Troll 2 – Vinegar Syndrome (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy/USA, 1990
Director: Claudio Fragasso
Writers: Rossella Drudi, Claudio Fragasso
Cast: Michael Stephenson, George Hardy, Connie McFarland, Jason Wright

Release Date: December 2nd, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 94 Minutes 53 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10 Dolby Vision
Rating: R
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (UHD), Region A (Blu-Ray)
Retail Price: $66.98

"The Waits family is looking forward to a nice, quiet getaway in the country with their upcoming homestay in the sleepy town of Nilbog, although son Joshua has strong misgivings about the trip. The young boy is being visited by the ghostly apparition of his late Grandpa Seth, who warns him that they’re heading into a land of man-eating goblins with the power to disguise themselves as humans. Sure enough, when the Waits arrive in Nilbog, things are ominous from the outset—the locals are frosty, all the food is tinged a bizarre green color, and the only milk available in town looks like it's been left out for days. Whilst the rest of the family attempts to make the best out of these bizarre circumstances, blissfully unaware of the grave danger they’re in, it’s left to Joshua—guided by Grandpa Seth—to lead the charge against the vicious goblins and their evil queen before they’re next on the menu!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD), 4.5/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative."

Troll 2 comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 60 GB

Feature: 59.4 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones and colors look correct, and image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and grain remains intact. That said, I can’t imagine Troll 2 looking any better than it does for this release.

Troll 2 comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 44.5 GB

Feature: 28.2 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 4.5/5 (DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD Stereo English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English and a DTS-HD stereo mix in English. Both audio mixes are in excellent shape; dialogue comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced and robust when it should. Included are removable English SDH.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an audio commentary track with actors George Hardy and Deborah Reed.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an interview with filmmaker Fabrizio Laurenti titled Parallel Trolls (15 minutes 48 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with first assistant director Alessandra Lenzi titled Assistant Trolling (19 minutes 26 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with composer Carlo Maria Cordio titled Nilbog Vibes (6 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with actor Darren Ewing titled Don't Mess with Goblins (37 minutes 14 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actor Michael Paul Stephenson titled All Part of the Play (32 minutes 13 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actor George Hardy titled So Bad It's Good (27 minutes 56 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with director and screenwriter Claudio Fragasso titled Eat Your Greens! (45 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary track with George Hardy and Deborah Reed.

Other extras include reversible cover art, a fluorescent pink spot gloss hard slipcase + slipcover combo (limited to 8,000 units), and a 40-page perfect-bound book with essays titled Troll 2: Falling Down Fragasso’s Gooey Rabbit Hole Daniel R. Budnik, an essay titled “One Was Not Enough!” Italian Cinema, Joe D’Amato and the Rise and Fall of Filmirage written by Adrian Smith, and an essay titled Filmirage Factory Memories written by Eugenio Ercolani.

Summary:

Claudio Fragasso directed Troll 2. He's an Italian filmmaker whose films are known for their anemic production values and wooden acting. He’s known for Monster Dog, Scalps, and Zombie 4: After Death.

Goblins disguised as humans target a family on vacation, using humans as their main food source.

Since Troll 2 was initially unleashed upon the world, it's a film that has garnered an ever-growing fan base that has fully embraced its status as “Best Worst Movie.” So how bad is Troll 2? Is it really one of the worst films ever made? Surely, Troll 2 cannot be worse than films like Plan 9 from Outer Space and The Creeping Terror. This question is best summed up with “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

From a production standpoint, in terms of a technical presentation, there is not an area where Troll 2 does not come up short. The absurd premise is poorly executed and an incoherent narrative that is overflowing with WTF moments. Some moments of note are a scene where the Goblin Queen transforms a teenage boy into a plant and a scene where the Goblin Queen seduces another teenage boy who dies after being submerged in popcorn. Another area where Troll 2 is greatly lacking is its crudely executed special effects. And the performances defy description. Ultimately, Troll 2 is a textbook example of an awful film that is entertaining.

Vinegar Syndrome gives Troll 2 its best home media release to date.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer