would say, ‘Are you Joshua Waits? Please say it is so!’ And none of them knew about each other and they’d send me pictures of their Troll 2 parties and it was clear they were sincerely having a great time with this movie. I thought, ‘Why? How is this happening?’ And then one morning I woke up and said, ‘I am the star of the worst movie ever made!’ And I had a smile on my face. It was like this rebirth. I thought there’s a story here and I quickly thought, ‘Best Worst Movie!’” Stephenson quickly wrote up a blueprint for
the documentary and, with the help of the film’s rapidly growing fan base, put together a series of screenings in major cities to help bring the cast, crew and fans together. It was at the very first screening in New York that it
occurred to him that the loveable George Hardy, who played the father Michael Waits, would be- come the main focus of the doc. Currently working as a dentist in Alabama, Troll 2marked the be- ginning and end of Hardy’s ill-fated acting career. “We had gone to grab some dinner and were coming back to the theatre, and we were a block
or so away and there was a line that wrapped all the way around the building. We didn’t think it was for Troll 2,” admits Stephenson. “We had no idea, and all of a sudden, people recognized George because he looks fairly the same. Fans went crazy and George’s face just lit up. He was so excited to be there. I just sat back and thought, ‘This is such a great contrast.’ You know, Ala- bama dentist, first and last movie, and all of a sudden [he’s] here in New York with people that were going crazy for him. I thought, ‘This is the guy. This is the vehicle for the movie!’” However, Hardy is just one of many unforgettable personalities who appear in the doc, not the
least of whom is actor Don Packard, who played the creepy drugstore owner. He reveals that he was fresh out of a mental hospital when making Troll 2 and has almost no memory of filming it. “That’s documentary gold!” says Stephenson. “He then decided to share how he felt about me
at the time of the film and how he wanted to kill me, and I was just praying that my battery would- n’t die.” One of the documentary’s most unsettling scenes is an encounter with the elusive Margo Prey,
who plays the mother Diana Waits. Stephenson and Hardy travelled to her home only to find a reclusive woman clearly suffering from some sort of schizophrenia-like delusions. “The first time we went to visit Margo, we didn’t know why there was this big ‘No Trespassing!’
sign out front,” recalls Stephenson. “But when she opened the door, it felt like I jumped into a frozen lake. She came forth from this darkness in her house and I just thought, ‘Wow!’ Not only did I want to catch up and get an interview, but I really wanted her to understand what was hap- pening with these screenings and realize that there are fans of hers, genuine fans that like her.” But perhaps it is the director himself, Claudio Fragasso, who is destined to be a fan favourite.
He actually believes that Troll 2 is celebrated as an important film, full of meaningful social com- mentary and an environmental subtext (hence the vegetarian goblins!). In one of the doc’s most incredibly awkward moments, he confronts the actors at a post-screening Q&A in Austin, Texas, screaming at them from the crowd for mocking the movie, going so far as to call them “dogs!” “I love him as a character,” confesses Stephenson. “He’s very passionate. And he made Troll 2
the way he wanted to make it and I think that says a lot about somebody. As a director, the worst thing I think you can do is fail to entertain, and Claudio does not do that.” In the wake of Troll 2’s rebirth as a cult classic, and with a reported remake of the original Troll
in the works, Fragasso intends to direct a sequel called Troll 2 Part 2. “Well, as soon as Claudio saw what was happening with the fans, the very first thing in his mind
was, ‘Michael, we have to make a sequel! But this time we make it with a bigger budget and not shit effects,’” relates Stephenson. “I think that as far as it actually happening, part of me says I don’t know if it’ll get off the ground. The other part of me says if Claudio was able to make Troll 2 in Utah and couldn’t speak English and pulled it off, maybe he can get this off the ground. Whether it will work or not, my feeling is Troll 2 worked because it was sincere and it wasn’t intentionally trying to be that way. I mean, how could you create lightning in a bottle twice?” The question most often asked of Stephenson, and the one he still hasn’t come to terms with
himself, is would he be willing to reprise his role as Joshua Waits? “Oh man, that’s such a hard question,” he anguishes, “because I’ve told myself that I cannot
rest until George Hardy is in another movie. Troll 2 was a fun time. Then there was the embar- rassment of being in the worst movie ever made. But now, looking back, ironically, it’s offered some of the greatest, most memorable experiences of my life.”
Best Worst Movie is currently screening in select cities throughout North America. For more in- formation, visit the film’s website at
bestworstmovie.com.
That’ll Leave A Mark: (top to bottom) Michael Stephenson, as Joshua, gets slimed, Troll 2 director Claudio Fragasso returns with cast members to the scene of the crime, George Hardy jokes with fans, (above left) Stephenson now, and (opposite) T2 fans in homemade costumes.
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