wendy, but loses the magic spear when Torok's great batlike monster attacks.
Before the monster can kill Harry Potter Jr. and Wendy, Torok kills it himself to spare Wendy, destroying his carefully constructed fairy realm. As the magic world collapses around them, Harry Jr. and his family are given a chance to escape, leaving just as the police arrive. Eunice is restored to normal as well as she bids Harry farewell and departs. As the police investigate the house, one of them is drawn into a remaining fragment of the alternate fairy world. Torok's arm rises into view, preparing to use his ring on the police officer.
At minute 33:43, Harry Junior is watching TV: "That isn't Spot our pet, Nancy. That's something that looks like Spot, acts like Spot, even smells like Spot, but in reality it's a Martian."
Then at minute 38:10, "That may look like your canary Tweetie my dear, but it's not Tweetie. It may sing like Tweetie. It may moult like Tweetie. It may even eat seed like Tweetie, but it is an alien.""You mean...?""Yes. Your canary is a pod person from the planet Mars."
These snippets do not actually appear inInvasion of the Body Snatchers which introduced the notion of pod people.
The film was shot back-to-back with Empire Pictures'TerrorVision in Italy, at the Stabilimenti Cinematografici Pontini studios nearRome. Many of the same crew worked on both productions, including Buechler as creature effects designer, Romano Albani as cinematographer, and Richard Band as composer. The two films were released a month apart from each other in the United States.
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fwikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(November 2014) |
The estimated budget forTroll was between $700,000 and $1.1 million.[4]Troll opened in the U.S. on January 17, 1986, on 959 screens, earning $2,595,054 that weekend, and placing ninth on the box office charts.
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 30% based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 3.67/10.[4] OnMetacritic the film has aweighted average score of 30 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[5]
Janet Maslin ofThe New York Times wrote: "Troll has a knowing tone that's more smart-alecky than clever. And it hovers uncomfortably between comedy and horror, without ever landing decisively in either camp."[6] Variety gave the film a mixed review and called it a "predictable, dim-witted premise executed for the most part with surprising style".[7] Patrick Goldstein of theLos Angeles Times described it as "a clunky, poorly executed shocker".[8]
In 1986, Beck was nominated in the8thYouth in Film Association, forExceptional Performance by a Young Actress.
Troll's plot has no relation to the filmTroll 2 or the threeTroll 3 films, which are intended to be morehorror than fantasy. Its first "sequel",Troll 2, produced under the titleGoblins, is considered one of theworst films of all time,[9] and was retitledTroll 2 to cash in on the success of the original. Over time, it has developed a cult following.
The filmsCreepers (also known asContamination .7 orThe Crawlers) andQuest for the Mighty Sword (also known asAtor IV,Ator III: The Hobgoblin, orHobgoblins) both adopted the nameTroll 3 at some point as an alternate title, despite neither having a plot relation to the two previousTroll films, with the exception that the Hobgoblin inQuest does resemble the Goblins inTroll 2.
In August 2011, rumors circulated of another sequel.[10] In July 2015, plans for a prequel were reported, titledTroll: The Rise of Harry Potter Jr., along with an animated series. The film, starringPatricia Arquette and Baxter Bartlett, was supposed to be released in 2017, with the animated series broadcast in 2018.[citation needed]
In the mid-2000s, plans were announced for a remake with Buechler again directing. Script samples were made available online, with actors encouraged to film auditions and submit them. In 2009,Uriah Shelton was attached to play Harry Potter Jr., and Noah Hathaway was set to make an appearance as a human Torok. Trouble with financing, largely because of legal issues involving the use of the name "Harry Potter", led to long delays, and Buechler's cancer diagnosis ultimately led to the project being cancelled.
Troll was released on a double feature DVD withTroll 2 byMGM on August 26, 2003.[11]Scream Factory released a double feature Blu-ray ofTroll andTroll 2 on November 17, 2015. The first 5,000 copies included a DVD ofBest Worst Movie, the documentary about the production and legacy ofTroll 2.[12]
Since the release of theHarry Potter books starting in 1997, some of those involved in the film have accusedJ. K. Rowling of "borrowing" elements fromTroll. Producer Charles Band stated in an interview that "there are certain scenes inTroll, not to mention the name of the main character, which predate theHarry Potter books by many years."[13] In 2008, John Buechler's partner in theTroll remake, Peter Davy, said aboutHarry Potter: "In John's opinion, he created the firstHarry Potter. J. K. Rowling says the idea just came to her. John doesn't think so."[14]