The documentary team tells Bloody Disgusting, “RL Ryan was a beloved and recognizable 1980s cult film actor whose life off-camera was largely unknown to the audiences who remember his work. RL (aka Robert or Bob) was born and raised in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania and is best remembered today as “Mayor Belgoody” in the Troma classic The Toxic Avenger (1984); “Mr. Finley” in Class of Nuke ‘Em High (1986); the alien creature “Murray” in the sci-fi cannibal comedy, Eat & Run (1986); and “Frank Schnizer” in the original Street Trash (1987).”

“Beyond these cult genre favorites, Bob also appeared alongside Nicolas Cage and Matthew Modine in Birdy (1984); and Kim Cattrall and Andrew McCarthy in Mannequin (1987),” the documentary team continues. “He also had many small roles and background parts in NYC and Philadelphia-area film productions. He was a cherished member of his Ridley Park community and a familiar face in the bustling local theater scene of the 1970s and 1980s.”

Tragically, Bob passed away in 1991 at the age of 44, but not before leaving his mark on many memorable films from his era. The announcement of the upcoming documentary film He Came from Ridley Park coincides with the 35th anniversary of Bob’s untimely passing.

He Came From Ridley Park: The RL Ryan Story will pull back the curtain on a man with dynamic talents who persevered to fulfill his dream of becoming a professional actor. Through rare interviews with his acting and filmmaker colleagues – including Troma co-founder and legendary indie filmmaker Lloyd Kaufman – and intimate conversations with Bob’s family, this documentary will offer a unique portrait of a towering man and a kind and gentle soul.

The film will also showcase rare and never-before-seen archive from across his life and professional career to help tell his story. The team behind the documentary includes…

John Campopiano is an award winning New England documentary filmmaker, archivist, and producer, and is co-founder of Leroy Street Films. For the last decade he has worked as the Archives & Rights Manager for the Emmy & Academy Award-winning PBS documentary filmseries Frontline and has written and produced independent documentaries including Unearthed & Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary (2017); Snapper: The Man-Eating Turtle Movie That Never Got Made (2021); Pennywise: The Story of IT (2022) which premiered at the Sitges Film Festival in Spain and won FANGORIA’s Chainsaw Award for Best Documentary in 2023; Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story (2023); The Farmer & the Shark (2026) and the upcoming Sasqua: The Lost Bigfoot Film of Massachusetts.

Joe La Scola is a New Jersey grown director, cinematographer, producer, and visual effects artist. He has worked on a range of independent genre projects, including Outhouse (2010), She Kills (2016), Swamp Zombies 2 (2018), The Arrangement (2020), The Barn: Part II (2022), Art Attack! The Dissection of Terrifier 3 (2025), and The Angry Video Game Nerd 8-Bit (2025). In addition to his film work, Joe is the co-creator and host of the Movie Dumpster podcast, where he explores cult classics, horror, and genre filmmaking with history, insight, and humor.

Matthew Spry is a writer, producer, and co-founder of Leroy Street Films. He has been writing, blogging, and podcasting about films since 2010. He was a co-writer for The Farmer & the Shark (2026) and a producer and writer for the upcoming Sasqua: The Lost Bigfoot Film of Massachusetts.

Witter Entertainment is co-producing alongside Leroy Street Films and Movie Dumpster.

The post ‘He Came From Ridley Park: The RL Ryan Story’ – New Documentary Spotlights Cult Film Actor from Troma Classics appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The video will be featured on the horror comedy creature feature’s Blu-ray release, due out in 2026.

In the film, Randy and his friends embark on a backwoods bachelor party hunting trip they won’t soon forget. When Randy is bitten by a strange creature, his world is turned upside down and all hell breaks loose.

Derek Woodrow Johnson, Nadia White (Don’t Fuck in the Woods), Babette Bombshell (Return to Nuke ‘Em High), Zac Amico (Return to Nuke ‘Em High), Eric Woodard, Conor McCarthy, Dixie Gers, and Kaufman star.

Ben Johnson makes his directorial debut from a script by Jimmy Adamson. Kaufman produces.

“Our award-winning film has taken the Netherlands and Italy by storm! Americans don’t get us… They’re not ready for it yet,” teases Johnson.

Curse of the Weredeer is streaming on Troma Now.

The post Lloyd Kaufman Hunts for Troma’s ‘Curse of the Weredeer’ in Promo Video [Exclusive] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Watch the sequel’s teaser trailer below. As you might expect from a Troma production, it’s not safe for work.

Plot details have yet to be revealed, but writer-director-producer Mercedes the Muse is aiming to create the “fowlest” movie ever — full of practical effects, twisted musical numbers, extreme gore, and unspeakable acts.

Troma founders Lloyd Kaufman (who directed the original Poultrygeist) and Michael Herz serve as executive producers.

The cast includes Sadie Satanas, Knotty Peach, Christina Von Eerie, and Vada Callisto alongside Troma legends Mark Torgl (The Toxic Avenger), Debbie Rochon (Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV), and Kaufman.

Released in 2006, Poultrygeist saw zombified chickens attack a fast-food restaurant built on an ancient burial ground.

The sequel will hatch in 2026. Follow the journey on Instagram.

The post ‘Poultrygeist 2: Dawn of the Chicken Dead’ Teaser – Troma’s Fowl Sequel Hatches in 2026 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Based on the true story of Alfred Packer, the 1993 film is a strange blend of Troma Entertainment and old-fashioned true crime. Released just before writer Stone and writer/director Parker became household names with “South Park,” this quirky horror comedy features their signature brand of deft irreverence and intentional offensiveness. While some elements of this B-movie marvel have not aged particularly well, that’s all part of the stoner charm of this offbeat retelling of an equally odd chapter in American life.  

Cannibal! The Musical earns its Troma cred just moments after the curtain lifts. Title cards situate us in the late 19th century then we’re thrust into the action as a maniacal man chomps through humans in a snowy forest. With garish blood and shoddy effects, we watch as he beats a man with a severed arm before viciously ripping out another man’s tongue. Just as this depraved adventurer tilts the dripping organ into his upturned mouth, we cut to a lawyer hilariously reenacting this outlandish attack to a courtroom packed with rapt observers. On trial is Alfred Packer (Parker), a naive and confused prospector charged with the murder and cannibalism of his travelling party. This campy opener sets the perfect tone for a film that will be wholly over the top. 

With ridiculous violence and cheap set design, on the nose songs, and D-list acting, the film perfectly encapsulates the essence of Troma. The longest-running independent film studio in the world is known for preposterous horror comedies and delightfully simplistic B-movie fare—the more gory and implausible, the better. Intrigued by the state’s curious folk figure, Colorado natives Stone and Parker first shot a 3-minute trailer for film class, then eventually raised $125,000 to expand the concept to a full-length feature.

Shot mostly on weekends and during spring break, co-star Ian Hardin would later note that most of the cast and crew failed the film class due to the time commitment. Sensing kinship, Troma would pick up the completed movie in 1996, finally allowing it to be seen outside of Colorado. Like other films from the notorious studio, Parker and Stone gleefully lean into the miniscule budget and DIY vibe, spinning gold from what other filmmakers would view as insurmountable limitations.

Despite its freakishly oddball tone, Cannibal! The Musical is surprisingly accurate, at least as far as the records show. Born in 1842, Alfred Packer—a.k.a. the Colorado Cannibal—was a real prospector who convinced a group of adventurous men to let him lead them through the San Juan Mountains only to become hopelessly lost. Purporting to be a wilderness guide, Packer quickly revealed himself to be a petty thief and compulsive liar, but only after it was too late to turn back. The inexperienced outdoorsman managed to find refuge at a welcoming Ute encampment, but ignored Chief Ouray’s sage advice to wait out the winter in relative safety. The five ill-equipped men who followed Packer back into the wilderness of Colorado Territory were never seen alive again. Packer himself emerged from the snowy woods two months later, alone and surprisingly well-fed. Claiming to have survived on “rabbits and rosebuds,” the shifty man would provide a variety of explanations before eventually confessing to cannibalism. 

By centering this famously unreliable witness, Stone and Parker add unexpected empathy to a grisly tale. Their Packer is not a conniving thief and murderer but an endearing idealist hoping for a better life. He kindly leads this group of young men into the Colorado wilderness driven mostly by desire to find his beloved horse. Stone and Parker present Packer’s contested version of events, positioning the true murderer as Shannon Bell (Hardin), a combative member of the doomed party. Though Packer admitted to consuming fallen members of the group, he would ultimately claim to have stumbled upon Bell feasting on the bodies of their fellow travelers, having murdered them while Packer was out gathering firewood. The frightened guide had no choice but to kill the aggressor then finish off their bodies to save his own life. We’ll never know what actually happened in the snowy Colorado woods, but most scholars discount Packer’s admittedly self-serving claims, bolstered by a slew of butchered skeletons discovered several months later. 

While Stone and Parker take an alternative view of this nebulous story, many narrative elements are pulled from fact. The doomed party really did eat their shoes after quickly running out of their scant supplies and Parker filmed in the actual courtroom where Packer was originally tried. The real “Colorado Cannibal” did receive a last minute reprieve, but it was issued nearly a decade after his initial arrest. In a bizarre twist, the self-professed victim escaped custody while awaiting trial in what is widely believed to be police intervention. Nine years later, Packer was discovered in Wyoming, living under the name John Schwartze—cheekily referenced with Parker’s credited name, Juan Schwartz. 

Packer was once again arrested and hauled back to Colorado where he received the abnormally worded death sentence recreated in the film. The full text reads, “There were seven Democrats in Hinsdale County, but you, you voracious, man-eating son-of-a-bitch, you ate five of them. I sentence you to be hanged by the neck until you’re dead, dead, dead, as a warning against reducing the Democratic population of the state.” As seen in the film’s shocking conclusion, Packer really did receive a last-minute stay of execution and wound up serving eighteen years, before he was paroled for good behavior in 1901. The inmate’s cause was exalted by Polly Pry (Toddy Walters), a reporter for the Denver Post who is largely responsible for the sympathetic reframing of this perplexing story. Though Stone and Parker imply that the beautiful, young reporter is smitten with a wrongly accused hunk, it’s more likely that the savvy writer seized an opportunity to tell a compelling survival story.

Though strangely sensitive to Packer himself, Cannibal! The Musical showcases the duo’s trademark impertinence. Not only are the Ute tribe members played in stereotypical fashion by Asian actors, there’s a distinct rejection of basic authenticity. Though Pry makes repeated passes at the naive cannibal, Packer only has eyes for his horse. A running joke implies bestiality brought to life by the touching ballad, “When I Was on Top of You.” It’s the type of humor Stone and Parker would go on to perfect with their genre-busting satire South Park which premiered on Comedy Central just four years later. The low-fi cartoon made waves in 1997 with blatantly offensive social commentary. Now in its twenty-seventh season, the duo are still dismantling political systems with deft recreations of cultural events. With its loose, yet biting historical disdain, Cannibal! The Musical can be seen as a prototype of sorts to the unique brand of humor that would make Stone and Parker not only famous, but leading voices in political satire. We even get a tease of the now-iconic Cartman voice as the doomed travelers shop for supplies. 

Foretelling the Oscar-nominated South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Cannibal! The Musical is filled with surprisingly good songs. Though some are annoying earworms, all are well-constructed musical numbers that display Parker’s talent for composition. The song “Shpadoinkle” is a clear nod to the rousing yet nonsensical “Shipoopi” from The Music Man as well as “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin” from Oklahoma! A playful song about drowning your sorrows by making a snowman is an eerie precursor to Disney’s Frozen and an extended conversation about the exact tonality of a musical duel between Packer’s party and a gang of miscreant fur trappers is a classical music nerd’s dream come true. The care taken with these peculiar, yet undeniably catchy songs indicates Parker’s understanding that while a film full of campy and cheap special effects can be delightful and even endearing, a series of shoddily-written musical numbers would replicate the feeling of being eaten alive. 

On paper, Cannibal! The Musical sounds impossibly ridiculous—a true crime horror comedy centered on a sympathetic cannibal. In addition to the outsized humor, horror elements are simultaneously absurd and grotesque. An oozing bear trap wound develops comically inaccurate gangrene and a disgusting cyclopean figure can’t stop squirting puss from his ruined eye. And that’s not to mention the titular flesh-eating sequences that fall in the midst of rousing song and dance. But Parker and Stone commit to the bit and capture the spirit of Troma excess. Your mileage may vary for this campy satire, but those with a taste for tongue-in-cheek offensiveness will devour this startlingly charming true crime adaptation. 

The post Troma Meets True Crime in ‘Cannibal! The Musical’ from the Creators of ‘South Park’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

After wrapping up August with journeys into the weird and wonderful world of Australian myths in Picnic at Hanging Rock (listen) and John Waters’ version of suburbia in Serial Mom (listen), we’re kicking off September by celebrating the release of Macon Blair’s reboot of The Toxic Avenger with a look at the original Troma trashterpiece!

The Toxic Avenger sees nerdy gym janitor Melvin Ferd (Mark Torgl) fall prey to a cruel prank that sends him head-first into a barrel full of toxic waste. Said toxic waste transforms Melvin into a super-powered monster (Mitch Cohen) who uses his powers to destroy evil in his hometown of Tromaville. Lovingly named “The Toxic Avenger” by Tromavillians, he embarks on a journey to stop the corrupt Mayor Belgoody (Pat Ryan Jr.) while falling in love with the blind Sara (Andree Miranda) at the same time.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.

Episode 349: The Toxic Avenger (1984)

Get the kid and the bike because we’re heading to The Mexican Place to check out Troma Entertainment’s crown jewel: The Toxic Avenger (1984). Just in time to celebrate the release of Macon Blair’s remake, too!

