Troll (1986)

Troll (1986) is the kind of scrappy, wonderfully oddball fantasy-horror that earns your affection through sheer imagination: a single apartment building becomes a doorway to an unruly storybook nightmare, and every hallway feels like it might bloom into something enchanted or grotesque. John Carl Buechler leans into tactile creature effects and gooey transformations with a handmade charm modern CGI can’t counterfeit, giving the film a playful, midnight-movie vibe even when it’s aiming for chills. It’s not a “tight script” showcase so much as a visual fever dream—part fairy tale, part creature-feature—where the fun is watching how far the movie’s ideas and makeup effects are willing to go. If you enjoy ‘80s practical effects, eccentric tenants, and fantasy that’s a little grimy around the edges, Troll is an easy recommendation; if you need polished logic and subtlety, you may admire it more than you love it.

Troll (1986) is clearly trying to be a whimsical, fairy-tale invasion story with horror trimmings—like a kid-friendly fantasy that occasionally remembers it’s supposed to be creepy. The problem is it can’t commit: the tone wobbles between goofy and gross, the pacing lurches from one odd tenant vignette to the next, and the “scary” moments often land more as rubbery creature-feature camp than genuine tension. If you’re expecting tight storytelling, consistent scares, or anything remotely polished, this will feel clunky and kind of exhausting. But if you have a soft spot for practical effects, eccentric 80s weirdness, and the sort of movie you watch more for the bizarre vibe than the plot, there’s enough imagination here to justify a late-night curiosity watch.