Aspiring director Michael Paul Stephenson had just finished reading “The Tipping Point,” which describes the moment when a trend hits critical mass, when a “point” intersected with his own life.
The former child actor once starred in the 1990 horror film “Troll 2,“ a film consistently mentioned as one of the worst movies of all time.
He hadn’t given the film much thought while growing up, but suddenly his MySpace page was filling up with comments made by fans of the film.
People were throwing “Troll 2” viewing parties, with some even dressing up as the movie’s key characters.
“Everyone thought they were the only ones doing it,” Stephenson says. “There was no hype machine behind it. It found its audience on its own, organically, and it finally reached critical mass.”
“I turned to my wife and said, ’there’s a story here,’” he recalls. “This has the potential for a real life Christopher Guest movie.”
So Stephenson turned the unlikely cult following attached to the 1990 film into “Best Worst Movie,” a new documentary now playing at the Starz Denver Film Festival capturing the giddy wake left behind by one truly awful movie.
The only question left was how to anchor such a project. He ended up focusing on the film’s male lead, George Hardy, who today runs a successful dentist practice in Alabama.
Hardy, as affable in person as he is in the film, wasn’t thrilled at first to be front and center in a documentary film.
“I was a little scared,” says Hardy, who is helping Stephenson promote the film via the film festival circuit. “[Michael] helped me relax.”
“Troll 2’s” intense fan base also helped Hardy put the cult in perspective. He recalls visiting a “Troll 2″ screening in Seattle and seeing a fan literally dressed up like a tree in a pot, echoing a scene from the film.
The man’s pals had to drag him into the theater to see the movie, recalls Hardy, a broad grin on his face.
Tomorrow: Stephenson recalls how “Troll 2” director Claudio Fragasso learned his film had become a cult favorite stateside – for all the wrong reasons.
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