Product Details

• Actors: George Hardy, Michael Stephenson, Darren Ewing
• Directors: Michael Stephenson
• Writers: Michael Stephenson
• Format: NTSC, Widescreen, Color
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: NEW VIDEO GROUP
• DVD Release Date: November 16, 2010
• Run Time: 93 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B003X3BYHE
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,644 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Best Worst Movie" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Sometimes the past can come back to haunt you. In 1989, budding child actor Michael Paul Stephenson got a leading role in a movie. Unfortunately, that movie was Troll 2, an ultra-low-budget filmed-in-three-weeks-in-Utah schlocker that went direct to video. Nearly two decades later, thanks in part to broadcasts on HBO, Troll 2 developed a maniacal cult following that continues to pack theaters across the country for midnight screenings. Who were these people? Why had they embraced this particular bad movie? And what impact did the film's newfound cult status have on the people who made it, some of whom do not include it on their résumés? "This is my movie about that movie," Stephenson states, and it is by turns an affectionate, funny, and heartrending exploration of the Troll 2 phenomenon. Stephenson wisely focuses on George Hardy, the film's "star" and most prominent goodwill ambassador. The glad-handing Hardy is now a well-liked dentist in a small Alabama town. His life is upended when he begins to be recognized ("Stop watching right now," he urges a friend who calls mid-broadcast, "It only gets worse") and he hits the road to join his reunited cast members to reminisce, re-create the film's most ludicrous scenes, and meet and greet wildly enthusiastic fans. Best Worst Movie takes an unexpectedly poignant turn during a visit with Margo Prey, who portrays the mother in the film, and now lives reclusively and cannot bring herself to take part in Troll 2-mania. More cringe-worthy is the film's Italian director, who insists his is an important film (his wife, who wrote it, calls it "a ferocious analysis of today's society") and begins to resent the audiences' mocking laughter. As one genre buff observes, his sincerity may be why Troll 2 lives on. "Like Ed Wood," he says, "These people believed in what they were making." --Donald Liebenson

Product Description

In 1989, a group of unknown Utah actors starred in what would be crowned the worst movie of all time: Troll 2. Now, after two decades of running from this cinematic disaster, the cast can no longer hide from the legion of followers who celebrate them for their ineptitude.

BEST WORST MOVIE, directed by Troll 2's once-disgraced child star, Michael Paul Stephenson, unravels the stories of these unforgettable real-life characters and the colorful army of devotees who continue to revel in the film's perfectly flawed brilliance. At the center of this celebrated documentary is the improbable story of a small-town Alabama dentist-turned-cult-movie-icon, and an Italian filmmaker who comes to terms (or doesn't) with his internationally revered cinematic failure.

BEST WORST MOVIE is an affectionate and intoxicatingly fun tribute to the single greatest bad movie ever made and the people responsible for unleashing it on the world. The result is a hilarious and tender offbeat journey that pays homage to lovers of bad movies and the people who make them, while investigating a deeper story about the strange nature of celebrity, the catharsis of redemption and the humanity that exists in making even the worst movie ever made.

DVD Features: Over an Hour of Exclusive Bonus Features Including: Audio Commentary with the Filmmaker; Deleted Scenes and Interviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best movies I've seen all year. August 23, 2010

By Daniel E. Rezendes

Format:DVD

Managed to catch this at a local indy theater, having been a Troll 2 fan for ages. I was fully expecting Best Worst Movie to be funny and entertaining -- which it was -- but what caught me off guard is just how touching and effecting it is. While the proceedings are constantly enlivened by George Hardy, the actor who played the father in Troll 2, many of the other actors lives have not gone so well. There's the sadly comic shopkeeper, who was on leave from a mental institute at the time Troll 2 was filmed, and the twilight years of the actor who played Uncle Seth. But seeing the actress who played the mother from the movie is downright unsettling , even tragic.

On the flip side, seeing the director and writers of Troll 2, and witnessing their fervent belief that they made an insightful, important film that was simply ahead of its time... it's like an Italian knockoff of Ed Wood, only less friendly. And while Fergasso comes off as a buffoon much of the time, there are moments where you really see how truly and honestly he believes in his films -- whether that is for better or worse is another issue entirely.

All of that, plus investigating the cult that has sprung up around this fantastically bad movie... I really have to say, Best Worst Movie is a genuinely very good film, far better than anything springing from Troll 2 has any real right to be. Highly recommended.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes Yes YES! September 16, 2010

By Michelle D.

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I caught this at a little indie theater in Ohio with my friend even though I only knew the basic jist of Troll 2. It was probably one of the funniest and fascinating movies I've seen in a long time. You really get to see how personalities affect the outcome of a film. I'm not one to really have a gut busting laugh in a theater, but this movie produced several. The timing on the jokes, the provoking story, the characters you meet throughout...What a great movie. Totally worth every penny without any disappointment. If you didn't manage to catch it in theaters, this is the perfect chance to see it at home. DO IT.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious take on the worst movie ever! August 21, 2010

By Malopake

Format:DVD

I thought this documentary was funnier than the movie it was about. It takes you inside public perception of the movie and how it slowly became an underground sensation, while also giving you feedback from those who participated in the biggest cinematic failure of all time. Some of the actors have gone on to live happy, full lives while others have wound up in rather sad situations. Best Worst Movie also shows the reaction of the director Claudio Fragrasso to his "masterpiece" and how he describes it as being "the inspiration for Harry Potter." He also portrays disdain for the actors who were in the movie and wonders why people laugh at parts of the movie he believes to be serious. The majority of this movie focuses on the dad (George Hardy) and the kid (Michael Stephenson) from Troll 2, with the kid being the director of BWM. They travel to numerous conventions, screenings, and, in addition, hunt down the actors from Troll 2. This movie took a few years to make, produce, and distribute and I believe that's what makes it so great. It's a well-thought-out movie and it does not disappoint. Those who have never seen or heard of Troll 2 can get a better understanding of the craze behind it and how it failed miserably. I recommend this movie to anyone looking for a state-of-the-art documentary. Well done, Mike and George!