The Best Worst Thing I Watched This Weekend

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Okay, so I just described all the "high quality" stuff I put my eyeballs on this weekend, now comes the opposite side of the spectrum... only not. Thanks to the Rooftop Films series out in Brooklyn this past weekend I got to see something I'd been wanting to see for awhile now: the documentary Best Worst Movie, which tells the tale of the little horror flick that couldn't, called Troll 2, which went from simply being a piece of shit nobody cared about to becoming the biggest piece of shit that we all love dearly for its incredible, unbelievable shittiness. The film's directed by Troll 2's child "star" Michael Stephenson, and, well, somehow lil' Mikey turned a heap of green goblin shit into pure cinematic gold.

See, Best Worst Movie is actually, insanely, the documentary-about-a-shitty-movie of our dreams. It's a love letter to Troll 2's camp crappiness. To the film's snowballing status as a fan favorite. To the film's fans and especially to its stars, who... well, they're about as fascinating a batch of regular folk and oddballs as you're gonna see in a movie this year. Like, meet the guy who played the General Store owner that was literally on release from an asylum (!!!) to film his part. Or see what's become of the actress that played the mother, and shudder to think upon it.

Y'all, I can't exclaim this loudly enough: Best Worst Movie is a really wonderful accomplishment. Let's set aside the fact that I am quickly becoming one of the cult-proselytizers of Troll 2's wonderful-awfulness myself. There were people at my screening (the dude sitting next to me, for one) that had never even seen Troll 2, and they were as enthralled by this doc as I was. Because Stephenson has made a wonderful movie, period. A splendidly crafted documentary about some small-town folks that fell into the movie-business and had their small dreams instantly shat upon, but then years later have found themselves suddenly the subject of a loving weird cult of fame they never expected to see. Troll 2 came and went when it was released in 1990. The actors in the film were humiliated by the film, which got the dubious distinction of having the lowest rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But now, 20 years later, the film sells out screenings where ever it plays. And these folks who won't even put the film on their resumes, they are confronted by this sudden spin-off of fandom. And how do they deal with it? And what becomes of it? Well that's what the film shows, and it does so with a great sense of awareness of what they're experiencing and what the original film's charms are and aren't, and I enjoyed every single second. Muchly.

So yeah. I can't recommend this one enough. Hugely entertaining; you must see this when you can. And for now just remember: You can't piss on hospitality! I won't allow it!
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