Join us as we offer a primer on all things Toxie before diving into this ridiculously silly (and charming!) little film. The Toxic Avenger feels like a live-action cartoon that’s been dumped in a vat of extremely transgressive toxic waste, and it all (mostly) works!

Plus: an unexpected gang of queers, masturbating to photos of dead children, “Body Talk,” and swapping out human heads for cantaloupes.

CW: Dog death, child death, attempted sexual assault and the use of many, many slurs.

Cross out The Toxic Avenger!

Coming Up Next: We’re celebrating our 350th episode with a look at Robert Rodriguez’s crime thriller/vampire film hybrid From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)!

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 414 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Cry Wolf, The Long Walk, Him, The Conjuring: Last Rites and, to tie in with that last one, a brand new audio commentary on The Conjuring 2!

The post Getting Sleazy With Troma’s Original Trashterpiece ‘The Toxic Avenger’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

For those unfamiliar, Poultrygeist is a sing-along Troma splatterfest that roasts “Big Fast Food” culture under a double broiler. It’s a slimy and feathered undead spectacle about a knockoff KFC joint (American Chicken Bunker) that opens atop a bulldozed Indian burial ground. Moronic caricatures of Colonel Sanders and, sigh, Jared Fogle (years before his arrest) highlight everything that’s wrong with a nefarious breed of capitalism which has only intensified since the mid-2000s. Troma’s secret herbs and spices cut through the bullshit of bottom-line greed as hungry patrons morph into braindead chicken creatures, with an albeit abrasive approach that’s cemented Troma’s legacy.

Kaufman, Dan Bova, and Gabriel Friedman cram every imaginable fast food joke into a screenplay that’s as subtle as a frying pan to the face. It wouldn’t be a Troma film without crass generalizations, like naming the gay Mexican employee Jose Paco Bell (Khalid Rivera) or his Middle-Eastern coworker Humus (Rose Ghavami). This is a stupid, STUPID movie told from Arbie’s uneducated and infantile point of view, which bleeds into dialogue with more xenophobia than a Next Door community page. Points are made through self-inflicted mockery as a horned-up and spiteful protagonist keeps us gasping, which no doubt leaves the film’s moral compass in question—which is the point.

You’re signing up for a Tromafied—read: politically incorrect—take on justice for indigenous cultures with Poultrygeist. For some, that’s an incentive. For others, that should be a neon-lit warning.

It’s the most quintessential Troma opening, for better and worse. Arbie (Jason Yachanin) and Wendy (Kate Graham) are dry-humping in the sacred Tromahawk Tribe burial ground, which leads to exposed bare breasts and fornication. Arbie uses the “R” word, a zombie fingers his butthole while still mostly buried, and a pervert holding an axe is seen stroking his (fake) cock in full view. The voyeur sniffs Arbie’s tighty-whiteys before another undead hand reaches through his anus, out his mouth, and rips the teen’s underwear right back through as gore explodes from every orifice.

Why explain that in graphic detail? Because all of that happens in, what, the first five minutes? Poultrygeist launches into its tasteless brand of capitalist satire filled with “unnecessary” sex scenes, repulsive fecal gags, and the lowest-hanging food humor based on crude stereotypes. It’s Troma at maximum effort, and is not meant for audiences who’ve yet to dip their toes into Tromaville’s radioactive pool of independent horror mayhem.

Now, let me be clear. Poultrygeist displays some of Troma’s worst tendencies as an act of anarchistic exploitation. For all the aspects that make Kaufman’s slaughterrific musical a yummy, greasy-grim treat, a few choices were sour from the start. Arbie’s out-of-left-field appropriation of Black culture never plays favorably, including one song lyric that suggests the Prophet Muhammad would use the “N” word (by saying it). Or the twenty-fifth vulgar shot taken at CLAM protestors in a single monologue (standing for Collegiate Lesbians Against Mega-Conglomerates). Troma’s petulant need to push boundaries has always bothered its haters, but instances like these make them hard to defend. The portrayal of Chief What’s-His-Face (Martin Victor) as a drunk becomes a prevalent theme, you’ll have to stomach a Ron Jeremy jumpscare, and there’s your expected inappropriate Troma humor that blazes past common decency. I’m not here to excuse any of that—Troma’s gonna Troma.

But, in sticking to their guns, Troma also conjures some of the sickest and most twisted SFX horror fans can imagine. Poultrygeist is a gut-busting buffet of mangled bodies, zombie chicken transformations, and a whole lot of nauseating kitchen hazards turned against innocent parties. It’s the total package when considering culinary horrors, and everything’s practical. Who cares that you can see the rubber hose squirting fake blood from where Carl Jr.’s (Caleb Emerson) pecker used to be. I’d fancy Poultrygeist is one of Troma’s most violent and uproariously graphic finales, as American Chicken Bunker’s customers become one with a flock of possessed chicken-people freakshows.

Poultrygeist hardly recycles deformations and kill scenes, which spew as much originally as bodily liquids colored green to brown to red. Silvery steel food-service machines perform their tasks on human victims: face flesh slices like cold cuts, bubbling fryer oil crispy-coats severed testicles, and a meat pulverizer mashes Paco into a “Sloppy Jose” (that talks, à la Wet Hot American Summer). Brutality is cartoonish and loaded with extra toppings, exemplified by Humus’ cleaning jobs being immediately nullified by gallons more gore. It’s the special kind of low-budget gore that leans into its exaggerations no matter how goofy the scene becomes, which will forever look infinitely better than productions that cheat with computer graphics. Every possible themed demise is on the menu, and Kaufman doesn’t waste a single indulgent morsel.

Then there are the chicken hybrids, from full-on, head-to-toe mutations to something as silly as eggs bursting from a man’s chest to simulate breasts, which hatch evil chicks. The store’s manager, Denny (Joshua Olatunde), becomes a chickified version of himself with a bobbly prop head. American Chicken Bunker owner General Lee Roy (Robin L. Watkins) is pushed a step further, turning into this towering nightmare version of his own fowl mascot, erasing all human attributes. There’s so much to gawk at and laugh about as a cluckin’ rad massacre ensues, once again never repeating the same sight gag twice. Everything from beaked monster cocks to pulsating, veiny eggs unfit for consumption turns chickens into the ultimate horror focus, which keeps the gimmick fresh.

It’s a miracle that Poultrygeist works as well as it does. According to Fangoria Issue #283, many of the props and masks featured in the film were generous donations from SFX studios around the globe. The Buffalo, NY production was riddled with issues from pay disputes to premature set takedowns, delaying results. Yet, Kaufman pieces together this angsty puzzle of Duggie Banas’ romantic musical numbers about drive-thrus, repugnant creature-feature imagery, plus enough Mad TV-esque zingers about race, religion, and government to fill twenty seasons. Entire mainstream horror films fail to include as much kill sequence excitement as Poultrygeist fits into a few minutes (Troma’s bread and butter). They know what they’re doing and don’t care if you approve—chaos reigns in Tromaville.

It takes true creative fearlessness (and a dash of insanity) to come up with something like Poultrygeist. On the outside, it’s just juvenile shock-jock bullshit. A movie that ridicules “left-wing, lipstick lesbo liberals,” subjects burqa-clad Muslims to 9/11 fearmongering, and strips women naked for the cheap sex appeal. You have every right to switch off Poultrygeist the second you’re uncomfortable, nor will I shun anyone’s disengagement from Troma’s catalog. Poultrygeist boasts a pungent and divisive flavor profile, never with mass appeal in mind.

That said, I agree with Owen Gleiberman’s review for Entertainment Weekly. “It’s genuine sick fun, and there isn’t a boring moment in it … Poultrygeist is that rare and insane thing: an exploitation movie with soul.” Under Kaufman’s feather-ruffling hodgepodge of indigenous revenge through an off-color restaurant takeover is a legitimate call to action that’s aged into stronger relevance. You’re supposed to roll your eyes at a story filled with sexist, corporatist, and nationalist trash humans—that’s the point. Sure, maybe Kaufman pushes too far at times (once again, read above), but it’s never out of hatred. The doofiness on display is meant to cause outrage. Poultrygeist should make you angry and stir reactions, because it’s a representation of mid-2000s America in a bubble … and we’ve only sunk deeper into the dreary muck of conglomeration themes on display.

Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead is a 5-alarm dish served bleeding raw and with a wicked kick, because the only way the Troma team knows how to send a message is by making fools of themselves for our edutainment. Kaufman cuts to the disturbing, artery-clogged core of sleazy franchise cultures primed to turn America into Mike Judge’s Idiocracy. What’s interpreted as bad-faith comedy is actually (er, mostly) what the story needs, screaming its hypocrisies out of a megaphone. In a world where monopolies have ballooned even larger and billionaires have invaded the White House, where the class divide has only widened the last thing we need is subtlety. Poultrygeist is fine playing the villain, as long as it is exposes the real evils still tainting our country nearly two decades later.

Troma is back in theaters with new movie The Toxic Avenger. Get your tickets now!

The post ‘Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead’ – Troma’s Gut-Busting Buffet of Zombie Chickens and American Satire appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

When Troma founders and The Toxic Avenger co-directors Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz set out to make a sequel, they returned with enough footage for two movies, with The Toxic Avenger Part II releasing in February of 1989, followed by The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie nine months later in November. Troma is (in)famous for knowing how to stretch a dollar, but this particular move turned one ambitious sequel into a pair of overlong slogs.

36 years later, Andrew L. Miller, Troma creative producer and assistant to Kaufman, and Adam Peltier, star of Troma’s upcoming film The Power of Positive Murder, unearthed the original sequel script in the studio’s basement. With the blessing of Kaufman and Herz, they edited the two films together to reconstruct the initial vision for the sequel under its original title, Mr. Melvin.

The result streamlines the two 100+ minute efforts into a single 127-minute feature. In doing so, Mr. Melvin eliminates two significant issues that plagued the original films: Part II‘s anticlimactic ending and Part III‘s near-Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 level of recycling footage from its predecessor. A few ancillary gags are lost for timing but all major plot points remain intact, as most of the editing came from trimming the fat.

In the movie, Tromaville’s crime-free tranquility is shattered when corrupt corporation Apocalypse Inc. comes to town. Toxie (played mostly by Ron Fazio, with John Altamura in certain shots) is tricked into traveling to Tokyo in search of his estranged father, leaving his hometown vulnerable to the villainous syndicate. The monotonous fish-out-of-water sequences shot on location in Japan play more like a drug-fueled travelogue than anything meant to advance the plot.

Toxie returns to Tromaville and makes a Faustian bargain with Apocalypse Inc.’s chairman (Troma regular Rick Collins), becoming a corporate yuppie in exchange for the money needed for his blind girlfriend’s (musician Phoebe Legere) sight-restoring operation. His boss is revealed to be the devil in a birthing sequence that remains a highlight of the franchise, and the two face off in a video game-inspired duel.

Fazio returned to provide new voice over to serve as connective tissue, supplementing the copious existing exposition, and new opening and end credits were created, but otherwise Mr. Melvin is crafted entirely from existing elements. Indulgences in over-the-top gore, vulgar humor, sleazy exploitation, outrageous action, goofy sound effects, and biting social commentary still border on superfluous, but Mr. Melvin‘s snappy editing makes Kaufman and Herz look like better storytellers.

Whether you’re a Toxic Avenger fan who grew up on the originals or you’re working through the franchise for the first time in anticipation of Macon Blair‘s new reimagining, Mr. Melvin is the superior way to experience Part II and Part III. Better paced and more palatable without sacrificing any of Troma’s signature eccentricities, it represents the best version of the sequels.

Mr. Mevlin is scheduled to screen at the locations below with more to follow. It’s expected to eventually make its way to streaming via Troma Now with a potential physical media release to follow.

8/28 – Gardena Cinema – Garden, CA
9/5 – Huntington Cinema Arts Center – Huntington, NY
9/18-9/28 – Slash Film Festival – Austria
9/22 – Studio Movie Grill – Lincoln Square – Arlington, TX
10/6-10/9 – Cine Underground Film Festival – Italy

The post ‘Mr. Melvin’ – ‘Toxic Avenger II’ & ‘III’ Reconstruction Represents the Best Version of the Sequels [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Mother (Beatrice Pons) and her two boys, Ike (Frederick Coffin) and Addley (Michael McCleery), live a secluded life in New Jersey’s Deep Barons. They frequently catch tourists and sightseers winding through the woods and take them back to their rickety two-story home, where they mutilate and slaughter passersby for entertainment. The film opens on a self-help seminar called E.G.O. (or Ernie’s Growth Opportunity), when attendees have finished training and are now officially “graduates.”

Mother, ironically, sits right up front and befriends a couple, Terry (Luisa Marsella) and Charlie, ultimately offering them a ride to the bus station. They have the same thing on their mind: murder. But they have no idea who they’re up against. When the car “breaks down,” Ike and Addley emerge from the surrounding woodlands and pounce on Terry and Charlie, slashing their necks and beheading them. It’s a gruesome, uncomfortable scene (the two brothers unzip their pants, in an attempt to assault Terry) that sets up the story quite nicely.

Meanwhile, good friends and former college roommates, Trina (Tiana Pierce), Abbey (Nancy Hendrickson), and Jackie (Deborah Luce), plan a camping trip to the Deep Barons. Even though they’re warned by the storekeeper and harbinger of death (Scott Lucas), they brush off his advice to continue their journey. The first few days in the woods are peaceful and relaxing, until Ike and Addley attack and trap them in their sleeping bags. Like lassoing a couple of hogs, Ike and Addley drag their flailing bodies through the woods to their home.

Much to her satisfaction, Mother expresses glee over their new catches. What transpires next is a tragically grim tale complete with physical and emotional torture, not unlike what Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) experienced in the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Jenny (Renée Zellweger) and her friends in 1995’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation.

