Recently Cinemaa Wasteland- a local horror movie convention had its meeting and in honor of the 25 anniversary of the film, they had a Troma film themed convention. They showed a few Troma films including this one. I had seen the sequels not not the original. Haven't seen the remake and have no desire too.
This is still a fun movie. But after seeing Tromeo and Juliet earlier that weekend, it almost seemed restrained by comparison. Still over the top by most movie standards, maybe just not by Troma standards.
Had fun watching it, but the smell of Mary Jane, coming off of one of the other attendees was a little distracting.
I'm sure we all know the film or at least its parent film company. So let's discuss. Anything anyone wants to add?
I don't know if "restrained" is the term I would apply to o.g. TOXIC AVENGER. In some ways it is surprisingly sophisticated in its use of broad (and grotesque) humor, even today; in some ways it goes too far to work as entertainment, at least for me (the killing of the female lead's dog and her near-sexual assault); and in many ways it delivers exactly the lowbrow thrills that one associated with 80s Troma.
TROMEO & JULIET often strikes me as more "restrained" in many ways, or perhaps what I really mean is Kaufman and Gunn were relatively disciplined in their commitment to the material's structure and its characters. It feels a lot more like a Real Movie to me than TOXIC AVENGER or the earlier, famous Kaufman films (and some of the later ones!) - and I know many other fans share that perspective. However, when T&J goes big - as in the epochal "Found A Peanut" sequence - it goes as Big or unrestrained as any film I can think of. (I still can laugh for literal minutes when I watch that scene. I ain't proud!)
It's easy to confuse the (countless) movies that Troma has released with the ones Kaufman has made in-house, and that confusion can dilute an appreciation of his directorial efforts. I haven't seen all of his own films (he made actual xxx porn in the 70s!) but I like the original TOXIC AVENGER and I like the original CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH even more. Some of the sequels that followed (and the dire SGT. KABUKIMAN) are tough to defend. T&J represented a renaissance for Kaufman and got him some critical consideration for his later films. I think TERROR FIRMER is very interesting if challenging (I know a lot of folks love it). CITIZEN TOXIE is the best Kaufman TOXIC AVENGER entry. And POULTRYGEIST (which was shot in Buffalo) is... a kind of masterpiece! :bouncegiggle: I still gotta' catch up with his last three features.
Great topic! One final piece of trivia: When I was briefly in L.A. in '98, I would call the west coast Troma office every other week and beg them to let me come work for them. The guy who'd answer the phone (who wasn't Gunn or Herz or Trent Haaga or anyone famous) would sheepishly insist it was just him in a small room with a stack of videotapes and that everything really happened in NYC. This was probably true but nevertheless I'd beg him to let me come help him watch all those VHS tapes. :teddyr: