Follow TV Tropes

Following

Film / Troll 2

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/troll2.png
Yes, it was enough. But sometimes the sequel surpasses all of your expectations... All of them.

Troll 2 (originally titled Goblins) is a 1990 In Name Only and unofficial sequel to the 1986 B-Movie Troll, by Italian director Claudio Fragasso (under the name "Drake Floyd"). Note that not a single troll appears in the film, nor is the word "troll" spoken once. There are two different films called Troll 3, and neither have much to do with either Troll or Troll 2.

Here's the movie in a nutshell:

The Waits family goes to a village called Nilbog, unaware that the townsfolk are actually goblins; specifically, 'vegetarians', who would try to get their vic— er, guests, to eat their all-vegetable food, which would turn their victims into a "half man, half plant" goblin food. It is up to the Waits' son, Joshua, who can communicate with his dead grandpa, Seth, to save his family from the goblins before his family becomes Goblin Chow.

Troll 2 has been dubbed the "Best Worst Movie Ever Made" by its fans and has gained a cult following over the years. Little Joshua grew up and made a documentary about the movie and its fan base.

Not to be confused with DreamWork's own Trolls 2 or Troll (2022).


This film provides examples of:

  • '80s Hair: The film is a bit of time capsule for American female hairstyles of 1989, with Holly's Jessie Spano-esque ultra-moussed frizz, Diana's layered bangs, and Hot Witch Creedence's long flowing curls.
  • Alien Blood: The goblins have green blood.
  • Alternate DVD Commentary: Unsurprisingly, it's gotten the RiffTrax treatment.
  • Always Chaotic Evil: All of the goblins are inherently evil, beyond just enjoying the taste of humans. They are shown to be sadistic in personality. Grandpa Seth even says "That's the point. Goblins don't need to justify their cruel acts. They're evil creatures."
  • Ambiguous Ending: Was Mrs. Waits really eaten by surviving goblins or is Joshua just dreaming again?
  • And I Must Scream: Arnold is unable to move or speak when he is turned into a plant until the bark is pulled off his face. Rather than trying to dig him out of the planter his feet are stuck in, his friend decides to just try to drag the planter to safety.
  • Artistic License – Biology: At the beginning, the ghost of Grandpa Seth appears and gives Josh a massive Info Dump about goblins. At one point he talks about some people who were turned into goblins and says they started sweating green which he calls "The color of goblins, the color of sap". Sap is actually amber colored. Maybe they were thinking of chlorophyll?
  • Aside Glance: Creedence does a very slooooow and overdramatic one of these.
  • As You Know: When Mrs. Waits is talking to Joshua at the beginning, she feels the need to mention that Grandpa Seth was her father.
  • Author Tract: Specifically written as an anti-vegetarian film. The screenwriter called it "a ferocious analysis of today's society."
  • Big Bad: Creedence Leonore Gielgud is the queen of the goblins who wants to turn the Waits family into human-plant hybrids and eat them.
  • Big Good: Grandpa Seth. While he is dead prior to the movie's events, he acts as a mentor figure and Spirit Advisor to Joshua and is the only one with foreknowledge of the goblins.
  • Big "OMG!": OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!
  • Body Horror: Attempted with the melting of people into green goo and turning Arnold into a plant ("attempted" being the operative word here). Reaaally disgusting.
  • Bolt of Divine Retribution: Grandpa Seth somehow calls one down to smite a goblin.
  • Bullying a Dragon: Arnold tries to intimidate a mob of goblins armed with spears, it doesn't work. It's very obvious they are monsters, but he tries it anyway.
  • Can Only Move the Eyes: Arnold, when he's paralyzed by Creedence, and later gets turned into a plant.
  • Cassandra Truth: Joshua warns his family about how the townsfolk were really goblins who wanted to turn them into plants so they can eat them. No one believes him.
  • Chewing the Scenery: Deborah Reed seems to be the only performer enjoying herself.
  • Covers Always Lie:
    • The original VHS cover features a goblin that looks nothing like the creatures in the movie, menacing a boy who is clearly not Joshua, who's holding a significant-looking evil troll doll that never appears in the movie. Every word of text on it is also totally unrelated to the movie; the actual film has nothing to do with "the original boogieman", nothing to do with haunting you in your sleep, there isn't even one singular "it", and, of course, there are no trolls. The synopsis on the back is... sort of accurate, though.
    • A DVD release of Troll and Troll 2 on one disc provides mostly accurate plot summaries for both movies, but attempts to hide the fact that the two have nothing to do with each other by referring to trolls and goblins in both summaries.
  • Cruel Twist Ending: When the protagonists believe the Goblins are gone for good, a group of them abruptly come to their house and eat the mother. It's an Italian horror movie, after all.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: As a spirit, Grandpa Seth has a "kingdom of shadows", is generally associated with poor lighting, and is told to go "back to hell". He's also named after the evil trickster-god of Egyptian Mythology. Despite all of this, he loves his family and is the caring Big Good.
  • Dead Person Conversation: Joshua regularly converses with his dead grandfather.
  • Diabolus ex Machina: The Nilbog Goblins have been destroyed, but another group of them come back to the protagonist's house to eat his mom.
  • Don't Make Me Take My Belt Off!: Spoofed; the dad initially seems like he's going to beat Joshua, but instead tightens his belt.
  • Downer Ending: Our heroes destroy the goblin army and escape Nilbog. They go back home, but the goblins are waiting. The film ends with Joshua entering his kitchen and finding the goblins eating his mother, who ate the poisoned fruits and died by dissolving into shitty green-goo. Damn you Creedence!
  • The Dragon: Preacher Bells is the second most prominent goblin and tends to lead the others when Creedence isn't around. After Grandpa Seth smites him, Sheriff Gene Freak takes over.
  • Dull Surprise: Arnold's reaction to being turned into a plant, and how Brent responds to Hotter and Sexier Creedence.
  • Enter Stage Window
  • Erotic Eating: The scene with Creedence and the corncob with Brent was probably intended to be this. In-universe it seems to work; to the viewer... not so much.
  • Evil Is Hammy: "I am Creeeeeeeeedence... Leonorrrrre... Giel-gud." It is truly something to behold how she over-pronounced that entire sentence. You can almost see the bits of scenery in her teeth.
  • Fan Disservice: When the mom gets turned into a plant at the end, for some reason focus is put on her bare but green-painted breasts. Except she's being eaten alive, so it's not fun.
  • Fanservice: Creedence in Hot Witch mode. She even uses this to her advantage, seducing Brent.
  • Fantastic Aesop: Only the power of goodness can defeat the goblins. Of course, a double decker baloney sandwich always helps.
  • Faux Affably Evil: The people of Nilbog are hospitable and polite to their guests, but it's all an act so they can turn them into vegetables and eat them.
  • Femme Fatale: Creedence in her younger human form seduces Brent in this manner. The funny thing is that she doesn't actually kill him - she just has sex with him, floods his trailer with popcorn, and then leaves.
  • Forced Transformation: Arnold becomes part-plant. He still maintains most of his human properties, even if his abilities as a human becomes limited, like bark growing over his mouth and his legs grown stuck into a plant pot, but he definitely still has enough human traits to be able to be aware of his surroundings, and once the bark covering his mouth is removed, speak.
  • Forgotten Fallen Friend: By the end, Elliot doesn't seem to learn what happened to his friends, nor does he seem to care. Especially funny because Brent is apparently still alive - see What Happened to the Mouse? below.
  • Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Creedence wears a pair of glasses in her old lady form.
  • Girls With Mustaches: In her true goblin form, Creedence has a full-on thick beard and mustache, as well as hairy sideburns and a Big Ol' Unibrow. Justified since she's a goblin.
