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Lloyd Kaufman at the Biograph Theatre
Friday, June 18 / Saturday, June 19
Biograph Theater
2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago
Lloyd Kaufman presents a two day Tromathon, including "The Toxic Avenger," "The Toxic Avenger Part II," "Tromeo and Juliet" and "Class of Nuke 'Em High."
For more information, go to www.troma.com.
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If you enjoy exploding heads and steaming entrails – and, these days, who doesn't? – you may already be familiar with Rusty Nails, the organizer of the ongoing Movieside Film Festival. Just last month, the ambitious Mr. Nails treated local gore-hounds to live Q&A's with underground directors George Romero ("Night of the Living Dead") and Jack Hill ("Spider Baby"). Although the event was a rather schizophrenic medley of films, interviews and music performance, the crowd was wonderfully diverse – academics in suits mingled happily with punk rockers in steel stilettos.
There will likely be more of the latter at Movieside's Tromathon (June 18-19), two days of "classics" from cult studio Troma Films. Screened will be the seminal works "The Toxic Avenger," "The Toxic Avenger 2," "Class of Nuke 'Em High" and "Tromeo & Juliet." Presiding will be Troma president/actor/head cheerleader Lloyd Kaufman as well as a few “surprises”. (Most likely some guys in rubber masks with green foam running from their mouths. Sorry to spoil it.)
Okay, full disclosure: I am something of a begrudging expert on Troma. I have interviewed Kaufman twice and even appeared in one of their films (quite accidentally; it was a friend's indie picture that was subsequently picked up). Most significantly, my 1998 documentary "Jefftowne" is currently distributed by Troma. As a result, I have witnessed multiple sides of Kaufman's company, which he proudly hails as the oldest independent film studio in America. And I can confidently report the following:
Most of the movies are bad.
Troma has pioneered a profitable distribution strategy: They put most of their money behind flagship properties like "Toxic Avenger" series and "Tromeo & Juliet," while purchasing low-budget exploitation pictures for next to nothing (trust me on this one). Fans who appreciate the offensive lunacy of the higher profile films seek out these lesser acquisitions, branded with alluring titles like "Blondes Have More Guns," "Fat Guy Goes Nutzoid" and "Buttcrack."
Thankfully, Troma occasionally strikes gold. Some of their recent in-house productions, like "Tromeo & Juliet" and "Terror Firmer," reach a grotesque plateau that's legitimately inspired. A few worthy acquisitions have also slipped through the cracks, including a nightmarish little mix of "Platoon" and "Eraserhead" entitled "Combat Shock." (They also have a film called "Jefftowne" which I hear is goddamned amazing.)
Troma's hallmark film, 1985's "The Toxic Avenger," tells the sorry story of one Melvin Junko, a tormented pansy who falls into a vat of toxic sludge and becomes a mutant superhero. It was one of the first movies to successfully (and, more to the point, intentionally) marry horror film sequences with gross-out humor, and it put Tromaville on the map. Kaufman treats the film with a silly reverence; the Special Edition DVD box earnestly proclaims, "Includes the full Head-Crushing Scene!!!"
"Toxie 2" and "Nuke 'Em High" are less enjoyable affairs, each filled with the kind of noise and clutter of a cheap horror VHS you might have rented in 1987, which, actually, is precisely what they are. The highlight of Movieside's program is 1996's "Tromeo & Juliet," the first of what I like to consider the "new generation" of Troma films. It might have taken Kaufman 27 years to make it, but it was his first genuinely good movie – no Shakespeare adaptation before or since has had nearly as much lesbian sex.
If blood-splattered boobs are indeed your cup of tea, Kaufman's presence alone should warrant Movieside's asking price. Kaufman, who looks and sounds much like a malevolent Mel Brooks, has mastered a persona that is one part Party Animal and one part Ruthless CEO. I traveled to the Cannes Film Festival in 2001 to support a screening of "Jefftowne" and saw firsthand the two faces of Kaufman, one moment cutting distribution deals with far-flung countries, the next parading down the Croisette with an army of badly oozing freaks.
There is no doubt: the guy is magnetic, and it shows in his occasional on-screen performances. If you're searching for a good question to ask Kaufman, consider inviting him to dissect his roles in the following masterpieces: "Tales From the Crapper," "Anal Paprika 3: Manage-A-Death," "Smoke Pot Till You Fucking Die" and "Rocky V." (Warning: that last film's not so good.)
Another warning: once he gets going in interviews, Kaufman filibusters like a left-wing Bill O'Reilly, unleashing semi-rehearsed fifteen-minute polemics against Hollywood, against Blockbuster Video, and against, yes, The Man. For his misunderstood army of misfit fans, it's an irresistible invective against injustice – it's the world that's wrong, not them!
In my experience, this strong-arm bluster has been both exhilarating and confounding. There is no doubt that Troma supports filmmakers; I was given remarkable leeway when designing the "Jefftowne" DVD. But I pity the individual who hopes to state something even vaguely anti-Troma at the Movieside Q&A sessions. Kaufman's overly protective fans might outright stone the poor critic...or at least pelt him with dozens of artificial severed limbs.
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Written by Daniel Kraus
Review Date: May 31, 2004
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