Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Junesploitation Day 3: Troma!

Movies of the future!

22 comments:

  1. Class of Nuke ‘Em High (1986)

    AKA “Radioactive Reefer Madness.” An attractive young couple, under the influence of a strange substance, have sex. She gets pregnant, and almost immediately gives “birth” to a strange creature. This creature later mutates and kills the main bad guy. No, it’s not Prometheus, although I have to wonder if Damon Lindelof is a Troma fan. This crazy-ass movie is all over the place. It starts out goofy and fun, but the evil biker gang’s antics get tedious after awhile. “Look! We’re riding our motorcycles INSIDE THE BUILDING!! Aren’t we EXTREME??” There’s not as much gore or gross-out gags as I was expecting, although Gil Brenton has a moment involving his arm and a biker’s mouth that’s over-the-top awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986)

    My first Troma movie. I can see how affection would have developed had I come across this when I was 9.
    The high levels of camp make it seem like its trying to be a "so bad its good" movie but the fun does shine through which, along with some sincerity in the main characters, keeps it away from that edge.
    While I wont call it just yet due to this being my first time and I want to sample more of their wares before judging, but Im not too sure that Im a Troma Guy. From all the "cult fandom" they get I was expecting more over the top zaniness throughout. but thats not the movies fault.
    I didnt not like it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Banana Motherfucker (2011)

    Though not a true Troma product(sorry Patrick), this played at the Tromadance Film Festival awhile back and is available on YouTube. And it doesn't suck.

    The plot is simple. A Portugese film crew filming an ancient cemetery are gruesomely killed by bananas and the only survivor unwittingly brings one with him to the city. Chaos happens. There are clear homages to "The Evil Dead" and ANOES, and at fifteen minutes it doesn't waste time. it certainly has the spirit of a Troma movie. It got me interested in the filmmakers other projects.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Troma's War (1988)

    It's not a movie so much as it's a Junesploitation Manifesto. Sick, tasteless, and fully Tromatic, we open with a plane crash (offscreen, because special effects cost money) that leaves a handful of survivors stranded on an island with a group of bloodthirsty mercenaries with varying accents. Lots of squibs, lots of truly demented "humor" and more than a few nipples abound. Like pretty much every Troma joint, it's not for the easily offended (I'm not easily offended, but even I have to admit the "Mr. Sida" character was a bit much). If you're on its wavelength, though, you'll have fun. Stick around through the end credits, as there's a final shot that put a pretty big smile on my face.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had never seen that post-credits moment. It's great! Thanks for the tip!

      Delete
  5. Girls School Screamers (1986)

    Little known Troma film and with good reason - It doesn't represent the Troma brand at all. Ponderous, tedious and f-ing boring as hell. 80 minutes that felt like 3 hours. No good kills and plays like the slowest slasher movie ever. Unfortunately, this was the first Troma film that my Fiance' has seen - so - I'm going to show her Toxic Avenger and have old Melvin knock the yawns from our faces.

    ReplyDelete
  6. STAR WORMS II: ATTACK OF THE PLEASURE PODS (1985)
    Not directed by Lloyd, but he mentions it several times in his books. Unfortunately, the movie’s a yawner. This one takes place on a prison planet, filmed out in the desert somewhere, with a subplot about people on a spaceship, depicted with a plain black background. There’s all this talk about a rebellion and an evil empire and psychic gems or some crap, but that’s all it is – talking. People just stand around speechifying with dreary seriousness about all this far-out space stuff, but we never see any of it, so there’s no context. I knew I should’ve watched Sgt. Kabukiman instead.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mother's Day 1980
    This was outstanding! Totally unpredictable. I got pretty stressed out. Recommended that you go in totally blind.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yeti: A Gay Love Story - I am looking forward to watching some others. It was insane and ridiculous but I was very entertained. It was weird but I like weird.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Tromeo and Juliet (1997) - First Viewing

    My first Troma Flick. Kaufman\James Gunn’s screenplay is much more clever than it has any right to be, and the movie has a lot of energy. Slightly too trashy for my taste (I get it, saying Troma is too trashy is like saying steak is too meaty).

    ReplyDelete
  10. The Toxic Avenger

    Yeah, it's um the best Troma movie I've seen. I don't like it much at all. These movies just aren't for me. It's got a lot of energy so that's a positive. It made me feel bad, like I want to take a shower. I don't care the context some of this is in awfully bad taste (shotgun to a baby's head, raping a blind woman).

    ReplyDelete
  11. Tromeo and Juliet

    This is my first viewing. It has moments here and there of genuine cleverness, but I think I've come to the conclusion that I like the idea of Troma more than I do their movies.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Troma's War (1988, dir. Lloyd Kaufman) I wanted to watch something new, but I also wanted to stick to one of the in-house productions. So I went with this one, which is maybe the Troma movie with which I'm least familiar. I'll echo exactly what JB said above -- there's some icky humor that doesn't land, but it's fun to watch Troma think that spending a lot of money and having "scope" means constant gunfire and death by squib. The structure works and the overall atmosphere is slightly less juvenile, making it one of Troma's more commercial movies. I had fun, but it sounds like I like Troma more than most around here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, it's not like some of the jokes just didn't hold up... they were just some bad damn jokes. I'm not a huge fan of Troma's War, but being familiar with it made me appreciate a few more jokes in Terror Firmer. That alone makes it worth it.

      Delete
    2. I also think it's kind of interesting if you read the movie as a metaphor for Troma's attempt to enter the mainstream (which is sort of what they were doing with this one). They're the passengers on the plane, inexperienced, outnumbered, outgunned against Hollywood but have to band together and take no prisoners to get their movie made and their voices heard. But maybe I'm overthinking it.

      Delete
    3. You probably are... but the next time I watch Troma's War I'm going to think about that and I'll like the movie a little bit more!

      Delete
  13. The Toxic Avenger

    I <3 the monster hero.... The Toxic Avenger is a movie that is special to me. I love it. It's one of the few movies I truly grew up with and is still in my regular rotation. I first saw it heavily edited on TV when I was 7 or 8. I thought it was awesome because it was a silly movie where a monster beat-up the bad guys. When I sought it out in my teens I still saw it as a movie where a monster beat-up the bad guys, but I also started really embracing Troma's maniac punkrock energy... and had a lot more of an idea of what bad guys were. As I watched more movies and started to pick things up about the nature of the business, I started to gain respect for how free and fun Toxie is and just how different it's willing and proud to be. Even tonight as I cringed my way through a few rougher parts my affection for this flick continues to grow and every time I watch the final confrontation I pump my fist just a little harder. While it might not always be in the right place The Toxic Avenger has heart, a lot of heart.... I <3 the monster hero.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ellie (1984)

    This is the first time I've watched a Troma film, and I'm not sure if I chose well as its not technically created by the Troma guys but distributed by them.

    I was suprised to see Shelly Winters in the cast and some other actors who've done bits and pieces I was aware of, as well as 80s penthouse pet Sheila Kennedy. I'm not sure if I just wasn't in the mood but it just didn't work for me.

    Sure the revenge idea was fun enough and Sheila Kennedy was pretty gorgeous, but at a certain point trashy movies have got to say something, or at least be really fun in their trashiness - this did neither.

    Will be more selective with my Troma choice next time.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The Toxic Avenger

    I'm far to sleepy right now to give a real review, so I'll just say that I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. It was just so strange and ridiculous, and in a way, genuine. I do love the monster hero!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006)

    There must be something wrong with me because I LOVED this movie. It's puerile without being stupid and, in fact, there is some clever satire mixed in with all of the blood, guts and poop - I was totally on board laughing my ass off through pretty much all of it. Now THIS is a musical for people who don't like musicals.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I gotta say this. I know a lot of folks have a lot of problems with Troma. Yeah, I can't argue that at all. I've also noticed a few folks that like the idea of Troma, but don't like the execution. I'm going to urge those folks to check out some of the making of documentaries from their last few films. You can see them for free and legit @: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLnfvt0TjwhorW5MdWaAahntogiNFaK3m .
    [Apocalypse Soon, Poultry in Motion and Farts of Darkness] You'll be spared a lot(not all) of the objectionable stuff and still get a Troma fix. (Out of those three I think Farts of Darkness "get's it" the most.)

    ReplyDelete