This documentary is ostensibly about Troll 2, which some consider the worst movie ever made – at one point Troll 2 had a 0% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes  and was once the worst movie on IMDB. At this point I should mention I have never seen Troll 2. Surprised, aren’t you? I should. But I don’t know if it will ever beat Island of Death. Nothing will ever beat Island of Death.

But the film is really about what happened to the cast, and the cult that formed around the film, and the tour the film’s main actors took the film on in the late 20000s. We learn about how films can come back and be adored, to both the delight and chagrin of cast and crew, and how cults can make a movie seem bigger than it really is. (For example, at one point the cast travels to England and nobody has ever heard of the movie as the cult hadn’t spread to the UK.)

The film is entertaining and engaging even if you’ve never seen the original film. There are some real characters in it, including the Italian husband and wife who refuse to admit it’s bad, the former mental patient who was high during filming, the kids now grown up who are all kind of embarrassed and, of course, George the dentist. The whole thing is heartwarming in the best of ways.

7/10

• Directed by Michael Stephenson
• Produced by Lindsay Stephenson, Brad Klopman, Jim Klopman
• Written by Michael Stephenson
• Starring:
  • Michael Stephenson
  • George Hardy
  • Lily Hardy
  • Pita Ray
  • Micki Knox
  • Tommy Bice
  • Lila Graves
  • Laura Gulledge
  • Merry Hardy
  • Barbara H. Young
  • Emily Booth
  • Claudio Fragasso
• Music by Bobby Tahouri
• Cinematography: Katie Graham, Carl Indriago
• Edited by Katie Graham, Andrew Matthews
• Production company: Magicstone Productions
• Distributed by Magicstone Productions, New Video Group
• Release date: March 14, 2009
• Running time: 93 minutes
• Country: United States
• Language: English