For several years, the Drexel Theatre (2254 E. Main Street) has spent the second Saturday of every month celebrating the world’s best worst film, The Room. Yes, Tommy Wiseau’s tale of fit, tuxedo-clad, football playing, cuckolded flowershop customer Johnny is both better and worse than Birdemic: Shock and Terror, and even Plan 9 from Outer Space. But Kevin Rouch, Drexel Theatre Director, brings in a new contender for best worst film this weekend as he kicks off the Drexel’s newest late night series.
Troll 2 – a film commonly considered the worst ever made – unspools this Saturday at 11:30. The film is the 1986 non-sequel to the movie Troll. The two pictures have nary a thing to do with one another, not even the presence of trolls, as Troll 2 is set in the town of Nilbog (read it backwards to determine the root of the film’s villainy). Little can prepare you for the orgy of horrible acting, atrocious writing and asinine costuming to come.
It’s part of a new late night series meant to capitalize on the popularity of The Room and to attract a new audience.
“We’ve had so much success with The Room, and there seemed like a lot of Saturdays when we weren’t doing anything,” says Rouch. “We’d also like to encourage more folks to come across the street from Capital, so it just seemed like a good idea for a lot of reasons.”
The Room screens the second Saturday of every month, and the new series will take the 4th Saturday’s late night slot. Rouch has programmed it through the end of the year, and if it generates enough of an audience, they’ll expand into 2014.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCj8sPCWfUw
Don’t expect a strict sampling of the best of the worst, though.
“We’re trying to pick movies that would just be fun,” says Rouch. “You know it can’t be based on quality because we’ve got Troll 2. Really, we wanted to have fun. These are all movies that, when somebody hears the title, they say, ‘Oh, yeah, OK. I’ll do that.’”
Rouch programs the series himself, but he gets some help.
“I have the final say, but we polled our staff. They keep cards behind the concession stand. They’ll keep their favorite movie quotes or favorite horror movies. They did one for favorite midnight movie, so I used that list, talked to all them, and we came up with these four.”
The first four flicks of the new series:
- 9/28 11:30: Troll 2
- 10/26 11:30 The Big Lebowski
- 11/23 11:30 This Is Spinal Tap
- 12:28 11:30 Die Hard
All films screen at 11:30 pm. Admission is $6.50 for general admission, $5.50 for students. Visit www.drexel.net for tickets and additional information.
A full slate of movie reviews is available on my website www.maddwolf.com. You can also follow me on Twitter @maddwolf and like me on Facebook at facebook.com/MaddWolfColumbus.
Drexel photo by Nicholas Herum of www.movieshateyoutoo.com.