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BG Horror Club.

Nilbog Is Goblin Spelled Backwards

Cover Image for Nilbog Is Goblin Spelled Backwards
BG Horror Club
BG Horror Club
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Released: 12 Oct 1990
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 95 min
Genre: Fantasy, Horror
Language: English
Country: United States, Italy
Director: Claudio Fragasso
Writer: Claudio Fragasso, Rossella Drudi
Actors: Michael Stephenson, George Hardy, Margo Prey
Plot: A young boy discovers that the town his family is vacationing in is secretly inhabited by vegetarian goblins who transform humans into plants before devouring them. With the help of his ghostly grandfather, he must stop the creatures before it’s too late.

Some films are misunderstood. Troll 2 is barely understood at all. Directed by Claudio Fragasso and written by Rossella Drudi as a bizarre anti-vegetarian allegory, this 1990 cult classic has no trolls, no connection to Troll (1986), and no business being as entertaining as it is.

Set in the town of Nilbog (read it backwards), the story follows a family who unknowingly enters a goblin-infested nightmare. The goblins don’t eat meat—they eat people after turning them into chlorophyll-packed plant matter. It’s a premise so strange, it borders on surrealism.

🧃 Behind the Green Goo

  • 🧪 Originally titled “Goblin”: The name was changed to Troll 2 by distributors hoping to cash in on the unrelated 1986 film.
  • 🧠 Written out of spite: Screenwriter Rossella Drudi was annoyed by her vegetarian friends and crafted the goblins as metaphorical veggie extremists.
  • 🦷 George Hardy was a real dentist: He auditioned on a whim and became the film’s most iconic dad. He still practices dentistry today.
  • 🗣️ Language barrier chaos: The Italian crew spoke little English, and insisted the American cast deliver lines exactly as written—even when they made no sense.
  • 🎭 The cast thought they were extras: Most actors showed up expecting small roles and were cast as leads on the spot.
  • 🧨 “You can’t piss on hospitality!”: Hardy’s infamous line was delivered during his audition—and sealed the deal.
  • 🧛 Claudio Fragasso crashed a reunion Q&A: Upset by the cast’s jokes about the film, he heckled them from the hallway, calling them “liars” and “dogs”.
  • 📼 Best Worst Movie (2010): A documentary chronicling the film’s legacy and the fandom that grew around its glorious ineptitude.

🧠 Final Thoughts

Troll 2 is a cinematic anomaly—so earnest in its execution, so baffling in its logic, that it transcends traditional critique. It’s not just bad. It’s beautifully bad. And that’s why it endures.

So grab a double-decker bologna sandwich, avoid the green goo, and remember:

“Nilbog is the kingdom of the goblins!”