Cinematographer Joseph Mangine, the man also behind slasher gem Alone in the Dark, slathers the screen with appropriate doses of grit and grain. It’s just sleazy enough to work! Likewise, the camera work matches the story’s frantic nature, as aloof and deranged as the family’s mental state. Paired with Daniel Loewenthal’s (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Madman) editing style, it all unravels at a brisk pace and captures the young women’s desperation to escape. The creative team understands the assignment and lives up to expectations, combing the darkest recesses of human nature and delivering undeniable frights.

With a criminally underrated score, helmed by co-masterminds Phil Gallo and Clem Vicari Jr., the film builds masterfully creepy tension and suspense. Musical stingers and full pieces accentuate the slow build to the finale, when the captive women turn the tables and slaughter Mother, Ike, and Addley in frightening fashion. And it’s all well earned!

There’s not a single creative decision that doesn’t serve the story. The acting work, particularly Beatrice Pons, taps into primal, bloodthirsty, and unshakeable rage. She’s perfectly manic in both the bombastic and quiet moments. Frederick Coffin and Addley Michael McCleery meet her halfway with performances so wacky they’re borderline parody, but they fit snuggly into the world Kaufman has created. Can you imagine Mother, and Matthew McConaughey’s Vilmer and Joe Stevens’ W.E. from Next Generation breaking bread at the same table? It would be the most demented family on the planet! 

Mother’s Day is truly underrated as a slasher-meets-exploitation flick. If you ask me, it, along with Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, belongs in the same damn-good-time conversation. Decades later, both films have slowly but surely found their intended audiences. With similar styles, gritty flourishes, and acting choices, they would make one helluva double feature. Mother’s Day certainly deserves way more attention than it’s gotten over the years. At the very least, give it a chance for Beatrice Pons’s wild-eyed and over-the-top turn – it’s worth it! 

Troma returns to theaters with brand new movie The Toxic Avenger on August 29.

Get your tickets now!

The post ‘Mother’s Day’ Turns 45: Troma’s Spiritual Sequel to the ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ Franchise appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In the case of the later decades, the killers were usually a personification of pure evil, especially in the cases like Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Pinhead, and Chucky. There were occasional exceptions to this as with Leatherface just wanting to protect his home or Jason wanting to avenge his mother, but those aspects were often left by the wayside in sequels and later iterations. The one big, hulking, hideously deformed exception of superhuman size and strength was Melvin, The Toxic Avenger.

I first encountered Toxie in my favorite place on earth, Video Spotlight, our local video store. In the days before the big chains, the place seemed to have a copy (though likely only a single copy) of every VHS tape ever released. The walls were lined with thousands of boxes, propped with Styrofoam blocks to keep their shape, just waiting to be taken to the front desk and traded for a brown clamshell case containing the actual cassette. It was in this glorious place that I spent hours of my childhood haunting the horror aisle, marveling at the terrifying cover art and occasionally sneaking a peek at the publicity photos on the back of the box, which felt like tasting forbidden fruit to my young mind.

The actual movies rarely lived up to the depraved scenes I made up in my mind based on these images, but I would not trade those experiences for anything. Then there were the cardboard standees that adorned the endcaps, my favorite of which was The Toxic Avenger with his mangled face and strong hands holding a mop in a heroic pose. It boasted the greatest tagline I had ever seen: “The First Superhero From New Jersey.” Being from the other side of the country, I had no idea what that meant, but it didn’t matter—it was awesome.

Somehow, I eventually convinced my parents to let me see not only the old Universal movies, which they had no problems with, but the more graphic ’80s fare. Eventually that included all the greats, The Toxic Avenger (1984) among them. As the years have gone by, I have discovered that Toxie has a lot more in common with my beloved Universal Monsters than I first realized. Along with a healthy dose of inspiration from Marvel superheroes like Spider-Man and The Hulk, Toxie specifically resembles three of the classic monsters most: The Wolf Man, The Phantom of the Opera, and above all the Frankenstein Monster. None of these characters choose to be a monster, or even to kill, but are driven to it by forces beyond their control. They just want to be loved and accepted for who they are. They are misunderstood, bullied, and pursued by powers bent on destroying them. In other words, they are all sympathetic, relatable characters.

In the original The Toxic Avenger, Melvin (Mark Torgl) is just trying to get by, working as a janitor at the Tromaville health club. He’s awkward, an outcast, certainly what we would call a nerd, and back in those days that was much less acceptable than it is today. Like is often the case in ’80s horror, he is the victim of a prank-gone-wrong and ends up in a barrel of toxic radioactive waste which turns him into The Toxic Avenger (Mitch Cohen). Now, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.) from The Wolf Man (1941) is a pretty suave dude before his transformation, but like Toxie, that transformation is unwelcome and represents a massive change in his stage of life. The idea of the werewolf carries with it the subtext on the transition to adulthood. That’s right, it’s a puberty metaphor, which is explicitly stated in The Toxic Avenger when, as Melvin is undergoing his transformation, his mother remarks after hearing his deepened voice for the first time that he has finally hit puberty.

Also, like Larry Talbot, Toxie seems to have no control over his actions in certain situations. After saving a police officer from a group of gangsters early in the film, Toxie says “I don’t know what came over me. I just couldn’t control myself. I’ve never done anything like this before.” In the sequels, it is revealed that Toxie has biochemical agents in his blood called “Tromatauns” that are a bit like a cross between Peter Parker’s “Spidey-sense” and the out-of-control nature of The Wolf Man. He is driven not only to stop crime, but to tear criminals limb-from-limb in the most creatively violent ways possible, usually climaxing with stuffing mops in their mouths. After his outbursts abate, he generally returns to his docile, controlled self, and even lovable. The big difference between this and Larry Talbot is that Melvin remains in his monstrous form rather than returning to his previous state.

In this way he is more like The Phantom or the Frankenstein Monster, who always appear “monstrous.” He is most like The Phantom in the sense that, at least in the earliest days of his transformation and crime-fighting spree, Toxie stays in the shadows, making himself known only when absolutely necessary. He also makes a home for himself where he feels most comfortable. After being rejected by his mother, he creates a shack in the local toxic waste dump. This reminds me not only of The Phantom, but The Creature from the Black Lagoon. For a time, it seems he mostly just wants to be left alone to deal with his issues, though his Tromatauns force him to go into the world to fight crime.

Above all, Toxie has a great deal in common with the Frankenstein Monster. There are several plot elements from Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935) that find their way into the original Toxic Avenger film series. As with Frankenstein, The Toxic Avenger even begins with a warning about the content of the film, but this is only the beginning. A key aspect of the Frankenstein mythos is that the Monster (Boris Karloff) is rejected by everyone, including his own family. Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive) is very much the Monster’s father, and the root of the trouble stems from his refusal to take any responsibility for his child. The same happens in The Toxic Avenger when Melvin’s mother (Sarabel Levinson), upon seeing his new form, runs screaming from him, forcing her son into the world on his own. Like the Monster, Melvin did not choose to exist in this form, and both are considered by the outside world to be hideous in appearance. That leads to a lonely life and a search for love and acceptance.

Like the Monster, Toxie eventually finds true companionship with a blind person who sees the goodness of his soul rather than any physical differences. In Bride of Frankenstein, the Monster befriends an unsighted hermit in the woods and the two come to depend upon each other. The hermit teaches him to talk, plays music for him, and above all accepts him as a friend. In The Toxic Avenger, Toxie befriends Sara (Andree Maranda), a woman he saves from a gang of thugs who hold up a fast food restaurant. He soon realizes that she is unsighted but as with the hermit, she finds much more beauty in Toxie than he can find in himself. Their relationship is the heart of the film and part of what makes it work as well as it does. In Bride of Frankenstein, the Monster and the hermit are unfortunately torn away from each other due to some hunters who fear the Monster, but happily, this is not the case with Toxie and Sara.

Another similarity between the Monster and Toxie occurs in The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989) when our hero is tempted away from his path by the chairman of the evil corporation Apocalypse, Inc. played by Rick Collins. This is not all that far removed from the Monster encountering rogue scientist Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger) in Bride, who becomes a new father figure to the Monster but leads him down a path of evil rather than good. In both cases these characters are very much like Mephistopheles in the Faust legend, the “man” who convinces Faust to sell his soul in exchange for great knowledge. In the case of the Chairman, he quite literally turns out to be the Devil and forces Toxie to undergo a series of challenges to save Tromaville and his own soul.

One other big similarity between the Monster, along with The Phantom and the Creature from the Black Lagoon, is the idea of class conflict. These classic monsters and Toxie represent the working classes who are oppressed by those in political and economic power. As with the earlier films, those in power, especially Mayor Belgoody (Pat Ryan) and his cronies, attempt to turn the people against what they see as a threat to their power and way of life. In the case of The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and Frankenstein, these powers are successful, and angry mobs pursue and overtake the perceived “monsters.” In the case of The Toxic Avenger, however, they are not successful. This is a welcome turn of events as the oppressed, who have been saved by Toxie, rally to his defense and good triumphs over evil.

This is the modern twist on the classics, which in most cases are the heirs of Shakespearian tragedy. The Toxic Avenger at last realizes that the true monsters are not the outcasts, the deformed, and those who merely have monstrous appearances, but those who have monstrous souls and actions. That is part of what makes the classic monsters and Toxie so continually compelling. Most of us can relate to being the outcast, the underdog, the bullied. Deep down, we know they are reflections of us. Toxie is part of a long line of horror stars and perhaps more than any other ’80s horror icon, is the true heir to the great classic monster heroes. And to me, they are heroes. Some of them even wear capes.

The Toxic Avenger returns to theaters with a brand new movie on August 29.

Get your tickets now!

The post How ‘The Toxic Avenger’ Is the Unsung Heir to the Classic Universal Monsters appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Any summarization of Mutant Blast will make you sound like an asylum patient. It’s unquestionably unique and bullishly original. It’s a Terminator riff until it isn’t. The word “z*mbie” is bleeped out until characters finally admit, yeah, it’s sorta a zombie flick. Actor João Vilas plays “Jean-Pierre” (the human-sized French lobster in a business suit who can talk), “Goblin,” “Zombie Head,” “Yellow Mutant,” and “Rat-hand” all in the same movie. There’s political commentary à la The Return of the Living Dead, dolphin-men with katanas, and ooey-gooey goop by the bucketful. The film marches to the beat of its own drum, in a parade led by the Toxic Avenger.

The gist is this: an incompetent military cell accidentally creates a wasteland doomsday. Our protagonist, Pedro (Pedro Barão Dias), wakes up hungover after a house party with a penis drawn on his face. While trying to piece together the night’s festivities, he realizes there was a zombie outbreak. Enter Maria (Maria Leite): a tough-as-nails soldier tasked with babysitting her company’s superhuman TS-347 experiment (Joaquim Guerreiro) and, eventually, Pedro’s reluctant escort. Together, they traverse lands covered with everything from traditional zombies to gargantuan rats with acidic milk squirters. They meet friends along the way (the romantic crustacean Jean-Pierre), and fight lab-generated enemies sent by the military cell.

It’s the end of the world, and while Pedro might not feel fine, he’s having a blast anyway—because nuclear blasts transform any survivors into mutants.

Mutant Blast is, without a doubt, the holy grail of lunacy. It’s Troma-coded in the ways that Pedro and Maria encounter increasingly batshit obstacles that don’t necessarily make sense, but that doesn’t matter. Alle has that special kind of control over madness that makes the ride so damn addictive, even if our guiding vehicle goes off the rails every few minutes. That’s what Troma does best after all these years, and what makes Mutant Blast such a standout success in their catalog. Kaufman’s niche filmmaking has spanned decades of independent oddities, but his antics now come with expectations (cemented by data). Alle is paying homage to his producers, yet it’s clearly his voice and vision with no attached preconceptions.

Alle blankets his film in satirization, whether that’s the moronic overlords who cause the apocalypse or tropes that are roasted over a spit. In how Tromaville has become a bizarro portrait of American follies, Mutant Blast openly mocks officials and corporate stooges who “accidentally” launch 10 nuclear bombs without accountability. Then you have the “will they, won’t they” jokes about Pedro and Maria, centering on how Maria has no lustful interest in her tagalong despite his scattered attempts. This isn’t your typical survival horror film where trauma bonds breed romance, nor does Alle care to sugarcoat his societal commentaries. That’s not the point of exploitation cinema or off-the-lease midnighters. Subtlety is for Sundance premieres and A24 movies—Alle’s here to ruffle feathers.

That said, he does so with more tact and deftness than what Troma’s recently concocted in-house with their regular team. Something like Shakespeare’s Shitstorm pushes boundaries with a brand of immaturity that’s doing so for cheap kicks. Mutant Blast is fun-loving and sweethearted as characters trudge through bloody puddles of guts, keeping its obscenities good-natured. Sure, Pedro pushes a joke too far when describing radioactive bukkake, but he’s immediately shamed. There are repercussions for such juvenility in Mutant Blast, where Troma’s other contemporary releases can feel like they’re pushing buttons in bad faith, like a 5-year-old that just learned their first curse word, who renders the shock value impotent.

Perhaps that’s what makes Mutant Blast so enjoyable. It’s a crude, bloodthirsty gorefest best described by film critic Rob Hunter as if “Astron-6 and a young Peter Jacker had a kick-ass baby”—but you feel icky. Combat boots squish undead heads like they’re rotten pumpkins, and yet there’s a wholesomeness to certain elements. The way Jean-Pierre pines over his wife, the most beautiful lobster in all the reef, or Maria and Pedro’s friendship, which becomes that of a charming zombie-hunting duo. Characters keep one another in check while having their laughs, while splatterfest exaggerations still retain moral decorum (to a degree). It’s a movie with heart, even if Alle rips it out and uses it as a prop to be smashed into a pulpy gunk.

Speaking of grotesque visuals, there’s no shortage of the gnarly stuff. Special Make-Up Effects Supervisor João Rapaz keeps things juicy whenever violence is at a premium. We’re talkin’ sloppy face melts like a popsicle on hot pavement, decapitations during fantasy-folklore swordplay dreams, and plenty of other inventive ways to brutalize a human body. There’s also an adorable ratty hand-puppet designed by creative consultant Adrián Cardona that Pedro wears for a bit, because a literal rat explodes out of his palm as a surprise mutation. Then you’ve got full(ish)-body costumes of Jean-Pierre (working claws and all), Dolphinman (in his acid-washed jeans), and a towering mother rat that took three whole crew members to operate. Paper mache, styrofoam, and other arts supplies are used to bring forth freakish end-of-days wanderers, all of which have that Troma-approved nonsense aura that works in their low-budget appearances.

Most of all, you can tell Mutant Blast is a labor of love for everyone involved. When the film ends, it doesn’t say “Directed by Fernando Alle” or a sole credit. The text reads “A Film By,” and then seventeen names. Alle’s acknowledgement of everyone involved is indicative of a leader who empowers his cast and crew, which fits the vibe of what’s on screen. Everyone is having a grand ol’ time and brings their sincerest A-game. This might be the most absurd Portuguese horror film ever released, but it’s hardly phoned in. Performances are rock-solid, storytelling keeps a steady pace, and effects will bring a smile to your face. You won’t catch elements lacking, despite how specific props—like a doodie-coated-looking duck abomination—are probably held together with duct tape.

Mutant Blast doesn’t just know the type of kitchen-sink weirdo flick it is—it’s loud and proud about every frame. With all due respect, Alle does Troma better than his mentors. His special effects background on films like Return to Nuke’ Em High Volume 1 and Return to Return to Nuke’ Em High aka Vol. 2 translates into a showcase for strange tales about altered dystopian states. Every scene there’s a new curveball, and they’re all worth a smile.

The Troma brand is alive and well in the hands of filmmakers like Alle, who evolve an addictive style of underground horror filmmaking with a newly minted and freshly reinvigorated appeal.

Troma returns to the big screen with The Toxic Avenger only in theaters on August 29!

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW.

The post ‘Mutant Blast’ – The Best Recent Troma Movie You Probably Haven’t Seen appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Okay, so maybe that’s a little hyperbolic. But I do think something chemically changed inside me when I first saw The Toxic Avenger at far too young an age, setting me down a path of outrageous cinema, of sleaze and violence, of satire and exploitation, of everything Troma does best. It’s a path I still walk today.

I can remember hearing about The Toxic Avenger for the first time from my dad one morning at the breakfast table. I was getting ready to leave for what had to be fourth grade and he told me he had just seen “the grossest movie he had ever seen.” He went on to describe the plot to me, then went into detail about some of the more noteworthy kills, including heads crushed by a set of weights and one bad guy’s face that gets mutilated under a milkshake maker. He told me the title: The Toxic Avenger. I was just a kid, so naturally I had but one response.

I have to see this fucking movie.

I wasn’t allowed to see it, of course, still being deemed too young to be exposed to that kind of violence (though not too young, apparently, to have that kind of violence described to me over a bowl of Frosted Flakes). Enter USA Up All Night, the long-running cable show that aired every Friday and Saturday night on the USA Network, airing all kinds of trash cinema, albeit edited for television. That didn’t matter. Some Toxie was better than no Toxie, and I had found the loophole in my parents’ objections: if it was on basic cable (not HBO), it must be okay for me to watch. Still too young to stay up late enough to watch the movie, I let a VHS tape record all night and woke up early the next morning to finally taste this forbidden, toxic fruit.

A Troma fan was born.

It wasn’t just that the movie showed me things I had never seen in a movie before, even though it did. It had more to do with how the movie felt, like it was made by lunatics who were getting away with something. The acting style was different from any movie I had ever seen, and yet it seemed to perfectly fit the tone of the rest of the film. The violence was brutal and bloody, but it was outrageous to the point of being funny; it was designed to be gross, but not gross me out. Everything from the sets to the costumes to the film stock itself felt like it had a layer of grime on it, showing me that it was okay not to have the glossy aesthetics of the Hollywood product I had regularly been consuming to that point.

That was maybe the most important takeaway from the movie: it didn’t follow any traditional rules. I know there are any number of indie movies made in the ‘70s and ‘80s from which I might have gleaned this lesson, but I was a kid and Toxie got there first. Troma clearly had its own playbook, and though they were using the basic framework of a superhero origin story (a framework with which we were much less familiar in the mid 1980s), they did so in a way that subverted formula at every turn. The disgusting monster is actually the hero, even when he violently murders every bad guy he comes across. The good-looking jocks are psychopaths. Kids and animals are killed. Nothing is sacred.

The Toxic Avenger taught me to watch movies differently, and it’s a skill I’ve carried with me through the rest of my life. It’s what allows me to still be a Troma fan to this day, even when their films exist in their own universe and operate on a level that’s unlike anything else. I can enjoy a Troma title (or, likewise, a title from Full Moon Entertainment, the Stones to Troma’s Beatles) or a super low-budget indie horror film because I understand what it’s meant to be and take it on its own terms. I sometimes find myself wishing other genre fans shared this mentality, and I don’t just mean when it comes to Troma. We don’t have to like what a movie chooses to be, but we should at least be able to watch it through its intended lens. We can’t get mad at pizza because it doesn’t taste like steak.

The Toxic Avenger – a lot of Troma films, for that matter – is pizza: it’s greasy and gooey and not very good for me, but it’s exactly what I want when I want that sort of thing. The movie has been making headlines again lately thanks to Macon Blair’s upcoming remake (in theaters on August 29), and seeing it talked about so much reminded me of just how special the movie is to me. Loving Troma has never made me cool, even among the horror community, but it’s been hardwired into me for so long that I can barely remember life before Toxie. He introduced me to gore and to exploitation. He made me a more adventurous, open-minded horror fan.

He’s part of who I am, and part of what I love.

Get your tickets now to see The Toxic Avenger in theaters on August 29!

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on May 22, 2019.

The post Childhood Troma: How ‘The Toxic Avenger’ Made Me a Lifelong Gore and Exploitation Fan appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Tromeo and Juliet checks off the usual transgressive humor and outlandish, oft gory gags from which Troma built its reputation. Still, it also dares to give the star-crossed lovers the happy ending Shakespeare never afforded them. The genre-leaning rom-com marks the first screenwriting credit for filmmaker James Gunn (Superman) and serves as a blueprint for the trademark blend of rampant chaos and pure heart that he’s brought to every effort since.

Lemmy of Motörhead narrates this twisted take on the Shakespearean classic. He tells of the violent feud between the poor Que family and the rich Capulets in their respective corners of Manhattan. Their children, Tromeo Que (Will Keenan) and Juliet Capulet (Janes Jensen), find themselves dealing with less-than-ideal suitors before crossing paths at the Capulet masquerade. It’s love at first sight for the pair, leaving them caught in the middle of a dangerous war between families.

Tromeo and Juliet offers no shortage of crude jokes, wild dream sequences that include a monster penis, and plenty of violence- like Sean Gunn‘s Sammy Capulet losing brain matter on the sidewalk. But its emphasis on romance sets it apart from the production company’s usual output. Tromeo and Juliet are just so gosh darn into each other that it’s sweet. It anchors the entire thing from spinning out of control, even as Juliet’s dad gets more repulsive by the minute.

Director Lloyd Kaufman wound up hiring James Gunn to rewrite Tromeo and Juliet after a few failed attempts to crack it. Fresh off earning his MFA from Columbia University, Gunn took the gig for only $150. It marked the start of his work at Troma, and in hindsight it’s easy to see how it helped develop his sense of style and humor. 

Most adaptations of Romeo & Juliet faithfully adhere to the tragedy’s ending, with crossed wires leading to the suicides of the young lovers, finally prompting a resolution between families. Gunn and Kaufman’s take offers a far more uplifting course correction, with the young lovers bucking the oppressive patriarch to blame and choosing to ride off into the sunset together. Granted, the final Troma hook reveals that the lovers are related, but not even incest can stop their undying love for each other.

Sure, Juliet may turn into a cow beast, and the jokes and violence get dialed up to intentionally offensive levels, but the sweet romance brings balance. Tromeo and Juliet both have a naivete that engenders them to the viewer well, and it keeps them floating above the meaner aspects of the story that come in large part from the villainous Cappy Capulet (Maximillian Shaun).

This particular component of innocence as a beacon in an oft-cruel, violent world runs through James Gunn’s output, becoming more fine-tuned with every new film. It’s incorruptible love that adds poignancy to the slimy, delightfully gross SLiTHER. Frank Darbo’s (Rainn Wilson) winsome obtuseness allows his violent vigilantism to still make him the protagonist in Super. It’s why audiences fell hard for the misfit characters in Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy features, and why they’ve connected with The Suicide Squad and now Superman as well.

James Gunn cuts straight to the humanity of characters often deemed inhumane or irredeemable. That contrast is inherently humorous but more potent is its charm. Guardians‘ Yondu (Michael Rooker), for example, might be a ruthless and practical-minded criminal that dabbled in child trafficking, but audiences still fell hard when he proudly declared, “I’m Mary Poppins, y’all!” Gunn leans into the absurd and embraces it hard in Guardians and his other films, ushering forth wildly engaging scenarios full of characters we fall for, despite themselves.

It’s easy to look back at his very first film credit and see where it all began, with a pair of plucky youths falling in love and overcoming the zaniest odds to stay together.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on August 2, 2021.

Troma returns to the big screen with The Toxic Avenger only in theaters on August 29!

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW.

The post ‘Tromeo and Juliet’ Set the Blueprint for James Gunn’s Absurd Humor and Lovable Characters appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The Toxic Avenger launched in 1984. The saga continued with The Toxic Avenger Part II and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie in 1989, followed by Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV in 2000.

The unrated director’s cuts of all four films have been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negatives with HDR as well as English DTS 2.0 Stereo audio.

The Toxic Avenger special features:

• Introduction by The Toxic Avenger creator Lloyd Kaufman
• Audio Commentaries with Casts and Filmmakers
• Prologue by Director Lloyd Kaufman
• Introduction by Director Lloyd Kaufman
• Interviews with Actors Jennifer Baptist, Robert Prichard, Mitch Cohen, and Dan Snow
• Interview with Co-Director Michael Herz
• Interview with Actor Aark Torgl
• Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery
• Trailers

The Toxic Avenger is born when meek mop boy Melvin falls into a vat of toxic waste. Now evildoers of Tromaville will have a lot to lose.

Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman direct from a script by Joe Ritter. Mitch Cohen, Mark Torgl, Andree Maranda, and Pat Ryan Jr star.

The Toxic Avenger II special features:

• Introduction by The Toxic Avenger creator Lloyd Kaufman
• Audio Commentaries with Casts and Filmmakers
• Prologue by Director Lloyd Kaufman
• Introduction by Director Lloyd Kaufman
• At Home with Toxie Mockumentary
•  Interview with Actress Lisa Gaye
• Japanese News Report on the Filming
• Radiation March – Short Film Directed by Lloyd Kaufman
• The American Cinematheque Honors 40 Years of Troma
• Trailers

The Toxic Avenger is tricked into traveling to Tokyo to search for his estranged father, leaving Tromaville open to complete domination by an evil corporation.

Herz and Kaufman direct from a script by Gay Partington Terry. Ron Fazio, Phoebe Legere, John Altamura, Rick Collins, Rikiya Yasuoka, Tsutomu Sekine, and Mayako Katsuragi star.

The Toxic Avenger Part III special features:

• Introduction by The Toxic Avenger creator Lloyd Kaufman
• Audio Commentary by Director Lloyd Kaufman
• Audio Commentary by Actor Joe Fleishaker
• Prologue by Director Lloyd Kaufman
• Behind the Scenes of the “Return to Nuke ‘em High Vol. 1” screening at MOMA
• The American Cinematheque Honors 40 Years of Troma
• Make Your Own Damn Horror Film – Behind the Scenes of Old 37 with Kane Hodder and Bill Moseley
• Radiation March – Short Film Directed by Lloyd Kaufman
• A Halloween Carol – Short Film Co-directed by Lloyd Kaufman
• Rabid Grannies Blu-ray Infomercial

Having ridden his city of evil, The Toxic Avenger decides to go to work for a major corporation, which he discovers may be the evilest of all his adversaries.

Herz and Kaufman write and direct. Ron Fazio, Phoebe Legere, John Altamura, Rick Collins, Lisa Gaye, Jessica Dublin, and Michael Kaplan star.

Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV special features:

• Introduction by The Toxic Avenger creator Lloyd Kaufman
• Audio Commentaries with Casts and Filmmakers
• Prologue by Director Lloyd Kaufman
• Apocalypse Soon: The Making of Citizen Toxie
• Tribute to Lemmy Kilmister
• The American Cinematheque Honors 40 Years of Troma
• Trailers

The Toxic Avenger must defend his friends from his own evil alternate universe doppelgänger, The Noxious Offender.

Kaufman directs from a script he co-wrote with Trent Haaga, Patrick Cassidy, and Gabriel Friedman. David Mattey, Clyde Lewis, Heidi Sjursen, Paul Kyrmse, Joe Fleishaker, Debbie Rochon, and Ron Jeremy star.

The Toxic Avenger returns in Macon Blair‘s fresh reimagining of the superhero horror-comedy, in theaters on August 29.

The post All 4 ‘Toxic Avenger’ Films Are Now on 4K UHD appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The documentary shines a spotlight on Troma’s unique approach to the Cannes Film Festival over the years, spotlighting their most recent effort to sell Return to Nuke ‘Em High at the event. Exclusively check out the Sitges poster for Occupy Cannes below and read on for more.

The hand-painted poster, created by award-winning artist Marco Mazzoni, debuts ahead of the film’s European Premiere at Sitges in the Brigadoon section, on October 10, 2025.

Occupy Cannes made its World Premiere at Fantasia Film Festival, where Lloyd Kaufman was honored with the Indie Maverick Award. The award was presented to Kaufman by Superman director James Gunn, who got his start making movies with Troma back in the ’90s.

Iconic director Lloyd Kaufman and the Troma Team wage a punk-spirited battle championing independent art at Cannes in Occupy Cannes, presented through the lens of Kaufman’s daughters, Director Lily-Hayes Kaufman (Innards, Rare Birds of Fashion), Cinematographer Charlotte Kaufman (The Jinx; The Alabama Solution) and Producer Lisbeth Kaufman.

Lloyd Kaufman and the Troma Team have been a staple of the Cannes Film Festival since 1974. Renowned for guerrilla tactics and provocative artistry to sell films, Troma’s audacious performances spark controversy and curiosity. Occupy Cannes asks: does Kaufman’s defiant stance attract coveted buyers, or ostracize Troma from the industry’s inner circle?

The documentary features performances and appearances by Catherine Corcoran (Terrifier, Best Friends Forever, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes reboot), Zac Amico (Zac Amico’s Morning Zoo), Justin A. Martell (The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs), Doug Sakmann, Lloyd Kaufman and of course, The Toxic Avenger himself.

Occupy Cannes is presented by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, a Troma Team Production and Saturday Candy Film. Executive Producers Julie Corman and Roger Corman.

The doc is made possible with support from the New York State Council on the Arts.

Known for a universe of superheroes with a global cult following, NYC-based Troma Entertainment may be the last surviving truly independent film studio. Troma has acquired thousands of films that big studios ignore. Trey Parker, Matt Stone and James Gunn, are Troma proteges, and there are hundreds of other artists who have found a voice with the company.

But, like hundreds of thousands of species on this planet, Troma is at risk of going extinct. After 40 years of selling films at Cannes, this could be their final trip…

The post ‘Occupy Cannes’ – Lily-Hayes Kaufman’s Troma Doc Gets New Poster for Sitges Premiere in October appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In addition to Lloyd Kaufman‘s original The Toxic Avenger, its three sequels, and the “Toxic Crusaders” animated series, 50+ classic Troma titles are now streaming on Screambox!

The lineup includes fan favorites like Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, Class of Nuke ‘Em High, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D., Surf Nazis Must Die, Tromeo and Juliet, Terror Firmer, and Cannibal! The Musical.

Here’s the full Troma Collection that’s NOW STREAMING on Screambox…

• 1990: The Bronx Warriors
• Basket Case 2
• Basket Case 3
• Beware, Children At Play!
• Black Roses
• Blades
• Blood Hook
• Bloodsucking Freaks
• Body Parts
• The Bride With White Hair
• The Bride With White Hair 2
• Cannibal! The Musical
• The Children
• Class of Nuke ‘Em High
• Class of Nuke ‘Em High 2
• Class of Nuke ‘Em High 3
• Combat Shock
• Dead Dudes In The House
• Decampitated
• Def By Temptation
• Endgame
• The Exterminator
• Father’s Day
• Frankenhooker
• Fresh Kill
• Frightmare
• Frostbiter
• Graduation Day
• The Haunting Fear
• Hollow Gate
• Igor and the Lunatics
• Luther The Geek
• Maniac Cop
• Monster In The Closet
• Mother’s Day
• New Gladiators
• The Newlydeads
• Nightbeast
• Pigs
• Poultrygeist: Night Of The Chicken Dead
• Rabid Grannies
• Red Scorpion
• Redneck Zombies
• Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.
• Story Of A Junkie
• Stuff Stephanie in the Incinerator
• Surf Nazis Must Die
• Terror Firmer
• The Toxic Avenger
• The Toxic Avenger Part II
• The Toxic Avenger Part III
• The Toxic Avenger IV: Citizen Toxie
• Toxic Crusaders
• Toxic Crusaders: The Movie
• Tromeo and Juliet
• Vampire At Midnight
• VHS Massacre
• VHS Massacre Too
• The Wedding Party

Start streaming the Troma Collection now with Screambox on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Prime Video, Roku, Fire TV, YouTube TV, Samsung, Comcast, Cox, and Screambox.com.

The post 50+ Troma Movies Plus ‘Toxic Crusaders’ Animated Series Are Now Streaming on Screambox! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Beyond that, however, Nightbeast serves as the epitome of a lost era of regional horror filmmaking for the home video market; a legacy that feels right at home with Troma, who distributes the film.

Nightbeast is written and directed by Baltimore-based cult filmmaker Don Dohler, who sporadically produced no-budget genre fare until his passing in 2006. Coining the phrase “blood, boobs, and beast” as the three elements necessary to sell a film, he practices what he preaches; Nightbeast delivers all three in spades — and not much else.

A loose remake of Dohler’s own 1978 effort The Alien Factor, Nightbeast is far from a good picture, but there’s an incontrovertible charm to its do-it-yourself ethics and homegrown aesthetic. As is evident when watching the movie, it was shot in Dohler’s backyard with the help of a revolving door of friends and family members, and that camaraderie translates onto the screen.

Schlocky as it is, Nightbeast is not without its merits in atmosphere and production design, particularly the eye-catching creature suit — created and worn by John Dods (Alien: Resurrection, Ghostbusters II) — that looks like the unholy offspring of Rawhead Rex and a gorilla. It’s laughable if you look at it for long, particularly in high definition, but Dohler smartly suppresses the monster to mere glimpses for a majority of the film.

After testing the viewer’s patience with a runtime-padding opening credit sequence created by Ernest Farino (The Terminator, Terminator 2), Dohler wastes no time getting to the action. A spacecraft — obviously a model, but not a shabby one considering the shoestring budget — lands on Earth, and its alien pilot proceeds to kill the countless bystanders who investigate or otherwise happen upon the crash site.

There’s about 20 minutes of mindless mayhem, courtesy of the creature’s intergalactic ray gun and the brute strength of its bare hands, before any semblance of a plot is introduced — and even then, the story is never more than an afterthought. Dohler may not be the most competent storyteller, but like Ed Wood before him, his passion is palpable.

Despite a cast that includes early John Waters regular George Stover and Richard Dyszel, better known as DC-area horror host Count Gore De Vol, the acting is wooden, the abundance of optical effects are cheesy, the pacing is erratic, and there’s no shortage of kitsch — like the painfully awkward love scene or the sequence in which a man slams a foe’s face into the grass some 20 times — but Dolher makes good on his “three B’s” mantra to deliver an entertaining 81 minutes.

Nightbeast succeeds because — like Plan 9 from Outer Space, The Room, Manos: The Hands of Fate, Troll 2, Mac and Me, et al. — it was made by a filmmaker who truly believed in their vision and put everything into bringing it to the screen. The contemporary breed of self-aware B-movies in the vein of Sharknado simply cannot compete with genuine heart of a movie like Nightbeast.

The best way to see Nightbeast is via Vinegar Syndrome’s Blu-ray, which sports a 2K restoration from the original camera negative along with ample extras. You can also find the movie on a variety of streaming services, including Screambox, Shudder, Tubi, and Troma Now.

Troma returns to theaters with The Toxic Avenger on 8/29. Get your tickets now!

The post ‘Nightbeast’ – The Wacky Troma Release That Was Scored By a 16-Year-Old J.J. Abrams appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

So fasten your seatbelts, we’re going for a ride into Tromaville!

Founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974, Troma Entertainment started out with a handful of raunchy comedies but soon expanded into a genre-driven empire, producing and distributing hundreds of indie pictures around the world. Over the years, the company earned a reputation as a tenacious champion of independent cinema and freedom of expression, launching the careers of countless notable creators and performers (from genre veteran and now Superman director James Gunn to South Park‘s Matt & Trey Parker, not to mention celebrated actors like Marisa Tomei and Samuel L. Jackson).

Even with all these familiar talents, Troma’s success can be traced back to Lloyd Kaufman’s long-standing devotion to genre filmmaking. Born to a Jewish family, Lloyd originally studied at Yale University (with classmates featuring the likes of Oliver Stone and George W. Bush) with the goal of becoming a social worker. However, he became involved in foreign aid with both USAID and the Peace Corps before finally settling on a career in film, acquiring a passion for the craft once he became involved with student productions. After directing a few features of his own, he would partner up with Herz to create a distribution and production company for less-savory movies, and the rest is history.

Of course, there’s a reason that Troma is known as “The House That Toxie Built,” so we have to discuss Kaufman and Herz’s notorious 1984 super-hero/body-horror classic The Toxic Avenger, which spawned a multi-media franchise (featuring 3 sequels with a big screen reboot on the way on August 29, a musical and even a short-lived animated series that spawned a classic toyline) and created Troma’s now-iconic mascot.

For those who haven’t seen it, the film chronicles the misadventures of Melvin, a nerdy health-club janitor who becomes the subject of horrific bullying, winding up in a barrel of toxic waste and mutating into a hideously-deformed creature of superhuman size and strength. Naturally, Melvin uses his newfound abilities to protect the streets of Tromaville, New Jersey, becoming an icon in the process.

Not only was The Toxic Avenger a bona fide hit, featuring a surprisingly compelling story told through Looney-Tunes-esque comedy and thrilling/horrific practical effects, but it also established certain themes and traditions that would recur in future Troma productions. Despite the extreme subject matter, there’s a certain naïve quality to almost all these movies as they satirize 1950s horror and sci-fi sensibilities, cutting corners during production (going so far as to reuse certain effects shots and props across several films) in order to find the cheapest route towards cinematic thrills.

It’s not all explosions and bodily fluids, however, as there are also a host of social concerns frequently brought up in these movies, much to the chagrin of critics who assume that genre fiction has only recently begun to tackle real life issues (especially after those silly “post-horror” discussions). Topics like environmentalism, civil rights and anti-nuclear sentiments are quite common in Troma pictures, and over the years Lloyd has continued to use his films as a soapbox to discuss other serious problems… without compromising the exploding heads and gross monsters.

Be it facing the American Educational System in Nuke ‘Em High, satirizing the highly-volatile filmmaking industry in Terror Firmer, or exposing the evils of fast-food corporations in Poultrygeist (a film whose mere poster was enough to give a younger me nightmares back in 2006), Troma’s never really stopped churning out highly-entertaining cult classics that also happen to deal with important social issues. Of course, simply referencing complex topics isn’t quite the same as presenting valid solutions or even deconstructing these ideas, and there’s no denying that Troma has had its fair share of problematic content in their movies.

I may enjoy the trashy gore and crude humor in these pictures, but sometimes Troma’s excesses are too much even for me. I actually had a hard time getting through Terror Firmer because of some really disturbing imagery and backward views on transsexuality. There’s also plenty to be said about the foul treatment and depiction of women in these movies (though to be fair, I’m not aware of any allegations of misconduct behind the scenes, which is a rarity among movie studios). Even so, I think it’s clear that Lloyd means well, as he’s always stated that he’s proud of the fact that his movies bring up taboo subject matter and get people talking about important issues. At the end of the day, I think that’s a more progressive attitude than you can expect from most folks in their 70s.

Nevertheless, this punk-rock spirit of constantly sticking it to “the man” while advocating for environmentalism and combatting corporate filmmaking has kept Troma Entertainment relevant even in a world dominated by serialized blockbusters (though the company has actually established an expanded universe with frequent crossovers between characters like Dolphinman, Toxie and Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD). Even if you’re not a fan of their admittedly sloppy filmmaking tactics, it’s easy to appreciate how they’ve maintained a consistent style and tone after so long. Other than some digital equipment upgrades, there’s really not much difference between a Troma production from the ’80s and something recent like their upcoming Shakespeare’s Shitstorm. The shoddy effects and haphazard scripts may not be for everyone, but there’s an earnestness to these projects that make them worthwhile, and they haven’t lost it yet.

Despite all this talk about keeping it old school, Troma has also embraced some conveniences of the digital age, producing wacky shorts and making a huge part of their catalogue free to watch on their YouTube channel until it was unexpectedly terminated earlier this year for “violating community standards.” Even then, they’ve still got Troma Now, a mercifully cheap streaming service for all your disruptive media needs.

At the end of the day, Troma is far from the only production company that still invests in schlocky projects with exaggerated gore and silly stories (Full Moon Features is still going strong, and there are plenty of totally independent creators out there making guerilla-styled slashers and found-footage flicks). However, they’re still a uniquely inspirational example of an old-school filmmaking tradition that simply refuses to die, regardless of folks claiming that modern horror is going down the drain.

Whether or not you appreciate their particular brand of B-movie madness, I think we can all be thankful that Uncle Lloyd and Toxie are still out there introducing new generations of filmmakers to the industry and producing the bloodiest and most disgusting of features. During these uncertain times, when we’re not even sure if the traditional cinema experience will survive, it’s nice to know that someone’s still out there fighting the good fight in favor of retro-styled movie-going thrills.

So if you ever find yourself missing the sleazy charms of classic B-movies (or maybe you just want to shock a few close friends with some gnarly practical effects), look to the horizon and maybe, just maybe, a Troma picture will be there. Speaking of which…

Grab your tickets to see brand new reboot The Toxic Avenger in theaters on August 29!

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on November 3, 2020.

