Pulp Features

Troma might well be the Little Giant of indy cinema, expanding from a small New York based indy company known for producing the lowest-budgeted films since the days of Ed Wood, to a major empire that spans the world. They have caught on; with an unexplainable cult following that would baffle some of the cinema purists. Their enthusiasts continue to build into an army even now. It is a strange tale.

Known for making crazy film and even admitting it, the group hit a fluke with their Toxic Avenger series, which featured the exploits of a nerd who gets thrown into toxic waste and emerges an uncanny super hero. Looking like a cross between the Thing in Fantastic Four episodes and Swamp Thing, this muscular mutant sat out not only to obtain revenge on people who bullied him before, but to fight crime a la Batman.

The Toxic Avenger series did indeed put Troma on the map. The first movie proved to be a real sleeper, spanning several more sequels, a line of memorabilia and a cartoon show. This also enabled Troma to start producing films with better special effects (though they maintained their reputation for grotesque humour and tackiness, never wanting to swerve too far from the course). Sergeant Kabukiman, NYPD, Rapid Grannies and other films followed, in the true line of Troma weirdness.

Having understood the pain of being lambasted in the media and the stereotypes associated with low budget cinema, as Troma grew, producer/director Lloyd Kaufman likewise started to enter the distribution business, helping others to gain exposure for their films. They obtained distribution rights for numerous works and not just small-time productions either. They even signed on for bringing some of Argento’s films into the USA.

Among the features Troma brought to light was a rarity called Cannibal, The Musical. This film featured the life of Albert Packer, a western era cannibal who may or may not have been guilty of the crimes he was accused of. The film was written by and acted in by a trio named Matt Stone, Trey Parker and Juan Schwartz, all of course famous now for the South Park cartoons. Always fixated by Packer, his trio created this film, full of black humour, long before their cartoons became a hit. In a line similar to Troma, they found success when it was least expected. This is nothing new for Troma.

Lloyd himself likes to stress how many obscure actors back then became well-known later on, including Samuel L Jackson and Marisa Tomei, both of whom played in Troma productions early in their careers. The group also did much to advance Brick Bronsky, a wrestler turned actor who played in many Troma films, sometimes as a hero and sometimes as a villain.

Lloyd and crew continue to make the rounds at numerous film fests and fan gatherings per year, having never forgotten their beginnings and remaining totally devoted tot heir followers. Though the money is there, where it always wasn’t before, they have maintained the “image” set by early Troma vehicles, even though they could expand into fancier productions. Graphic violence, big tits, sexual humour, black comedy and satire remain high priority items for everything they touch.

Bravo for Troma, a company proving what can happen by defying the critics and never giving up.

Trackback this Post | Feed on comments to this Post