I love Troma Films. Lloyd Kaufman is one of my heroes. There's not much else I can say really.
If anyone is ever curious about why I am a warped individual, I think the blame can be pointed at Troma.
Being the late night tv aficionado in an era when being such a thing was rewarding, it was inevitable that I would come across these purveyors of perversion, comedy, and graphic, weird violence.
After Toxic Avenger I kept my eye for anything Troma.
I'm just going to mention a few faves and keep this simple.
So let's start with Toxie. Two words; must see! A nerd, a vat of toxic waste and POW New Jersey's first super hero.
I originally saw a cut version on regular television. I was in for quite a surprise when I finally rented the uncut VHS.
A high school next door to a nuclear power plant, mutations, and anarchy. Classic.
Tromeo and Juliet, better than Leo and Claire's version! And narrated by Lemmy!
I honestly don't remember anything about Troma's War other than i laughed my ass off and it was violent.
Apparently it features the highest onscreen kill count.
A scene from Street Trash. Back to that in a minute.
Nuke'em High alum.
Surf Nazis Must Die is my third favorite Troma film, maybe more for sentimental reasons than for the fact that it was a good film. I mean, it is, but not quite as intense as Toxie or Nuke'em.
I think the title says it all.
That looks like it probably sucks.
Hi, Lemmy!
Lemmy provides that much needed English flair to Tromeo and Juliet, in Kenneth Brannagh's absence.
Cafeteria food sucks.
More Nuke'em...
Did you know Samual L Jackson starred in Def By Temptation?
Yep. He has been in everything.
Redneck Zombies. That's it. Red. Neck. Zombies.
Mysterious street booze turns bums into diarrhea...Street Trash!
The face that would become The Toxic Avenger!
Almost forgot Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD. How?!?
Mainstream happens! Marvel Comic's 1st issue. It actually kicked ass...and didn't last long.
Hell, there was even a kid's cartoon called Toxic Crusaders with a toy and comic spin off.
Stranger In Our Town By The Gun Club from the epic album The Las Vegas Story.
If you're new to the Gun Club and Jeffery Lee Pierce and like what you hear, you should purchase and/or listen to the albums in the order they were released.
1st Fire of Love
2nd Miami
3rd Las Vegas Story
4th Death Party EP
5th Everything else, but not essential
Also, before Mr Pierce passed away he was working on his autobiography, Go Tell The Mountain, which was posthumously published by Henry Rollins/2.13.61.
One of my all time favorite zombie novels, from 1993. I actually scrapped a zombie novel I was working on at the time, because this was so good, mine felt pointless.
From Publishers Weekly
This apocalyptic horror story is set during the Bush Administration but in the very near future. As a spectacular comet passes the earth, it leaves in its trail a virus that infects humans. The virus causes the dead to resurrect and become cannibalistic zombies, while the living contract a debilitating sickness. In the space of days, major population areas worldwide are gripped with panic and rioting as the newly undead search out human flesh for their insatiable appetites. Those who can attempt to escape to the countryside. In gory interludes that become repetitive, Nutman's ghouls spring back to life and dine on whatever human is in their path. At the center of the story is Dominic Corvino, a U.S. covert agent and assassin. After dying in a political intrigue, he is resurrected and makes his way to CIA headquarters to find the country now in control of zombies like himself. Corvino, though, is more interested in resolving his psychological travails and avenging the deaths of former lovers than embracing the ugliness of the New Order.
from Wikipedia; Rawhead Rex is a 1986 British/Irishhorror film directed by George Pavlou and written by Clive Barker. The film is about a monstrouspagan god's bloody rampage through the Irish countryside, and based on the short story by Clive Barker that originally appeared in vol. 3 of his Books of Blood series. Pavlou and Barker had previously worked together on Transmutations (also known asUnderworld).
There was a tv series when I was a kid that played on USA, hosted by Robert Englund and later re-ran on MTV hosted by Stephen King, all about horror in cinema which is where I learned about Dario Argento, Clive Barker and many others. Rawhead Rex was featured on the program and the sight of that giant freak carrying a severed head through a trailer park put the movie at the top of my get list.
I wasn't disappointed when I got home from the video store! The movie was creepy, violent, and weird and I had little context for what I was seeing, which heightened the thrill. Unlike the slashers of the day, Rawhead reached back to pagan lore and delivered an earthy devil that brought down havoc on an Irish countryside that didn't look so dissimilar to my home in the Tennessee countryside.
By today's standards (and I guess by 1987's standards) Rawhead's look was a bit wonky up close, but the movie still holds up pretty well. Back in 2010 Barker had mentioned that he wanted to remake Rawhead, but I've never heard anything else about that.
Rawhead also showed up in the excellent Nightbreed comic from Epic.
Here's the trailer followed by the best scenes compiled by a fan...
One of my favorite bands of the last decade has been Grafton from Columbus OH. Their 1st two albums made my top ten of the year when I wrote for Sponiczine and their 3rd album continued to thrill. All three are available on iTunes, if your local record store is lame.
If you are thrilled off your ass by what you've heard and want to know every intimate detail of the lives of the men of Grafton, check out my article from Sponiczine over at Path Of Most Resistance. You should also check out Dead Canary Records' site!
No secret I'm a huge Batman fan and one thing I really love is his gallery of rogues. In my top ten is this sumbitch-Killer Croc. Over at Ultimate Comics, in Chapel Hill, I saw Croc's new action figure and my son helped me get my jaw off the floor after seeing the staggering $50 price tag. Damn, I thought we were in a recession. Ok, I didn't pay much less than that for my deluxe Swamp Thing from last year, but that's Swamp Thing! Oh, and they had the new Mr Freeze as well...
Dusty Rhodes vs Abdullah the Butcher ca. '83. Back when a match was a bloodbath and the competitors didn't look like underwear models. This is the compelling wrasslin' I grew up on!
