Clip of the Week 2: Troll (1986) — The Kill Scene Nobody Talks About
The Troll 1986 kill scene is one of the most bizarre practical effects moments of the entire decade. The film itself had a lot going for it on paper. The practical effects, the creature work, the setup of a troll taking over an apartment building one tenant at a time. You can see the bones of something genuinely unhinged if it had committed to being what it wanted to be. It did not commit.
This is borderline a kids movie. The tone is all over the place, the scares are non-existent for most of the runtime, and you spend the majority of it waiting for something to happen. Then this scene shows up and for about two minutes you get a glimpse of what the whole film could have been.
The troll jabs the guy with his ring and he starts transforming into what can only be described as a giant poop shaped mass with creatures crawling out of it.
It is practical effects chaos in the best possible way. The transformation is slimy, bizarre and genuinely uncomfortable to watch. Creatures are tumbling out of this thing like it is a living breeding pod. It is the kind of scene that makes you rewind it immediately just to confirm what you actually just saw.
The rest of the movie does not come close to this moment. It spends too much time being charming and family-friendly to ever fully commit to the horror. But this scene right here is why Troll still gets talked about. It is the only moment in the film where the gloves actually come off.
One legendary scene trapped inside a movie that was too afraid to go all the way. Watch it for the transformation, stay for nothing else. This could have been a proper horror film and someone decided against it.
Where to Watch
If you enjoyed this week’s clip check out our first Clip of the Week featuring Leprechaun (1993) and the pogo stick kill scene that made the franchise legendary. Clip of the Week: Leprechaun (1993)
