The 1986 film, Troll, opens with Harry Potter moving into a San Francisco townhouse.

Okay, it’s not that Harry Potter.  Troll was produced long before the first Harry Potter book was even published so it’s fair to assume that it’s just a coincidence that this film — about trolls, magic, and faeries — just happens to feature not just one but two characters named Harry Potter.  Harry Potter, Sr. (Michael Moriarty) is a typical, dorky father figure.  Indeed, he’s such a conventional figure that it’s a bit hard to understand why the always neurotic Michael Moriarty was cast in the role.  Harry’s son is named Harry Potter, Jr. (Noah Hathaway).  Harry, Jr. is a teenager who is shocked by how bratty his little sister, Wendy (Jenny Beck), becomes after the family moves into their new apartment.

Why is Wendy acting like such a brat?  It’s because Wendy has been kidnapped by Torok the Troll (Phil Fondacaro), a grotesque creature who not only abducts Wendy but also steals her appearance so that he can safely move around the world of the humans.  Torok, himself, was once a powerful wizard but, centuries ago, he and an army of faeries tried to destroy all the humans in the world.  Their plan didn’t work and, as punishment, Torok was turned into a troll.

But now, somehow, Torok is free and he’s taking over the apartment building.  One by one, he tracks down each tenant and casts a spell which turns them into a mythological creature, like a gnome or a wood nymph.  All of the apartments turns into lushly overgrown forests.  Among those tenants that get transformed are Sonny Bono and a young Julia Louis-Dreyfus.  I have a feeling that, when Sonny later ran for Congress, he did not include his appearance in Troll in any of his campaign literature.  As for Louis-Dreyfus, she was reportedly angered once when a talk show host (I think it was Jay Leno) showed footage from this film while interviewing her.  It’s not so much that Julia Louis-Dreyfus isn’t a convincing wood nymph as much as it’s the fact that she’s Julie Louis-Dreyfus and it’s just difficult to imagine her appearing in such a stupid role.  This, of course, was her first film and everyone has to start somewhere.

Anyway, realizing that he has to rescue his little sister, Harry Potter, Jr. gets some help from the local witch, Eunice St. Clair (Joan Lockhart).  Eunice gives Harry a magic spear to take with him in his quest.  It’s not really that much of quest, however.  Troll is a low-budget film that was produced by Albert Band so this is not the film to watch if you’re expecting some sort of elaborate fantasy epic.

One positive thing that I will say for Troll is that some of the troll makeup is effective.  The plot maks absolutely zero sense but Director John Carl Buechler specialized in creating memorable monsters on a budget and he manages to do that with Troll.  And, despite all of the people getting turned into monsters, Troll is a largely good-natured film.  It’s not a deliberately cruel or even gory film.  It’s a dumb little horror/fantasy film that features Sonny Bono turning into a plant and Julie Louis-Dreyfus turning into a wood nymph.  It’s dumb but it’s mild and generally inoffensive.

Finally, I should also note that it is in no way connected to Troll 2.  Troll 2, after all, is about goblins.