Troll (1986)

User Rating:

3.5/10   

Director:

John Carl Buechler

Writers:

John Carl Buechler (story)
Ed Naha (writer)

Release Date:

17 January 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

Come closer...

Plot:

A wicked troll king in search of a mystical ring that will return him to his human form invades a San Francisco apartment complex where a powerful witch lives.

Plot Keywords:

Apartment | Troll | Ring | Witch | Little Girl

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Noah Hathaway	...	Harry Potter Jr.
Michael Moriarty	...	Harry Potter Sr.
Shelley Hack	...	Anne Potter
Jenny Beck	...	Wendy Anne Potter
Sonny Bono	...	Peter Dickinson
Phil Fondacaro	...	Malcolm Mallory / Torok the Troll
Brad Hall	...	William Daniels
Anne Lockhart	...	Young Eunice St. Clair
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	Jeanette Cooper
Gary Sandy	...	Barry Tabor
June Lockhart	...	Eunice St. Clair
Robert Hathaway	...	First Policeman
James Beck	...	Policeman #2
Dale Wyatt	...	Dickinson's girlfriend
Barbara Sciorilli	...	Fairy

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

Danish | English

Color:

Color | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M (DVD rating) | Australia:PG | UK:12 (video re-rating) (2004) | UK:15 (original rating) | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Italy

Company:

Altar Productions

Trivia:

The green and white hat that Harry Potter Sr. wears at the beginning of the film is from the Real Betis Balompie, a soccer team from Sevilla, Spain.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Harry runs after Wendy to get the rat-burgers back, the alarm bell rings. Between shots the placement of most of the utensils, napkins, fast food wrappers, etc. changes between shots.

Quotes:

Torok the Troll: [after turning Malcolm into troll] Welcome, Brother Elf

Movie Connections:

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Soundtrack:

Summertime Blues

Good effects, but story has no point.

This movie only serves to prove that you can't make a good film based solely on good special effects. The effects are the only selling points of the movie, and they are impressive (we're talking about old-fashioned, "Howling"-type transformations here, none of that modern "digital" stuff). But the story is pointless in the extreme. And the film is rather boring. An example of its bad storytelling: when the boy asks the older lady if she's a witch, there have been absolutely no indications apparent to him to make him reach such an unusual conclusion, yet the script goes right ahead with it because it's necessary for the "revelation" to be made at that moment. And the boy acts pretty casual about the whole "witch" business, too! (*1/2)