The post The House That Toxie Built: Celebrating 50 Years of Old-School Horror from Troma Entertainment appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Directed by Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger), the 2020 musical horror comedy will be released on 4K Ultra HD on September 16.

Special features:

• Introduction by Lloyd Kaufman
• Producers Audio Commentary
• Cast Audio Commentary
• Full Length Behind The Scenes Documentary
• A Heaping Serving of Troma
• Theatrical Trailers
• Radiation March
• I’ve Been Tromatized
• Troma In Times Square
• Tromalbania
• Original Songs from the Movie

Mad scientist Prospero runs away with his blind daughter Miranda to Tromaville, hiding from evil pharmaceutical execs, including his own sister Antoinette, who ruined his career after he found the cure against opioid addiction.

With the help of a handicapped crack-whore, he releases a massive amount of laxative to whales, while his enemies are on a cruise ship to North Korea. A humongous shitstorm washes the boat away and brings them to Tromaville. Prospero can now fully realize his ultimate vengeance.

Kaufman stars as Prospero alongside Kate McGarrigle, Erin Miller, Debbie Rochon, Abraham Sparrow, Zac Amico, Amanda Flowers, Dylan Mars Greenberg, Zoe Geltman, Frazer Brown, Monique Dupree, Teresa Hui, Ahkai Franklin, and Catherine Corcoran.

Brandon Bassham penned the script, based on a story by Kaufman, Gabriel Friedman (Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead), and — of course — Shakespeare.

Luiz H. C. wrote in his review, “If you’re not already a Troma fan, it’s unlikely that Shakespeare’s Shitstorm will be the film to change that. However, if you’re familiar with their balls-to-the-wall approach to schlock (and can stomach a few tasteless laughs), you might just find a legitimately poignant statement hidden behind the blood, guts and fecal matter.”

Don’t miss Kaufman on the big screen in Macon Blair’s The Toxic Avenger on August 29.

The post Lloyd Kaufman’s ‘The Tempest’ Parody ‘Shakespeare’s Shitstorm’ Hits 4K UHD Next Month appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

And with over half a century of independent production and distribution under their belt, it’s only natural that Troma has quite the expansive catalogue of less popular films that still deserve love from genre fans. With that in mind, we’ve decided to come up with a list celebrating six underrated Troma movies that are still worth revisiting!

For the purposes of this list, we’ll be including examples from both Troma’s original productions and their indie distribution fare. That being said, we’re aware that the studio has a lot more than just six underrated movies out there, so don’t forget to comment below with your own favorites if you think we missed a particularly memorable one.

With that out of the way, onto the list! And don’t miss Troma’s big return to the big screen with Macon Blair’s The Toxic Avenger only in theaters – and wildly UNRATED – on August 29!

6. Father’s Day (2011)

Collectively produced by Astron-6 (the same team behind modern classics like The Void and Psycho Goreman), Father’s Day is a gnarly revenge thriller satirizing exploitation flicks from the ’70s. While it was originally envisioned as an absurd short film about a man searching for the serial killer who assaulted and murdered his father, reception to the short was so positive that the team felt like they had no choice but to expand the concept into a feature.

And we’re glad they did, as the end result is one of the best neo-Grindhouse productions out there. In fact, the only reason the film ranks so low on this list is the fact that it’s technically only “underrated” due to it having been lost in distribution hell despite being well received by both critics and audiences back in 2011.

5. Killer Condom (1996)

Most audiences will already know if they like Killer Condom or not based on the title alone. A German comic-book adaptation boasting deadpan humor and a surprising amount of social commentary, Martin Walz’s horror comedy (Kondom des Grauens in the original German) is far from your average Troma feature, but it still contains enough sex and violence to appease both fans of monstrous b-movies and absurdist comic strips.

This deeply unserious film follows an intrepid detective and a gigolo as they investigate a string of murders perpetrated by the titular monster, but what really makes it stand out is the fact that it was co-written by famed comic artist Ralf König. In fact, this was such a high-profile production that even Swiss artist H.R. Giger contributed to the monster’s design!

4. Monster in the Closet (1986)

Despite their reputation for schlock, Troma has launched the careers of many successful filmmakers and actors over the years.1986’s Monster in the Closet is a great example of this, as not only does this suggestive horror comedy feature the talents of veterans like John Carradine and Kevin Peter Hall, but it also boasts early appearances by both the late Paul Walker and The Black-Eyed Peas’ Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson!

Of course, it’s the wacky story and memorable creature design that make Monster in the Closet so memorable, with the thinly veiled gay allegory and over-the-top visual gags making this one of the most entertaining movies on this list if you can get past a few dated jokes and a general lack of budget.

3. Frostbiter: Wrath of the Wendigo (1995)

A passion project originally shot all the way back in 1988 on a meager budget of just $17,500, Tom Chaney’s Frostbiter: Wrath of the Wendigo was ultimately saved by Troma Pictures after an exceptionally long period of post-production. Personally, I’m glad that they did, because this micro-budget creature-feature is way more fun than it has any right to be.

Inspired by Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead films, Frostbiter follows the chaos that ensues when a couple of friends accidentally unleash the fearsome Wendigo during a hunting trip in Northern Michigan. And not only does this monster movie boast plenty of hilariously lo-fi practical effects, but it also features Ron Asheton of The Stooges in a minor role!

2. Combat Shock (1986)

Unlike the other films on this list, Buddy Giovinazzo’s Combat Shock is far from a comedic endeavor. It may be deeply absurd, with the script’s depressing hyper-reality often bordering on parody, but Giovinazzo’s unflinching look at life after wartime is so disturbing that the exaggerated moments feel more surreal than funny.

Telling the story of an unemployed Vietnam veteran attempting to survive the urban warzone of 1980s Staten Island, Combat Shock is often remembered as one of the most brutal anti-war films of the ’70s, though viewers often forget that it was made and distributed by the same company that spawned Toxie.

1. Cannibal! the Musical (1993)

Also known as Alferd Packard: The Musical in some territories, Trey Parker’s debut film happens to be my personal favorite entry on this list. Cannibal! is a satirical retelling of the true story of the infamous Colorado Cannibal and the tragic journey that resulted in five deaths, with Parker using history as a jumping off point in order to poke fun at both Westerns and American culture in general.

While the movie had its wide release a year before Parker and frequent collaborator Matt Stone (who co-produced the film and played the character of James Humphrey) became household names due to the success of South Park, Cannibal! features much of the same sharp humor and idiosyncratic storytelling – which is why I believe it’s a must-watch for fans of the show.

Troma returns to the big screen with The Toxic Avenger only in theaters on August 29!

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW.

The post From Killer Condoms to Closet Monsters: Six Underrated Troma Movies! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

And among the filmmaker’s numerous attempts at translating the underground appeal of Troma to a wider audience, the bizarre production of Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD happens to be one of the most fascinating. While this deeply odd superhero flick wasn’t as big of a hit as The Toxic Avenger (and Kaufman himself considered it a disappointment for many years), I’d argue that the clownish antics of Kabukiman resulted in one of the most underrated movies in Troma history.

And in honor of The Toxic Avenger reboot bringing the radioactive crime-fighter back to the big screen in all of his unrated glory, I think this is the perfect opportunity to discuss Troma’s other body-horror-inspired super-hero with a heart of gold.

In a classic case of niche American properties becoming “big in Japan,” the original Toxic Avenger was a surprisingly big hit in the East-Asian market. That’s why a large portion of the film’s controversial sequels was shot in Japan, a decision that allowed the heads of Namco to visit the set and approach co-directors Kaufman and Michael Herz with a business proposal about developing a new super-hero character specifically for the Japanese market. Kaufman jokingly replied that he already had ideas for a spin-off movie about the “Kabuki-Boy” character that briefly appears in the film, but the executives ended up taking his idea seriously and struck a deal. This nearly accidental partnership resulted in a $4 million budget – a huge sum for a Troma movie at the time – mostly acquired through foreign investors.

Of course, problems soon arose as both Michael and the Namco executives insisted on pivoting the film towards a more family-friendly style of filmmaking while Lloyd seemed incapable of compromising his “Tromatic” influences. This creative friction would go on to plague Kabukiman even after the film was completed, but it’s precisely the push and pull between Herz and Kaufman that make this such an entertaining feature. In fact, I’d argue that the duo’s conflicting personalities were also responsible for the success of their previous films.

Kaufman himself has admitted that the two initially disliked each other when they met at Yale and only hung out because one of them had a pinball machine and other owned the only TV in the dorm. However, they soon realized that their opposing dispositions made them highly effective creative partners. While Lloyd has always been outspoken about politics and extreme filmmaking (with the Troma co-founder acting as the public face of the company), Herz’s camera-shy personality and more business-oriented approach make him the perfect foil for Kaufman’s eccentricities. In the case of Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD, the disparate styles meant that the film could simultaneously benefit from the chaotic energy of a classic Troma production (i.e. rapid-fire gags, cartoony sound effects and over-the-top violence) with the more traditional structure and sensibilities of a mainstream blockbuster.

In the finished film (which was mostly shot on location in both New Jersey and Manhattan), we follow Rick Gianasi as Harry Griswold, a bumbling NYPD officer who stumbles onto a criminal conspiracy to murder a family of Kabuki performers that harbor a supernatural secret. As he attempts to thwart the assassination during a performance, Sgt. Griswold accidentally receives the family patriarch’s magical powers and gains the ability to transform into Kabukiman – a superhero that uses his theatrical (and often culturally insensitive) abilities to fight crime.

While this sounds like a standard superhero parody, with Sgt. Griswold going through all of the traditional steps of having to learn how to master his powers with the help of his badass sidekick Lotus (Susan Byun) so he may one day take down a power-hungry crime boss, the Troma DNA keeps the film from feeling formulaic. In fact, many of the familiar moments here are actually gags poking fun at the then-recent Tim Burton adaptation of Batman. There are also loving references to everything from classic Film Noir to retro commercials – as well as the Batman TV show starring Adam West.

Despite its considerable budget, Kabukiman also benefits from the cinematic jankiness inherent to Troma productions. The obvious cuts and added narration/ADR meant to explain missing scenes would have been annoying in any other film, but the unserious style here means that these shortcomings come off as charming rather than lazy. The missing footage also means that the film moves at a breakneck pace, with the story ending before you can become tired of the main character’s buffoonery.

The constant stream of energetic gags (which are boosted by a quirky soundtrack featuring what is objectively the best theme song in Troma history) is entertaining enough, but it’s Sgt. Kabukiman himself that makes this chaotic movie worth revisiting. Rick Gianasi exhibits plenty of leading man energy in spite of his character’s frumpled outfits and exaggerated facial expressions, but it’s his remarkable slapstick skills that keep me coming back to this film time and time again. Honestly, I could spend all day watching Gianasi hop around in his colorful kimono and fighting crime, and it’s a shame that the character never returned for a proper sequel.

Granted, there are certain problematic elements that make Kabukiman a little more difficult to revive than Toxie. While much of the film’s culturally/racially insensitive elements can be explained by the time frame in which it was made, there’s no real excuse for Lotus being a stereotypical “Dragon Lady” or for our hero to engage in barbaric practices as he slowly “turns Japanese.” Thankfully, the humor here is so frenetic that it’s actually easier to digest than in most other Troma productions, especially when you realize that the movie was made with the best of intentions. There’s also the fact that this was an international co-production, meaning that at least one Japanese producer had to sign off on the more controversial elements.

The executives weren’t pleased with everything, though. The extreme violence present in Lloyd’s original cut of the film had to be thoroughly toned down in order to guarantee a theatrical release over six years after the movie had been completed (which is why Kabukiman’s iconic car-flip scene had already appeared in other Troma pictures before showing up in the film it had been originally filmed for). Thankfully, even the PG-13 version of the film still features bizarre moments of body-horror as Kabukiman bleeds makeup over his face and goes through painful-looking mutations in order to transform into the colorful hero – a gruesome process that reminds me of Jon Watts’ underrated Clown. That being said, be sure to seek out the much more entertaining R-rated version of the flick if this article has convinced you to see it!

Toned down or not, Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD wasn’t exactly the success that Kaufman, Herz and Namco had intended. Hardcore Troma fans thought that the movie was too mild when compared to their previous offerings, and mainstream audiences were still put off by the over-the-top violence and gross-out elements even in the censored cut. This is why Lloyd himself viewed the project as one of his biggest personal failures, as the flick still failed to connect with audiences even when he was trying to make something a little more marketable – with this disappointment resulting in the filmmaker’s depiction of Kabukiman as an incompetent alcoholic in Citizen Toxie (where Gianasi was tragically replaced by another actor).

Looking back on Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD now, I’d argue that Kaufman and Herz did in fact achieve their goal of creating a more accessible Troma hero – it’s just that audiences weren’t yet ready for the flick’s bizarre B-movie aesthetics coupled with a blockbuster story. However, in an age where everything from animated TV shows to online videos (such as the AVGN series) have been heavily influenced by Tromatic excess, I think it’s safe to say that Kabukiman has earned the right to be reappraised as both a Troma classic and a hilarious super-hero flick satirizing genre tropes that still run rampant on the big screen nearly 3 decades later.

Troma returns to the big screen with The Toxic Avenger only in theaters on August 29!

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW.

The post ‘Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD’ – Troma’s OTHER Body-Horror-Inspired Superhero! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Available as a Standard Edition or a Limited Edition Slipcase Edition, the 1990 Troma film gets a 4K Ultra HD upgrade from Vinegar Syndrome, and it’s now up for pre-order!

The company previews, “This special limited edition 3-disc 4K UHD/2 x Blu-ray set comes with a spot gloss hard slipcase + slipcover combo (designed by Luke Insect and Johnny Ryan), includes a 40-page perfect bound book and is limited to 7,000 units. It is only available on our website and at select indie retailers. Absolutely no major retailers will be stocking them.