  • God Save Us from the Queen!: Creedence is the queen of the goblins, and is a villain.
  • Grammar Correction Gag:
    Seth: These evil creatures can transform themselves into flesh-and-blood people whenever and however they want.
    Joshua: You're making a mistake, Grandpa. You said they can. You should have said they could... or what kind of fairy tale is it?
    Seth: They can! They can! Goblins still exist! Your Grandpa Seth is telling you!
  • Green Is Gross: Pretty much everything involving the trolls goblins involves green, particularly the concoctions they make to turns humans into plants to feed on.
  • Hollywood Darkness: When the family first arrives in Nilbog, Michael comments that the stores are closed because everyone's gone to bed for the night; the scene looks like it takes place at noon.
  • Hot Witch: Creedence transforms into this partway through, and uses her younger-looking self to... get some action from Brent.
  • Human Resources: Arnold gets turned into a milkshake and fed to Drew.
  • In the Style of: Since it revolves around a young boy dealing with supernatural forces and grotesque creatures in an everyday setting, this is like a bargain basement attempt at a Ray Bradbury-type story.
  • Incoming Ham: You know exactly what kind of villain you're in for when Creedence first waltzes into frame and shouts "This is myyyyyyyyyyyy house!"
  • Ironic Echo: "Do you want some, Joshua?"
  • It May Help You on Your Quest: Grandpa Seth hands Joshua a double-decker baloney sandwich in the last five minutes of the film, saying "take this, and only use it when you really need it".
  • Killer Cop: Sheriff Gene Freak is, naturally, a goblin in disguise and just as murderous as the rest of them. He plays a role in the implied death of Drew by feeding him a sandwich.
  • Kubrick Stare: An epic one by Don Packard at the end of his scene. It helps he is schizophrenic and off his meds during the scene.
  • Landmark of Lore: The goblins' source of power is the Stonehenge Magic Stone.
  • Large Ham: They may be vegetarians, but Creedence, the General Store Owner, and the Preacher are pretty hammy. Sheriff Freak starts to swallow the scenery whole towards the end, too.
  • Magic Countdown: Thirty seconds of frozen time lasts for close to a minute of screen time.
  • Man on Fire: Preacher Bells after Grandpa Seth ignites the Molotov Cocktail he confiscated.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Creedence in her younger human form. She has a steaming hot body, and wears very seductive clothing. Attempted with Holly, but she's a gawky sixteen-year-old, so it's weird.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: "I'm Sheriff Gene Freak." Yeah, Freak. That's not unsettling at all.
  • Nonindicative Name: The title of the film is "Troll 2". The film is neither about trolls nor a sequel to Troll.
  • Numbered Sequels: Averted. Troll 2 is a standalone film that has no in-universe or real world connection to Troll besides the title.
  • Obviously Evil: None of the goblins disguised as humans make any attempt to act non-suspicious.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different: Grandpa Seth doesn't seem to obey any particular rules as to what he can do or how he can appear in the mortal realm. He can shoot lightning, stop time, appear corporeal or incorporeal, and bring back various weapons from the afterlife, including an ax and a molotov cocktail.
  • Our Goblins Are Different: In this movie they can transform into anything and eat humans transformed into plants.
  • Overcrank: Used when Preacher Bells burns to death.
  • Planimal: The goblins turn people into edible plantmen because they are vegetarians.
  • Posthumous Character: Grandpa Seth has been dead for months when the film starts but still plays a big role as a ghost.
  • Rasputinian Death: Drew is fed a Nilbog sandwich by Sheriff Gene Freak, which makes him drowsy and limping, then he drinks some Nilbog milk, which still doesn't turn him into goblin food. Finally, he's fed an Arnold shake by Creedence, and it's heavily implied that this is what finally did him in.
  • Red Right Hand: While the goblins' human forms look normal enough, they bare a clover leaf on their faces that gives away their true nature.
  • Sacred Hospitality: Michael cares a great deal about his idealized vision of the country people’s hospitality. So he’s understandably pi… upset when Joshua, well, pisses on their food to prevent the family from eating it.
  • Sdrawkcab Name: "Nilbog! It's goblin spelled backwards! This is their kingdom!" Joshua sees this by viewing the town sign in a car rearview mirror.
  • Selective Obliviousness: While his family catches every little thing Joshua does, they don't find anything the least bit strange about the Obviously Evil people they're surrounded by.
  • Sinister Minister: Preacher Bells is the head of Nilbog's church and is just as evil as the rest of the goblins in the movie.
  • Soundtrack Dissonance: Some tracks are comically out of place, but at least some of it is deliberate, such as the scene where the villagers throw a party and play happy music for the Waits to make them drop their guard, while the family is becoming understandably hesitant to accept the "food".
  • Spirit Advisor: Grandpa Seth spends a good chunk of the movie warning and guiding Seth about the Goblins, when he isn't taking matters into his own hands and dispensing justice to the goblins with his nebulously-defined ghost powers.
  • Supernatural-Proof Father: Michael is completely dismissive of Joshua's warnings about the goblins and his claims to have been visited by Grandpa Seth. When Holly sees Seth in the mirror, he accuses her of being on drugs.
  • Survival Mantra: Joshua hiding under his sheets. "Goblins don't exist! Goblins don't exist! Goblins don't exist!"
  • Thematic Series: The Troll series is actually a series of unrelated movies that were never meant to be sequels. After the first film, this movie was made with the original, and more appropriate name, Goblins. It was given the name Troll 2 in hopes of making more money. As noted above, two different movies were released as Troll 3, along with their original titles and neither had anything to do with trolls or the first movie.
  • This Was His True Form: Michael runs to get the fire extinguisher to put out Preacher Bells, and by the time he does, he's dead, leaving behind the hideous corpse of a goblin.
  • Time Stands Still: Grandpa Seth can freeze time.
  • To Serve Man: The goblins act nice to the Waits, but plan to turn them into green vegetable jelly and eat them.
  • Town with a Dark Secret: Nilbog.
  • Trouble Follows You Home: Joshua and his family have just escaped Nilbog and gotten safely back home. All seems fine until he realizes that the exchange family laced their food, and sees the goblins devouring what's left of his mother.
  • Unabashed B-Movie Fan: The guys are all sitting around watching a movie about a crystal-stealing gorilla with rocket powers. Apparently, it was taken from a real film.
  • Veganopia: Subverted in that this probably the first-ever depiction of an outright evil vegan society.
  • Weaksauce Weakness: Double-decker baloney sandwiches are not an impressive weakness for the Goblins to have.
  • Weirdness Censor: Everyone from out of town except Joshua, and that's only because he was forewarned, seems to believe the patently bizarre mannerisms of the townsfolk is folksiness.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Brent and Drew both disappear abruptly from the film without explanation. It's implied that the goblins ate Drew, after he ate a sandwich from Sheriff Gene Freak, drank a bit of Nilbog milk, and then was presumably force-fed a milkshake made of Arnold. Brent was supposed to be transformed into popcorn, but the way the movie depicts it makes it look like he had some very weird sex and then just went to sleep.
  • What the Hell Is That Accent?: Creedence Leonore Gielgud's accent wavers between cliched horror movie Transylvanian and some unspecific British/Scottish/Irish-sounding lilt.
  • You Can Leave Your Hat On: The very song is used in the infamous Corn Scene. Well, a lousy Casiotone version, but still.
  • You Will Know What to Do: The double-decker baloney sandwich.

You can't piss on TV Tropes. I WON'T ALLOW IT!

 
Feedback

Video Example(s):

Top

Troll 2

Joshua has a revelation after seeing a sign displayed on a car mirror.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (18 votes)

Example of:

Main / SdrawkcabName

Media sources:

Report