Troll (film)

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Troll

Japanese poster
Directed by John Carl Buechler
Produced by Albert Band
Written by Ed Naha
Starring Noah Hathaway
Michael Moriarty
Shelley Hack
Jenny Beck
Sonny Bono
June Lockhart
Music by Richard Band
Cinematography Romano Albani
Editing by Lee Percy
Distributed by Empire Pictures
Release date(s) January 17, 1986
Running time 86 min.
Country Flag of the United States United States
Flag of Italy Italy
Language English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Troll is a 1986 horror film. It has no relation to the movies Troll 2 and Troll 3.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

The film begins with the Potter family moving into a new apartment complex. While unpacking, their young daughter Wendy is attacked by a troll inexplicably living in the basement. Using an emerald ring, it captures Wendy in it and transforms into her. After meeting the other eccentric tenants, the family notices Wendy's unusual behavior (roaring, biting, tossing people across rooms...) but attributes her behavior to the stress of the move. The only one that notices something is terribly wrong is Harry Potter Jr. (Noah Hathaway)— sometimes confused with the hero of J.K. Rowling's famous series. Frightened by his sister's sudden violent changes, he seeks solace in the company of a mysterious old lady, named Eunice St. Clair (June Lockhart), who lives upstairs. When he begins to tell her of the strange goings-on, she reveals to him her real profession: a witch. Harry asks Eunice to teach him magic, but she says that there isn't time. She tells him of her long history stretching back to the time of magic, when she and a man named Torok fell in love. However, the balance of the realms of magic and men where challenged by Torok in a great war and he was punished to be forever transformed into a troll. Eunice stands guard at this apartment, waiting patiently for Torok to challenge the realms again, and that is what is going on now. The troll had already began going room to room, attacking the tenants and hideously transforming them into mythical creatures according to their personalities, resembling goblins, nymphs, an elf and a bugbear, and their rooms into lush fairy worlds. In a final attempt to stop Torok's hostile takeover of the apartment complex, Eunice and Harry enter the troll's magical alternative world. Eunice is attacked by Torok and turned into a tree stump and Harry find his sister trapped in a coffin of glass a la Snow White. Suddenly Torok's great bat monster attacks, disabling Harry. When it goes after Wendy, Torok kills it, destroying his carefully constructed fairy realm. As the magic world collapses around them, Harry and his family are given a chance to escape, leaving just as the police arrive. As the police investigate the house, one of them is drawn into a remaining fragment of the alternative fairy world, setting up for the unrelated sequel.

[edit] Similarities to the Harry Potter series of books and films

Since this 1986 movie is about an ordinary dark haired "Harry Potter" about the same age as Rowling's Potter, discovers a world of magic, has wizards, and fights a troll, many say that the concept of a magical Harry Potter is in the public domain and is not controlled by Rowling.[1]

This is a quote from an interview with Harry Potter creator Charles Band:

Interviewer: "It's bizarre, isn't it? You have a young boy named Harry Potter who discovers that he has magical powers and uses them to fight a troll."

Charles Band: "I've heard that JK Rowling has acknowledged that maybe she saw this low-budget movie and perhaps it inspired her. Who knows what the story is? Life's too short for a fight as far as I'm concerned but, having said that, there are certain scenes in that movie, not to mention the name of the main character, and this of course predates the Harry Potter books by many, many years. So there's that strange connection."

Unlike others that accused JK Rowling of plagiarism, John Beuchler's movie actually had a magical boy called Harry Potter, thus making him the first to use the character. On April 14, 2008 John Buechler's partner in the Troll remake, Peter Davy, said about Harry Potter, “In John's opinion, he created the first Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling says the idea just came to her. John doesn't think so. There are a lot of similarities between the theme of her books and the original Troll. John was shocked when she came out with Harry Potter."[2]

[edit] 2008 Remake

Writer/director John Carl Buechler is presently filming a remake of Troll, with the lead character Harry Potter who uses magic to fight magical characters.

From a Troll 2008 press release in regard to the Harry Potter magical boy character: "TROLL has not been prepared, approved, or licensed by any entity that created or produced the J.K. Rowling series of Harry Potter books or the Warner Bros. series of Harry Potter movies. Movies Plus is not affiliated with J.K. Rowling or Warner Bros., nor has this movie been endorsed or authorized by J.K. Rowling or Warner Bros... Harry Potter and his family were characters in the 1986 movie, Troll, which was independently created and distributed before J.K. Rowling’s first book."

Noah Hathaway, who played Harry Potter Jr. in the original film, has signed on to play the human form of Torok. This marks his first film role since 1994.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Characters

[edit] Reception

Troll is featured in the 2004 DVD documentary, The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made.

[edit] References

  1. Simpson MJ, Charles Band Interview", MJ Simpson Movie Report March 21, 2007.
  2. Heath Paul, Helmer says he invented Harry Potter", The Hollywood News April 14, 2008.

[edit] External links