“From Lloyd Kaufman & Michael Herz, creators of The Toxic Avenger, comes a different kind of superhero. Mixing high-stakes action, spectacular car stunts, monstrous mutants, and Troma’s signature style of madcap gore and hilarious hijinx, this outrageous late-night TV and video store classic features a who’s who of cult stars.

“Vinegar Syndrome is proud to present this colorful live-action comic book on 4K UHD, newly restored from its 35mm camera negative and presented in its totally uncensored director’s cut as well as its more commonly seen alternate PG-13 version, and featuring an abundance of both new and archival interviews and BTS material.”

Special Features include:

• 3-disc Set: 4K Ultra HD / Region Free Blu-ray x2
• 4K UHD presented in Dolby Vision High-Dynamic-Range
• Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative
• Presented in both its uncensored R-rated director’s cut (UHD and Blu-ray) and its PG-13 cut (Blu-ray only)
• Archival commentary track with co-writer / co-director Lloyd Kaufman
• Brand new commentary track with James Branscome and Nick Vance of the Cinematic Void Podcast
• “A History Lesson on Kabukiman” (26 min) – a brand new featurette with Lloyd Kaufman and film programmer Jesse Berberich
• “Troma Olivier” (18 min) – a brand new interview with actor Bill Weeden
• “A Bond Girl, Troma Style” (17 min) – a brand new interview with actress Shaler McClure Wright
• “From Redneck Zombies to Tromaville” (8 min) – a brand new interview with special effects coordinator Pericles Lewnes
• Archival Troma disc introduction with Lloyd Kaufman (6 min)
• Archival interview with lead actor Rick Gianasi (7 min)
• Archival select scene commentary with lead actor Rick Gianasi (10 min)
• Archival interview with Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz from The Dick Cavett Show in 1989 (24 min)
• Archival in-production sales reel from 1989 (9 min)
• Laserdisc intro (5 min)
• Troma Team video intros (6 min)
• VHS sales pitch promo (2 min)
• Multiple original trailers (10 min)
• 40-page perfect-bound book featuring essays by Chris Shields, Austin Trunick, and Jesse Berberich
• Reversible sleeve artwork
• English SDH subtitles

“When rookie New York City policeman Harry Griswold ends up in the middle of a shootout while attending an evening of kabuki theater, his attempt to save the life of a critically injured performer yields unintended consequences. The dying man bestows his supernatural powers onto Harry, thus rendering him “The Chosen One.” Suddenly finding himself sprouting paper umbrellas and covered in face paint, the formerly clumsy cop is transformed into a crime-fighting superstar, with the help and training of Lotus, daughter of the deceased actor. But Harry’s new gifts also come with a fresh calling as he learns that he alone has the power to defeat the ancient “Evil One” and foil his diabolical plans for bloodthirsty world domination.”

Pre-order your copy from Vinegar Syndrome now!

Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D is also coming to Screambox on August 15.

The post Troma’s ‘Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.’ Gets a 4K Ultra HD Upgrade from Vinegar Syndrome appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Thankfully, Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz came to the rescue with 1984’s The Toxic Avenger, with the film (and its sequels) feeling like the result of an unholy union between a slasher flick with a superhero comic. And in honor of Macon Blair’s long-anticipated reboot finally hitting the big screen this month thanks to Cineverse, we’ve decided to come up with a list highlighting six of Toxie’s most gruesome kills throughout the entire Toxic Avenger franchise!

For the purposes of this list, we’ll only be considering deaths that were either directly or indirectly caused by Toxie (so no iconic kills like the ill-fated kid who gets run over in the first film). We also won’t be including scenes from the remake in order to avoid spoiling it for readers.

As usual, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite kills if you think we missed a particularly gruesome one.

With that out of the way, onto the list!

6. Deep Fried Hands – The Toxic Avenger (1984)

Including this kill on the list may seem like a cop-out due to the relatively bloodless nature of the criminal’s death (not to mention the exceedingly simple effects that bring this moment to life), but I actually think that death by deep-fried hands is a perfect example of the cinematic power of suggestion. After all, clever blocking and editing are all you really need in order to traumatize audiences with the mere implication of oily pain.

The added sound effects and the actor’s terrified performance also help to sell the effect despite the lack of complex chemical reactions or burned skin prosthetics. In fact, I dare you to rewatch this moment without at least wincing at the idea of having your hands forcibly turned into extra crispy fast food.

5. Heads Up – Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2000)

Troma is no stranger to potty humor, but it seems like the more mainstream entertainment invests in low-risk crowd-pleasers, the more the world’s longest-running independent studio insists on creating new and more elaborate moments of gross-out humor and over-the-top violence.

I imagine that this punk rock rebellious attitude is what motivated the production team on The Toxic Avenger IV to craft so many memorable kills, with one of the most disgusting yet cartoonish scenes in the entire series having Toxie literally punch a villain’s head through his own body and out through his anus in a nauseous combination of blood and feces. Toxie then completes the humiliation by decapitating the goon with a single punch!

It doesn’t get more Tromatic than that.

4. Devilish Overkill – The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989)

The more despicable the villain, the more potential there is for our hero to give him a satisfying punishment. And when it comes to bad-guys, who’s more despicable than the devil himself? The reveal that Satan was leading the corporation responsible for destroying Tromaville admittedly comes out of left field, but it’s also one of the most memorable ideas in this controversial little movie.

Of course, the way that Toxie proceeds to dispatch the rubbery demon is more interesting than the actual villain, with the hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength methodically mutilating the corporate overlord in a hilarious case of practical-effects-driven overkill.

3. The Noxious Offender’s Disembowelment – Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2000)

Boasting a more focused script spearheaded by Deadgirl scribe Trent Haaga and a deluge of minor roles performed by notable artists like Matt and Trey Parker, James Gunn and even Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister, there’s a reason why so many fans see the fourth entry in the Toxic Avenger series as a return to form after two controversial sequels. Of course, the increased violence and low-brow humor was also a factor in making this the most beloved sequel so far.

And among the flick’s exaggerated displays of cinematic violence, it makes sense that Toxie’s final kill is also the most ambitious. After all, his evil counterpart from an alternate dimension is capable of taking a lot of punishment, so our hero has to get his hands dirty in order to stop his nemesis’ rampage by removing his internal organs while simultaneously making a point about how the original is always better!

2. Fresh Fish – The Toxic Avenger Part II (1989)

Say what you want about this first half of a movie that really shouldn’t have been released on its own (something that the upcoming Mr. Melvin is finally going to address), but at least Toxie’s second outing still boasts quite a few entertaining scenes of over-the-top martial arts action – as well as a handful of memorable kills.

Of course, one of the most brutal moments here has to be the scene where Toxie throws a random goon onto a fish-monger’s cutting board during a fight, with the knife-wielding worker becoming so distracted by the awesome fight choreography that he doesn’t notice he’s now cutting up a living human being instead of dead fish. This may have been an indirect (and arguably accidental) kill, but that doesn’t make it any less gruesome.

1. Head Press – The Toxic Avenger (1984)

One of the most iconic deaths in the original film, Dennis’ head press is also one of the most violent. Not only does this moment touch on relatable fears that any gym member has probably already daydreamed about at one point or another, but it also features the movie’s best practical gore effect in the form of the drug dealer’s blood-squirting head.

This instance of cranial trauma is a far cry from the melon that hilariously served as a vegan-friendly head substitute for the skull-crushing that occurred earlier in the film, and I actually think that the added realism helps to reinforce the notion that Melvin really can’t control himself while in the presence of evil.

See brand new brutal Toxie kills in The Toxic Avenger in theaters on August 29!

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW.

The post Superhero Splatter: Toxie’s Six Gnarliest Kills in the ‘Toxic Avenger’ Franchise! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Grab your tickets to see The Toxic Avenger in theaters on August 29!

Primetime Emmy-winning actor Peter Dinklage stars as the Toxic Avenger in director Macon Blair’s new movie, a fresh take on the cult classic franchise from the indie gods at Troma.

Like Terrifier 2 and Terrifier 3 before it, The Toxic Avenger will be released UNRATED in theaters nationwide, with not a single moment of insanity cut out of Blair’s wild crowd-pleaser.

When janitor Winston Gooze is exposed to a catastrophic toxic accident, he’s transformed into a new kind of hero: The Toxic Avenger. Now, Toxie must rise from outcast to savior, taking on ruthless corporate overlords and corrupt forces who threaten his son, his friends, and his community. In a world where greed runs rampant… justice is best served radioactive.

With 25 reviews so far, The Toxic Avenger is 92% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes!

The Toxic Avenger is distributed by Cineverse, produced by Legendary Entertainment.

The post ‘The Toxic Avenger’ – Tickets On Sale Now for Unrated Movie Starring Peter Dinklage! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The sequels were originally written and shot as one movie, but directors Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz ended up with so much footage that they broke it up into two installments.

36 years later, the initial vision for the sequel has been reconstructed under its original title, Mr. Melvin. Watch the exclusive trailer below.

The 127-minute movie will premiere as part of Troma-Thon 2025 at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater in Lehighton, PA on July 18-19, followed by a screening at Popcorn Frights Film Festival in Fort Lauderdale, FL on August 8.

The filmmakers gave Andrew L. Miller, Kaufman’s assistant, and Adam Peltier, star of Troma’s upcoming film The Power of Positive Murder, their blessing to edit the two sequels together from the recently unearthed original script.

Toxie actor Ron Fazio provides new voiceover for Mr. Melvin. The film also features new opening and end credits by Chris Lanphear, who also handled the graphics in the trailer.

After ridding Tromaville of evil, Melvin Junko, the Toxic Avenger, has nothing left to fight. Evil has been vanquished, his mop is clean, and his heart feels… empty. Depressed and emotionally adrift, a psychiatrist with questionable motives encourages him to reconnect with his long-lost father in Japan. But this heartfelt journey is merely a charade, as Apocalypse Inc. lures Toxie overseas in order to blast him with Anti-Tromatons, corrupting his superhuman senses.

Blinded to the forces of evil, Toxie returns home and becomes a corporate puppet for infernal forces bent on enslaving Tromaville… and the world! Can the Toxic Avenger reclaim his soul and save Tromaville once again, or is the hero of the people doomed to become the very monster he always feared?

Fazio stars alongside Phoebe Legere, John Altamura, Rick Collins, Lisa Gaye, Rikiya Yasuoka, Tsutomu Sekine, Shinoburyû, Mayako Katsuragi, Jessica Dublin, and Michael J. Kaplan.

Troma-Thon tickets are on sale now. Along with Mr. Melvin, the two-night event includes screenings of Surf Nazis Must Die, Rise of the Super Tromettes, Rabid Grannies, Class of Nuke ‘Em High, and Def By Temptation.

Macon Blair, who helmed The Toxic Avenger reboot hitting theaters on August 29, praised Mr. Melvin as “a cinematic treasure reformed from the mists of history as always intended. Troma kids rejoice!”

The post ‘Mr. Melvin’ Trailer – ‘Toxic Avenger’ Sequel Reconstruction Premieres Next Week at Troma-Thon [Exclusive] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

But many of the major studios – including Marvel and WB/DC – are sitting out SDCC this year, leaving some big Hall H spots to be filled. And you better believe we’re filling one of them.

Cineverse and Bloody Disgusting are excited to announce today that director Macon Blair’s The Toxic Avenger will be oozing into Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con this summer!

The unforgettable and wildly UNRATED panel is taking place on Thursday, July 24, 2025 from 5:30PM – 6:30PM at San Diego Comic-Con, marking the very first time that an unrated horror movie has ever hosted its own Hall H panel on the grand stage!

Before it hits theaters on August 29, 2025, writer & director Macon Blair (I Don’t Feel At Home in This World Anymore, writer for Marvel Comics/Dark Horse Comics), iconic Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman, and an all-star cast including Peter Dinklage (“Game of Thrones”), Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings franchise), Jacob Tremblay (Room, Wonder), and Taylour Paige (Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Zola) will come together for a toxic takeover.

Taking place in Hall H, the panel will feature exclusive clips from the film, limited-edition swag for attendees and behind-the-scenes chaos with the cast and creators.

The panel will be moderated by IMDb Head of Programming Bret Federigan.

We hear there’s another superhero movie coming out this Summer. But this Avenger is the hero we really need now. Primetime Emmy-winning actor Peter Dinklage stars as Toxie!

When janitor Winston Gooze is exposed to a catastrophic toxic accident, he’s transformed into a new kind of hero: The Toxic Avenger. Now, Toxie must rise from outcast to savior, taking on ruthless corporate overlords and corrupt forces who threaten his son, his friends, and his community. In a world where greed runs rampant… justice is best served radioactive.

With 25 reviews so far, The Toxic Avenger is 92% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes!

The Toxic Avenger is distributed by Cineverse, produced by Legendary Entertainment.

The post ‘The Toxic Avenger’ Is the First Unrated Horror Movie to Host Its Own SDCC Hall H Panel! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Get an exclusive look at the official poster by Emmy Award-winning artist Dean Haspiel below. No stranger to Toxie, Haspiel illustrated a variant cover for Ahoy Comics’s The Toxic Avenger comic, in addition to working with the likes of Marvel and DC.

The film will premiere as part of Troma-Thon 2025 at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater in Lehighton, PA on July 18-19, followed by a screening at Popcorn Frights Film Festival in Fort Lauderdale, FL on August 8.

“The fellas sent me a link to the Mr. Melvin cut that combined and edited Toxic Avenger II and III back into its original screenplay, and we discussed the best approach to the poster,” Haspiel tells Bloody Disgusting.

