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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Troma Entertainment

16:26 / 24.03.05

Now, Im sure many of you are familliar with this already, but I just discovered the independent film comapany Troma . Responsible for titles such as:

Alien Blood
Bugged
Beware! Children At Play
A Nymphoid Barbarian In Dinosaur Hell
And Surf Nazis Must Die, which Im currently downloading

Now according to wikipedia: Troma is a film production and distribution company, started by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz that, since 1974, has been producing low budget independent movies non-stop. Troma's films have a solid cult following, and are unique in that they are well known in the mainstream Hollywood circles, even though their films are not mainstream pictures.

Troma films are known for their use of very shocking imagery; some would categorize them as "shock exploitation films". They typically contain overt sexuality, graphic violence, gore and nudity, so much that the term Troma Film has become synonymous with these characteristics. The Troma slogan is Movies of the Future.

My point with all this is; is this as wonderous as it seems?

18:56 / 24.03.05

Yes, they are every bit as B-movie great as they sound. Their best known film is probably The Toxic Avenger. I would recommend Tromeo & Juliet.

20:08 / 24.03.05

Troma films rarely seem to live up to their promise. They are frequently unwatchable even in an ironic cheesy-bad-good way. There are exceptions of course, like the inimitable "Cannibal: The Musical."

I do have huge respect for them though, as they've carved a niche for themselves and are obviously doing what they love.

20:45 / 24.03.05

The wikipedia overstates it a little. They're modern-day exploitation films, heavy on the cheese, light on the bourgeois trappings of mainstream film (plot, acting, believability), with generous helpings of spectacle (sex, gore, mutation, hype).

Tromeo & Juliet has Lemmy from Motorhead as the... geez, I can't remember what you'd call 'em in Shakespeare, but the equivalent of the Greek chorus. The narrator.

You may also be interested in DVDs distributed by Macabro Movies, which I've just twigged onto by reading Chris Mills' new column at Movie Poop Shoot. Chris is buddies with the Nymphoid Barbarians director, although he doesn't mention it in the column. (He used to work with me, Chris. He's a B-movie encyclopedia.)

20:57 / 24.03.05

Thanks for all the info guys.. just watched Nazi surfers must die and Uncle cry, didnt like `em. Ill try the ones suggested though..

Brigade du jour

21:52 / 24.03.05

Terror Firmer is quite good, in a 2am sort of way. They've got this character who keeps fellating Steven Spielberg with his praise. And then probably gets killed, but I can't remember for sure.

22:51 / 24.03.05

solid schlock genius - masterpieces that, along with the Deathstalker series and the 1990s version of the Fantastic Four, score high in the "sine's Picks for the Wall of Shame" ranking system.

I don't use the word 'masterpiece' lightly.

22:57 / 24.03.05

Though I add here - I have in my possession an unreleased copy of Cannibal Roller Babes. When I finally get around to digitizing it, I'll distribute it so y'all can watch a really bad flick.

04:29 / 25.03.05

I'd recommend Toxic Avenger 1, but avoid the sequels like the plague. They pretty much match with the Robocop films (#1 is all good fun and melting humans, exploding heads, the sequels get closer and closer to PG-13 silliness).

Class of Nuke'Em High wasn't bad either. Okay, it was horrible, but if you're enjoying the Troma, "Class" was one of their early staples.

Beyond that, I've forgotten the titles to any of the other Troma films I've seen. They all sort of blend together in memory...

(Glad to see someone else holds the Deathstalker films in the same high regard my teenage buddies did, btw)

12:34 / 25.03.05

I should add that for best effect, you should watch them when you're still a teenager.

21:40 / 25.03.05

Yeah, they should put that warning on the box of all their films. A proper parental advisory, as it were, like "You may be too old to think this is anything but total garbage" or "You MUST be THIS HIGH to watch this movie", with a picture of Floyd from True Romance.

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

17:25 / 26.03.05

I never got into the whole Troma thing. I like my cheesy B-Movies, but the Troma ones seem to point out that they are cheesy B-Movies instead of just BEING movies. The Toxic Avenger movies are about their best, and if you want to see what they are all about, that's the place to start.

I also agree that you had to be a teenager when you discovered them...for my B-Movie thrills, I prefer the Full Moon Entertainment stuff, as they just seemed to be making movies by the seat of their pants, and don't have the kind of self-awareness that they Troma stuff did.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

23:10 / 26.03.05

I used to love Troma movies... haven't watched any in ages, so I don't know if I still do.

Chopper Chicks In Zombie Town was a laugh, as I recall, and Surf Nazis, but, as I say, it's been a while.

10:11 / 29.03.05

class of nukem high was a favourite for a long time. they did a tv show which was shown over here which was better that any of the films: basically girls taking off bikinis, while reading out passages of derrida, toxie and kabukiman looking on. quite fun.

21:20 / 29.03.05

I like Full Moon better too, I think, but they tend to be more genre pieces (horror, sci-fi) while Troma is just... exploitation.

03:39 / 19.04.05

I watched Class of Nuke 'Em High and was shocked to see that the titular high was actually my high school. Most of the movie clearly wasn't filmed there, but a bunch of the exteriors were, I'm not sure if it was stock footage or what, but there it was. So, I guess I myself could now qualify as Class of Nuke 'Em High.