Troll is a movie that is both horror and comedy and yet, for a movie that is supposed to be as such, there is very little of either. It is a shame too given the powers behind this, that being Albert Band, father of Charles Band, not to mention some of the star-power within. Suffice it to say, Troll is not the best horror film ever made, nor does it come even close to being very good – more often than not, it resembles the fantasy films of the 1980s like The Neverending Story and Willow more than it does its horror brethren.

The story concerns a nice young family having just moved into a new apartment building, one filled with all sorts of unique characters, one of them even played by Sonny Bono. Starring Michael Moriarty and Noah Hathaway with cameos by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and June Lockhart, the film does not necessarily lack for talent, merely good storytelling. Secondly, it also tends to drag on with the end seemingly nowhere in sight as slowly but surely, a precocious troll who has taken the form of Hathaway’s sister, is transforming the building into a replica of its realm which if successful, can only lead to worse things for the planet at large.

The practical effects are great and the creatures, all the various kinds of them that make an appearance throughout the film from trolls to giants and everything in-between, make for one of the better pieces of it all, but it is that lack of excitement and a solid script that drag it down. The film might engage those of a very young age, but anyone over ten years old is going to want to watch something else given the juvenility of it all.

Interestingly enough, the family that the film is centered around are called the Potters with dad being Harry Potter Sr. and Hathaway’s character Harry Jr. It is even rumoured that this is where J.K. Rowling got her inspiration for her series of books, though she denies it of course.

While a lot of people might hate on this film, there is a little bit to love, but without the laughs and the absence of anything even remotely scary except perhaps the act of child abduction, the film failed at being what it set out to be with horror fans urged to look elsewhere should they want something even remotely frightening.

2 out of 5