Adventures in Tromaville: Poultrygeist.

For those of you who don't know what Troma Entertainment is, it is a film production and distribution company started by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz that could be called the epitome of classless schlock. I don't mean this as an insult, I love schlock when it is done right, and Troma does it perfectly, with some style to boot. They have a certain approach to film making that arouses memories of both 50's pulp films and 70's exploitation and yet feel as though they might be mocking those same genres. Now this might sound like the Grindhouse movie Rodriguez and Tarantino did a few years ago, but Troma is not ironically doing campy stuff for comedy, they are just a little bit too serious about their schlock.  In fact no one really knows how in on the joke Troma is, and that is part of what makes them so interesting.

Troma rose to prominence in the mid 80's with the Toxic Avenger series, Class of Nuke 'em High, Troma's War and moved into the 90's with Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD, Terror Firmer, and peeking with their 1996 masterpiece Tromeo and Juliet. After that Troma fell on hard times, they mostly just distribute older movies now, and Lloyd Kaufman rarely directs. But is 2006 they made this movie using a cast and crew who worked for free and who lived in a church while filming. And I've got to tell you this movie doesn't disappoint. Poultrygeist not only holds up the Troma legacy but is one of their best.

Now let me explain, I am not a big horror movie fanatic, I like some horror films but I am nowhere close to being obsessed. And I by no means liked this movie as a horror movie. And anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a HUGE believer in the principle of a film being able to be so bad it is good. I love bad movies, but that is not the reason I liked this movie. I liked this movie because it was more fun than I can remember having while watching a movie in a long time. It is so much fun that I had the immediate sensation that I wanted to watch it again. That is pretty rare.

The premise is this: When a young man named Arbie has his girlfriend (Wendy) leave to college and return to town as a lesbian he gets revenge by taking a job at the newly opened fast food place that Wendy and her college friends are protesting. It turns out that the fried chicken joint was built on an Indian burial ground and the spirits are out for revenge. The movie in traditional Troma fashion is full of cheesy gore and gratuitous sex scenes, but this movie also has some fun with the fast food setting, incorporating a lot of shit and vomit as well. Unlike most other Troma movies though, this is a musical. By that I mean it has a few original musical numbers along with its mostly early 2000's pop-punk soundtrack.

The main attraction here is the comedy though. This movie is filled with jokes, something many Troma films have but almost never get right. This one does. The jokes are in the movie but they aren't funny, what is funny is how bad the jokes are. The comedy in this film is so offensive and sprawling that it is itself the joke. Or at least I think it is. Again it is hard to see how in on the joke Lloyd Kaufman and company are. Either way Poultrygeist does not have a dull moment in the movie and there was not a split second when I wasn't entertained.

Troma has this brilliant way of doing trash. They are audacious, original, and most of all wild. In the first scene of this movie our two lead characters have sex in the Indian graveyard while a zombified Indian fingers our unknowing hero's ass all while a red neck ax murderer watches and masturbates. I mean where else can you see that? Now I know maybe not everyone wants to see that, but I did, and I never even knew it! Who knows maybe I am just sick.

The movie makes fun of everyone in grand fashion, and is by no means afraid to take on the edgy stuff. Kaufman has got a lot of chutzspah and on this one he holds nothing back. Everyone is a target and everyone gets it good. From racist corporate mascots to hypocritical college elitists, no one is left unscathed. It is very Trey Parker/Matt Stone (whose first film was distributed by Troma) like in its broad attack at everyone. And  whether it hits or misses its sheer absurdity is fascinating.

This movie is filled with so many strange moments to come back to. As well as some very bizarre vegetarian overtones. Lets just say this movie is not subtle. Sure some people will call this film offensive or abhorrent or disgusting or distasteful or repugnant or repulsive or revolting or opprobrious or even just plain bad. But you know what? Fuck those people. Sure this film is polarizing but you know what it certainly is not? Forgettable. Maybe when we live in a world where bland, middle of the road, lowest common denominator, pablum is constantly shoved down our throats an unforgettable film can be viewed as a bad thing, but not to me. So if you're like me, and like stark originality, wild comedy and cheesy gore try this movie out. Sometimes it takes a Troma film to remind you that mediocrity isn't an inevitability.





-SP McDonald