The story of Best Worst Movie and Troll 2's unlikely resurrection
Best Worst Movie tells the genuinely weird story of how a film that was universally panned—derided as the worst movie ever made—somehow clawed its way back to cultural relevance. The documentary follows the making of the 1990 horror-comedy Troll 2, a film so catastrophically bad that it achieved a kind of immortality. Director Michael Stephenson, who starred as the child protagonist in Troll 2 as an actor, returned decades later to investigate what happened to his childhood project and why audiences started showing up to midnight screenings in droves. It's not a straightforward redemption arc. Instead, it's a messy, funny, often touching exploration of failure, obsession, and the strange alchemy that transforms garbage into gold.
Behind the making of Best Worst Movie and its path to cult status
Michael Stephenson directed Best Worst Movie in 2009, nearly two decades after Troll 2's original release. The film was distributed by Magic Stone Productions and New Video Group, reaching audiences who'd never heard of the original disaster—and plenty who had and couldn't look away. What's striking is that Stephenson wasn't trying to mock the film he'd starred in; he was genuinely curious. The documentary premiered at film festivals and gradually built an audience through word-of-mouth, eventually finding its way onto Movie OTT, where streaming enthusiasts could discover this meta-commentary on cult cinema. The runtime clocks in at 93 minutes—tight enough to maintain momentum while Stephenson tracks down cast members, producers, and the devoted fans who'd transformed Troll 2 into a live-action experience. The IMDb rating of 7.069/10 reflects something interesting: critics and viewers recognized that Best Worst Movie succeeds not because Troll 2 is actually good, but because the story of Troll 2 is endlessly fascinating. OJO Entertainment produced the documentary, and it was later included in Scream Factory's 2015 Blu-ray double feature of Troll and Troll 2, cementing its place in the home video canon.
What makes Best Worst Movie stand out as documentary filmmaking
Here's the thing: Best Worst Movie works because it never condescends to its subject. Stephenson could've made a snark-fest, a "look at these idiots" exercise in superiority. Instead, he treats the original film's cast and crew—and especially its fans—with genuine respect. The interviews reveal something unexpectedly human underneath the catastrophe. You get to know these people, their motivations, their genuine love for a film that exists almost as a joke. There's a melancholy running through the documentary, too—a sense that some of these folks poured their hearts into something that the world rejected, and now, years later, they're experiencing a kind of vindication that probably feels bittersweet. The comedy emerges naturally from the absurdity of the situation rather than being imposed by a smug narrator. What I keep coming back to is how Stephenson captures the exact moment when bad becomes beautiful, when failure transforms into something worth celebrating. The documentary doesn't pretend Troll 2 is secretly a masterpiece; it just asks why we're so drawn to things that don't work, and that question turns out to be more profound than you'd expect from a film about a movie with a plot involving vegetarian trolls.
Where to stream Best Worst Movie online
If you're ready to dive into this documentary rabbit hole, Best Worst Movie is available across major OTT services. The "Where to Watch" widget at the top of this page shows you exactly which platforms currently carry it, so you can start streaming right now without hunting through five different apps. Movie OTT tracks current streaming availability across Netflix, Prime, and other major services, making it easy to find what you're looking for. Since streaming catalogs shift constantly, that widget is your real-time guide to where Best Worst Movie is actually available in your region. Given its cult status and the devoted fanbase behind both the documentary and the original Troll 2, it tends to stay in circulation on most platforms that specialize in genre films and documentaries.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Who directed Best Worst Movie?
Michael Stephenson, who played the lead character Joshua in Troll 2 when he was a child, directed the documentary. He returned to the project as an adult filmmaker to investigate what happened to the film and why it became a cult phenomenon.
Q: Is Best Worst Movie based on a true story?
Yes—it's a documentary about the actual making of Troll 2 (1990) and its real journey from being called the worst film ever made to becoming a beloved cult classic. All the interviews and behind-the-scenes material are genuine.
Q: What is Troll 2 actually about?
Troll 2 is a 1990 horror-comedy that follows a family trying to stop vegetarian trolls from turning them into plants. It's genuinely bizarre and widely considered one of cinema's most unintentionally hilarious failures—which is exactly why Best Worst Movie explores it so thoroughly.
Q: How long is Best Worst Movie?
The documentary runs 93 minutes, making it lean and engaging enough to watch in one sitting without losing momentum.
Q: Can I watch this if I haven't seen Troll 2?
Absolutely. Best Worst Movie works as a standalone film because it explains the context and shows clips. You don't need to have suffered through Troll 2 to understand why the documentary is so entertaining.
Final thoughts on Best Worst Movie
Best Worst Movie is a genuinely smart piece of filmmaking that transcends its niche subject matter. It's funny without being cruel, nostalgic without being saccharine, and it asks real questions about taste, failure, and community. If you love cult cinema, documentaries that take their subjects seriously, or just stories about how the internet transforms forgotten things into treasured artifacts—this one's for you. Even if you don't care about Troll 2, you'll probably care about what Stephenson has to say about why we do.
