Trip to Nilbog

On Saturday evening Dirt and I went to a screening for Troll 2 in SLC. Our friend Blair had organized the screening along with a cast and crew reunion that included a Q&A afterwards, and since the director (bottom right) and the writer (white sleeveless shirt) are Italian and don't speak great English, I was recruited to translate.

Turns out that Michael (front, gray shirt), who was the original child star of the film, is in the process of making a documentary about the film's cult status (www.bestworstmovie.com), and he asked if I could hang out while they filmed in Utah to make sure the Italians were understood and such.

In the 3 1/2 days I spent with them, I got to meet everyone (Grandpa Seth is bottom left, Farmer Waites is front black t-shirt, Mr. Presents is pink shirt, rest are documentary crew: Jim, Carl, and Katie), and go to most of the filming locations. This picture was taken in Heber, UT, where the majority of the film takes place (the house, not the city). I also got to meet most of the other actors, but hanging out with the ones in the picture was a huge highlight. Because I was helping with the Italian interviews, I got to hear all about the creative process and it was incredibly enlightening. They were all very gracious and I would love to be involved in the future.

For those of you who don't know, Troll 2 is a horrible movie. It has regularly been voted the Worst Movie Ever Made, and in the past 2 years it has gained somewhat of a cult status. It is now 18 years old and the hope is that the documentary will be ready for a 20-year-anniversary publishing along with a copy of the movie.

What separates this from all the other terrible movies out there is that this is actually entertaining to watch, while most require little robots and a lost-in-space type to talk throughout. It is actually very well paced, and amazingly, its ridiculousness was done on purpose. It is truly awful... in a very good way. If you ever get the chance to watch it, do so, but prepare to groan. A lot.