Shoot It

 

SHOOT IT BLACK, SHOOT IT BLUE-1974-A corrupt cop (Michael Moriarty) shoots an unarmed purse snatcher. A student Lamont (Eric Laneuville) doing a film on insects films it. The victim’s wife decides to sue and hires lawyer (Paul Sorvino). The cop searches the city for Lamont but the victim's brother has his own plan. Art Ellison, who played the minister in CARNIVAL OF SOULS is a bartender. Dated, misguided talky trash from director Dennis McGuire (his only directorial effort).

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The Original Harry Potter

TROLL-1986-An ugly troll (Phil Fontacaro) pretends to be a little girl and terrorizes her dysfunctional family (Michael Moriarty and Shelly Hack) and the idiot tenants in their apartment building. After turning Pete (Sonny Bono) into a plant, the troll turns the apartment into a breeding ground for other trolls. He turns a dwarf professor (also Fontacaro) into an elf and wants to rule the world. The landlady (June Lockhart) has a singing mushroom and knows magic. She becomes young (Junes's real life daughter Anne) but is turned into a tree sump. A kid named Harry Potter (Noah Hathaway from THE NEVER ENDING STORY) must fight a giant bat creature to save his sister and everyone else. 

Typical Empire production for the time, part fantasy, part horror film. Special effects artist John Carl Buechler also made CELLER DWELLER and FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE NEW BLOOD soon after this. It was followed by TROLL 2 and TROLL 3 which aren't sequels. 

Because of the name of the lead character and the fantasy elements some think this is where JK Rowling got her idea for her Harry Potter series.

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