10 Terrible Movies That Inspired Their Own Cult Followings

10. Troll 2

Once ranked #1 on IMDb€™s list of Worst Movies, Troll 2 is a masterwork in how not to make a horror film €“ or any film, for that matter. Bearing no resemblance or connection to the original Troll except in name, the story follows an American family vacationing in the creepy town of Nilbog, home to some bizarre residents and vegetarian goblins who feed their victims weird potions to turn them into plants so that they can eat them. The film was written and directed by two Italian filmmakers who spoke (and wrote the script in) broken English, and demanded that the non-professional cast perform their lines verbatim, despite the dialogue being hackneyed, grammatically flawed and nonsensical. Fortunately, all of these ingredients meant that the film developed a huge following after its release in 1990, with cinema screenings popping up all over the country as well as the usual basement VHS viewings kids regularly have for bad horror flicks. It became such a phenomenon, in fact, that its child star Michael Stephenson eventually directed a documentary about the film and his experience with it, entitled Best Worst Movie. It gently ribs the movie and showcases the fondness most of those involved with Troll 2 have for it, with many cast members attending retrospective screenings at packed theatres.
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Film history obsessive, New Hollywood fetishist and comics evangelist.