Are the trolls of ancient legend and fairy tales more menacing and relevant, or will the Internet trolls of the 21st century emerge victorious? Judge Darren Ewing hears expert arguments on both sides as Jeremiah Johnson argues the case of 1986’s Troll, and Scott Baer debates on the side of 2012’s Smiley, in this inaugural episode of Horror in the Court.
The original Troll movie (not to mistaken with the non-sequel Troll 2 starring our own Judge Ewing) is a tale of a wizard-turned-troll that possesses the form of a young girl as he attempts to turn the world into a Troll universe. It is directed by John Carl Buechler and stars Noah Hathaway of Neverending Story Fame (ATREYU!) as the Harry Potter, Jr., 11-years before J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard character of the same name. Other notables are Julia Louis Dreyfus, best known as Elaine from Seinfeld, and Sonny Bono.
Smiley, directed by Michael J. Gallagher, contains a young cast of fresh-faced actors and is a 4Chan-inspired story of a band of Internet trolls and an urban legend killer called Smiley.
Which troll will prevail?