AS BAD AS IT GETS

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Worst movie, rodeo fans plan invasion of small Utah town!!!

Brace yourself for a culture clash of supernatural proportions.

Next weekend in Morgan, 3,000 to 4,000 clean-cut citizens are expected for the biggest local event of the year, the Morgala Days Rodeo at the Morgan County Fairgrounds.

And a few blocks up the road, at least a few hundred "Troll 2" enthusiasts -- some of them dressed as ratty-haired, jagged-toothed, green-slimed burlap-garbed goblins -- are expected to assemble in a vacant lot for an Alamo Road Show screening of what has been dubbed the best worst film of all time.

That event is called the "Nilbog Invasion."

It seems "Troll 2" (1990), a film so bad it's good, was filmed in tiny Morgan, which boasts a population of 2,900 and no traffic lights.

Morgan Mayor Dean Pace said he is happy to welcome the informal film festival, although he has never had the pleasure of viewing "Troll 2."

"If they can coordinate with the sheriff and traffic control, and have restroom facilities, we're happy to have them," Pace said. "There's a possibility for a lot of traffic, but we hope they have a successful venture."

For his personal entertainment, he's more likely to choose the rodeo, he said.

"But since I'm the mayor, I usually show up at these things," Pace said, of the "Troll 2" event. "I don't know how excited I am about seeing the best worst movie."

The crew at the Subway sandwich shop, less than a block from the film screening site, had another reaction.

"We think it's freakin' awesome," said Dane Carter, self-described sandwich artist. "It's an awesome movie. I would choose the 'Troll 2' thing over the rodeo, just so I could say I was there. It's actually one of the worst movies ever made. My friend's uncle is the guy that turns into a tree."

Actor and fan

That uncle would be Darren Ewing, 40 and a North Ogden resident.

"I think I'm alone among the cast in that I did understand right away that this was going to be a really bad, campy horror film, but not intentionally," said Ewing, a Web designer and sometime-actor. He appeared in "Unaccompanied Minors," "Return to Halloweentown" and in episodes of "Everwood." He also drums in a band, Skinny Bob and the Blues Dawgs, that will play at the Nilbog Invasion.

"Troll 2" tells the story of a 10-year-old boy, Joshua, and his unfortunate family vacation in a town inhabited by goblins. The goblins are not meat-eaters, so before they add humans to their dinner menus, they trick the people into eating a special food, white or bright green in color, that will transform the consumer into a gooey green human/plant hybrid.

Joshua, with a little help from the apparition of his dead grandfather, must save his kin from becoming a buffet.

"I'm the only cast member I'm aware of that didn't shy away from this film," Ewing said. "I always thought it was funny. If I wasn't in the movie, I would be a fan of the movie anyway."

The grown-up star

The movie has earned a cult following, much like that of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

"It's 'Rocky Horror' for the YouTube generation," said Michael Stephenson, 29, the former Kaysville resident who played Joshua. "I think it's better than 'Rocky Horror' because that film is intentionally campy, and camp is easy laughs.

" 'Troll 2' has earnestness and heart. Everybody in 'Troll 2' was doing their best to make a quality movie. 'Troll 2' has an unintentional genius."

Deorr Peterson is in charge of the rodeo. He's on the city council, and he's a member of the Lions Club, which sponsors the annual Morgala Days celebration.

"I really don't remember hearing about the film shooting here, and I've been here all my life," he said, of "Troll 2." "I'm glad to see something new happening up here, really. I don't think it will bother anyone to have something extra going on."

Deb Evans owns Deb's Spicy Pie, a Morgan pizzeria about a block from the Nilbog Invasion's outdoor site. She has no memory of "Troll 2" being filmed in her town, either.

"I must have been here, but I didn't know about it," she said. "I seriously didn't know they made it. I know they made a movie here with Tommy Lee Jones. I wouldn't mind if they had a Tommy Lee Jones film festival here. They've made a few films here, and they used to film 'Touched by an Angel' here. I liked that because they would order pizza for the entire cast."

Evans said she doesn't mind opening her shop to "creatures from hell" as long as they are paying customers. If she had the night off, she admits she might choose the rodeo. But she never has the night off when it's rodeo weekend.

"I'll probably be here, working, hoping to sell something."

She's not too worried about traffic on Commercial Street, which borders the Nilbog Invasion site and leads to the Morgan County Fairgrounds, Evans said.

"There could be a little congestion," she said. "But Morgan could use a little congestion."

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