Troll

"Worlds of magic, mystery and menace."

1986 1h 23m EN

😐

5.1

MID

🥫

27%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

4.6

IMDB

★5.1TMDB · 276🥫27%Rotten Tomatoes●30Metacritic★4.6IMDB · 12,110

FantasyHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When a family moves into a San Francisco apartment, an opportunistic troll decides to make his move and take possession of little Wendy, thereby paving the way for new troll recruits, the first in his army that will take eventual control of the planet. We soon discover Torok is the ex-husband of Eunice St. Clair, a resident in the building who was married to Torok.

“Worlds of magic, mystery and menace.”

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Cast

Noah Hathaway
Harry Potter Jr.
Jenny Beck
Wendy Anne Potter
Phil Fondacaro
Malcolm Mallory / Torok the Troll
Michael Moriarty
Harry Potter Sr.
Shelley Hack
Anne Potter
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Jeanette Cooper
June Lockhart
Eunice St. Clair
Anne Lockhart
Young Eunice St. Clair

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Carl Buechler
Writers: John Carl Buechler, Ed Naha
Languages: English
Countries: Italy, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

83 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 5.0× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

40 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Italy, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Troll (1986) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Carl Buechler, shot by Romano Albani. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Richard Band. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Carl Buechler directs. Romano Albani behind the camera. Richard Band scores. Lee Percy cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Italy, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

183 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $1.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Made its money back 5.0× over at the box office.
440 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
5International production across 2 countries: Italy, United States of America.
6Part of the "Troll (1986) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
7Directed by John Carl Buechler, shot by Romano Albani. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by Richard Band. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Lee Percy shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Noah Hathaway and Jenny Beck and Phil Fondacaro carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "Worlds of magic, mystery and menace.".
12IMDB entry: tt0092115 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Romano Albani
Original score: Richard Band
Editing: Lee Percy
Production design: Giovanni Natalucci
Costume design: Jill M. Ohanneson
Makeup / hair: Giancarlo De Leonardis
Runtime: 83 min · 1h 23m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,100,000
Box office: $5,450,815
Return: 496% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Troll (1986)
Rotten Tomatoes: 27% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 30/100
IMDB rating: 4.6/10 · 12,110 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

1 nomination total

Part of

Troll (1986) Collection

An American cult dark fantasy-horror film series originating in 1986. It spawned three films, with the second installment unrelated to the first, and given a sequel of its own in 2020.