Ordinary folks out for a stroll this past Saturday night in Harvard Square must have been wondering what the fuss was about at the Brattle. A crowd of people gathered on the stairs and around the main entrance of the movie theater while the staff valiantly tried to corral overeager fankids into a line. Stern-looking people with professional lighting and video cameras were shooting the action and talking to men who were being treated like movie stars, only the supposed stars didn't look like anyone who had been on television recently. And that guy who was guzzling something green from a gallon jug must've freaked out the stuffy types.

But these fans, filmmakers, and seemingly famous people had turned out for a screening of Troll 2, which is often called the worst movie of all time. Eighteen years after it was made in Utah in 1990, Troll 2 is now a sensation. One of the movie's stars, George Hardy, said to the audience that Troll 2 is the "Rocky Horror of the MySpace generation."

Indeed. The unitiated tried to follow the quasi-plot, in which a young boy who gets special messages from his dead grandpa tries to save his family from traveling to a town named Nilbog and turning into goblin food. The filmmakers throw in everything but the kitchen sink, including thick "Nilbog milk," gallons of chlorophyll-green sweat that pours down the actors' faces, and random diatribes against eating meat.

The Troll 2 vets gleefully shouted out lines such as "You can't piss on hospitality - I WON'T ALLOW IT!" and cracked jokes at the glaringly obvious continuity errors. Initiated and uninitiated alike adored the bizarre "sex scene" (scare quotes intentional) involving corn on the cob and a whole lot of popcorn.

Michael Paul Stephenson, who played the boy hero of the movie and who gets to "piss on hospitality," was on hand. He's all grown up and making a documentary about the Troll 2 phenomenon called Best Worst Movie. He's catching up with all the actors and figuring out exactly why Troll 2 appeals to people in the first place.

Stephenson brought some of his castmates with him to the Brattle, including George Hardy, who played his father. Troll 2 was George Hardy's only film role, and he quickly returned to his chosen profession of dentistry. Hardy is a regular at Troll 2 screenings, and other Troll 2 vets, Darren Ewing and Jason Steadman, were also on hand at the Brattle. Ewing is most famous for delivering a juicy "Oh my God!" at the precise moment when he realizes a goblin has him in his power, and Steadman ran around the movie in a pair of pink shorts.

The cast members who were present mingled with fans outside the Brattle before the movie, and they served up green Nilbog cuisine at the back of the theater. Ewing also leapt onstage to play Guitar Hero against a Troll 2 fan who had competed for the honor.* At the end of the movie, they answered questions about where certain cast members are today. Some, like Ewing, are still acting. One cast member who wasn't on hand, Jason Wright, went from playing a horny teenager to being a conservative writer. He's posted photos of himself with Dick Cheney on his website. (At first, we thought it was a still from Troll 2. - .Ed)

The evening was a blast, but watching Troll 2 can be a little depressing at times, though. First, the popularity of Troll 2 suggests that American filmmaking has gotten so bloated and dull that audiences have to turn to Troll 2 for excitement. Second, is this what the youth of America is doing with its time, building cults around movies when the nation is at war in Iraq?

Regarding the second question, a preview trailer for Best Worst Movie reveals that Troll 2 has made its way to soldiers in Iraq, and they're loving it. For unfathomable reasons, this movie has mass appeal and really might be the representative movie for the MySpace generation.

Now we're just waiting for a philosopher or critic - say, a Slavoj Zizek - to write a super-serious critique about how chlorophyll sweat represents anxieties of gender identity at the turn of the century or some such. Then we'll know Troll 2 has made it into the film canon.

*Matthew (no last name) defeated all of his opponents, including Ewing. The man is a Guitar Hero master, and we must give him propers in this post.

At top, Darren Ewing talks to a fan while the camera crew looks on. In the middle, from left to right, Michael Paul Stephenson, George Hardy, Darren Ewing, and Jason Steadman take questions from the audience. All pictures by Caroline Roberts.