“They wanted Toxie in a red shirt with a high collar and sunglasses akin to Tom Cruise in Risky Business. And we wanted to show the yin and yang of Toxie in the glare of those sunglasses; his former persona versus Beelzebub. We also wanted to show Toxie’s girlfriend, so we let her ride the wind surfboard that Toxie uses to travel to Japan in the movie. I sent them a few ideas. We made some adjustments, and voila, a movie poster was born!”

Directors Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz gave Andrew L. Miller, Kaufman’s assistant, and Adam Peltier, star of Troma’s upcoming film The Power of Positive Murder, their blessing to edit the two sequels together from the recently unearthed original script.

Toxie actor Ron Fazio provides new voiceover for Mr. Melvin. He stars alongside Phoebe Legere, John Altamura, Rick Collins, Lisa Gaye, Rikiya Yasuoka, Tsutomu Sekine, Shinoburyû, Mayako Katsuragi, Jessica Dublin, and Michael J. Kaplan.

After ridding Tromaville of evil, Melvin Junko, the Toxic Avenger, has nothing left to fight. Evil has been vanquished, his mop is clean, and his heart feels… empty. Depressed and emotionally adrift, a psychiatrist with questionable motives encourages him to reconnect with his long-lost father in Japan. But this heartfelt journey is merely a charade, as Apocalypse Inc. lures Toxie overseas in order to blast him with Anti-Tromatons, corrupting his superhuman senses.

Blinded to the forces of evil, Toxie returns home and becomes a corporate puppet for infernal forces bent on enslaving Tromaville… and the world! Can the Toxic Avenger reclaim his soul and save Tromaville once again, or is the hero of the people doomed to become the very monster he always feared?

Troma-Thon tickets are on sale now. Along with Mr. Melvin, the two-night event includes screenings of Surf Nazis Must Die, Rise of the Super Tromettes, Rabid Grannies, Class of Nuke ‘Em High, and Def By Temptation.

Macon Blair, who helmed The Toxic Avenger reboot hitting theaters on August 29, praised Mr. Melvin as “a cinematic treasure reformed from the mists of history as always intended. Troma kids rejoice!”

Check back tomorrow the trailer.

The post ‘Toxic Avenger’ Sequel Reconstruction ‘Mr. Melvin’ Gets a Poster by Dean Haspiel [Exclusive] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Deadline reports that Peaches Christ, the drag persona of Joshua Grannell (All About Evil), will direct Who Does That Bitch Think She Is?from a script they co-wrote with their Midnight Mass podcast co-host, Michael Varrati (“The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula”).

In the 1991 cult classic, directed by Phillip R. Ford and co-written by star Doris Fish, three male space travelers from Earth undergo sex-change operations in order to solve a jewel heist on a planet occupied solely by women.

Principal photography on Vegas in Space spanned 18 months, but it took Ford and Fish eight years to raise the funds to complete the movie. Fish died from complications with AIDS mere months before the film’s premiere.

“I first discovered Vegas in Space as a teenager in Maryland, and it completely blew my mind,” said Grannell. “Doris Fish was a visionary—a drag trailblazer lightyears ahead of her time. After years of celebrating the film through Peaches Christ screenings in San Francisco, and learning more about the behind-the-scenes journey, it became clear to me that the story of making this movie is its own epic—a dazzling, defiant film that demands to be told.”

“The story of Doris Fish and Vegas in Space is about so much more than the making of an underground movie, but rather represents a significant chapter of queer history,” added Varrati. “Just as Tim Burton did with Ed Wood, we want to showcase how a dynamic group of outsiders were able to come together to create something groundbreaking that continues to be deeply relevant today.”

Jonathan Fernandez and former Troma exec Marty Sokol, who have optioned Seligman’s book, will produce the feature.

Vegas in Space will screen as part of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures‘ Summer of Camp series on July 11 in Los Angeles, accompanied by a conversation with Ford and Varrati.

The post Troma’s ‘Vegas in Space’ Spawns Making-Of Film ‘Who Does That Bitch Think She Is?’ from Peaches Christ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Fantasia 2025 will mark the World Premiere of director Lily-Hayes Kaufman’s documentary Occupy Cannes, which will premiere at the festival on July 31, 2025. The documentary shines a spotlight on Troma’s unique approach to the Cannes Film Festival over the years, spotlighting their most recent effort to sell the film Return to Nuke ‘Em High at the event.

Iconic director Lloyd Kaufman and the Troma Team wage a punk-spirited battle championing independent art at Cannes in Occupy Cannes, presented through the lens of Kaufman’s daughters, Director Lily-Hayes Kaufman (Innards, Rare Birds of Fashion), Cinematographer Charlotte Kaufman (The Jinx; The Alabama Solution) and Producer Lisbeth Kaufman.

Lloyd Kaufman and the Troma Team have been a staple of the Cannes Film Festival since 1974. Renowned for guerrilla tactics and provocative artistry to sell films, Troma’s audacious performances spark controversy and curiosity. Occupy Cannes asks: does Kaufman’s defiant stance attract coveted buyers, or ostracize Troma from the industry’s inner circle?

The documentary features performances and appearances by Catherine Corcoran (Terrifier, Best Friends Forever, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes reboot), Zac Amico (Zac Amico’s Morning Zoo), Justin A. Martell (The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs), Doug Sakmann, Lloyd Kaufman and of course, The Toxic Avenger himself.

Occupy Cannes is presented by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, a Troma Team Production and Saturday Candy Film. Executive Producers Julie Corman and Roger Corman.

The doc is made possible with support from the New York State Council on the Arts.

Known for a universe of superheroes with a global cult following, NYC-based Troma Entertainment may be the last surviving truly independent film studio. Troma has acquired thousands of films that big studios ignore. Trey Parker, Matt Stone and James Gunn, are Troma proteges, and there are hundreds of other artists who have found a voice with the company.

But, like hundreds of thousands of species on this planet, Troma is at risk of going extinct. After 40 years of selling films at Cannes, this could be their final trip…

The post ‘Occupy Cannes’ – Lily-Hayes Kaufman’s Troma Documentary Premieres at Fantasia 2025! [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Our friends over at IMDb are whetting your appetite with the reveal of a new official poster for The Toxic Avenger, which introduces a new hero for a world that definitely needs one.

Check out the brand new poster for The Toxic Avenger below!

We hear there’s another superhero movie coming out this Summer. But this Avenger is the hero we really need now. Primetime Emmy-winning actor Peter Dinklage stars as Toxie.

When janitor Winston Gooze is exposed to a catastrophic toxic accident, he’s transformed into a new kind of hero: The Toxic Avenger. Now, Toxie must rise from outcast to savior, taking on ruthless corporate overlords and corrupt forces who threaten his son, his friends, and his community. In a world where greed runs rampant… justice is best served radioactive.

Kevin Bacon (They/Them, Hollow Man), Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings), Jacob Tremblay (Room, Wonder) and Taylour Paige (Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Zola) also star.

With 25 reviews so far, The Toxic Avenger is 92% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes!

The Toxic Avenger is distributed by Cineverse, produced by Legendary Entertainment.

The post ‘The Toxic Avenger’ Swings His Murder Mop on New Poster for Reboot Movie’s Unrated Release appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The festival website is now live with the complete lineup of over 125 features and 200+ shorts available to be explored. Ticket pre-sales open at 10:00AM on July 4.

The festival’s final wave of programming has arrived, bringing with it the closing night film and a slew of highlights. The latest from legendary animator Genndy Tartakovsky, new adult comedy Fixed, has been designated as the official closing film of the this year’s festival. Troma documentary Occupy Cannes chronicles the Troma Team’s voyage to Cannes, and the company’s founder (and creator of THE TOXIC AVENGER), Lloyd Kaufman, is being presented with the festival’s inaugural Indie Maverick Award. Indonedian horror film The Book of Sijjin and Illiyyin promises to be an absolute gorefest, and a middle aged coke fiend gets trapped in a bathroom stall in Flush.

Also look for festival favorites like It Ends or repertory titles like The Nightmare Before Christmas, with award winning composer Danny Elfman in attendance. Elfman will also be presented with the Cheval Noir Career Achievement Award.

The final wave of titles, from the press release:

OFFICIAL CLOSING FILM: GENNDY TARTAKOVSKY’S FIXED

From Sony Pictures Animation, Netflix, and top-tier animator Genndy Tartakovsky (SAMURAI JACK, PRIMAL, HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA) comes FIXED, an adult animated comedy that’s lewd, rude, raunchy, and riotously funny. Here, Tartakovsky carries the torch forward for the finest craftsmen of classic TV cartoon foolishness, recalling Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, and Hanna-Barbera, although they never got away with anything as outrageous as FIXED! Bull (Adam Devine) is a lovable mutt and loyal buddy to his pack, including brawny boxer Rocco (Idris Elba), pretentious dachshund Fetch (Fred Armisen), and neurotic beagle Lucky (Bobby Moynihan). He also has a massive crush on Honey (Kathryn Hahn), the sexy show dog next door, but his pride and joy are his magnificent testicles. Alarmed by indications that a trip to the vet looms in his immediate future, the frantic Bull will do anything to delay the inevitable—or at least unleash his carnal impulses while he still can! Genndy Tartakovsky’s FIXED is coming to Fantasia, with its mind in the gutter, its heart in the right place, and its balls entirely intact! Animation Plus Section. Canadian Premiere.

THE VERDICT

Do you get the impression that the super-wealthy are above the law? Raka, an elite court security guard played by the excellent Rio Dewanto, sees it every day—trust-fund babies escaping consequences thanks to their family’s influence, shady lawyers, and an overall corrupt system. When his pregnant wife is murdered by an affluent young man flexing his invulnerability, the trial is nothing but another masquerade, and Raka takes it upon himself to deliver justice. The class divide has rarely been exposed in such an impactful and satisfying fashion as THE VERDICT, with co-directors Lee Chang-hee (Fantasia 2018 selection THE VANISHED) and Yusron Fuadi (THE DRAFT!) hitting a home run thanks to a solid script, fast-paced editing, and a score reminiscent of Hans Zimmer’s work on Nolan’s BATMAN. Screening as one of Fantasia’s major opening night events, THE VERDICT is a dynamic and entertaining film that forces viewers to reflect on justice and vengeance. World Premiere.

SMURFS

When Papa Smurf (John Goodman) is mysteriously taken by evil wizards Razamel and Gargamel, Smurfette (Rihanna) leads the SMURFS on a mission into the real world to save him. With the help of new friends, the Smurfs must discover what defines their destiny to save the universe. Directed by Chris Miller (SHREK THE THIRD, PUSS IN BOOTS), SMURFS features an all-star voice cast including James Corden, Nick Offerman, JP Karliak, Daniel Levy, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, and Octavia Spencer. My First Fantasia Section. Special Screening.

THE UNDERTONE

Established sci-fi author Ian Tuason’s first feature brings terror to the podcasting arena, creating an unforgettable horror experience! Nina Kiri (THE HERETICS, THE HANDMAID’S TALE) stars as podcaster Evy. Tending to her dying mother, her job as a co-host of The Undertone is the one thing that keeps her tethered to normalcy. When her co-host Justin (Kris Holden-Ried, THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY, LOST GIRL) presents ten disturbing audio files of a man and his wife, the story they tell becomes weirdly connected to Evy and her mother. With brilliant use of a home as the liminal space between life and death, an intense performance by genre favorite Kiri, and haunting sound design that will leave your blood cold, THE UNDERTONE is a new entry in the haunting folk horror catalog you won’t soon forget. Septentrion Shadows Section. World Premiere.

THE FORBIDDEN CITY

Two unlikely people, a chef and an immigrant martial artist, search (and fight!) for the truth in the underbelly of Rome in this massively entertaining mix of martial arts, crime, and romance. Unquestionably one of the best films of 2025, THE FORBIDDEN CITY establishes Fantasia alum Gabriele Mainetti (2016’s THEY CALL ME JEEG and 2023’s FREAKS OUT) as one of the best commercial filmmakers in movies today, with a cinematic knockout that’s gauranteed to slap a huge smile on your face. Yaxi Liu, making her formal lead acting debut after blowing minds as the main stunt double in MULAN, truly impresses with a breakout performance that’s by turns strong, funny, and heartbreaking. Co-starring Enrico Borello (FAMILIA), Sabrina Ferilli (THE GREAT BEAUTY), and Marco Giallini (PERFECT STRANGERS), films like this don’t come along often – and THE FORBIDDEN CITY promises to become a new favorite. North American Premiere.

NESTING 

A familiar name to Fantasia audiences, Chloé Cinq-Mars returns to the festival with her debut feature, NESTING (PEAU À PEAU). Delving into the quiet horrors of early motherhood, the film opens with a scream in the night. Pénélope (Rose-Marie Perreault, FAKE TATTOOS), a new mother grappling with sleep deprivation and postpartum depression, finds herself unable to separate dream from reality. After witnessing a violent hold-up in a convenience store, her already fragile psyche begins to crack. Sensitive and haunting, NESTING offers an intimate, unsettling portrait of a mother unraveling. Perreault delivers a career-defining performance, capturing Pénélope’s disintegration and tender attempts at self-reclamation. Denied the idealized “glow” of new motherhood, she’s left to drift in darkness, slowly losing her grip on reality. What emerges is a chilling and deeply human exploration of identity, isolation, and the aching silence surrounding maternal mental health. Les Fantastiques Week-Ends du Cinéma Québécois Section. World Premiere.

TAROMAN EXPO EXPLOSION

Osaka, Japan, was the site of Expo ‘70, and emblematic of that memorable event is the sculpture/building Tower of the Sun, envisioned and designed by renowned artist Taro Okamoto, “the Japanese Picasso”, a challenger of conventions driven to liberate creative expression for one and all. His works and ideas inspired director Ryo Fujii and the team behind the 2022 TV series TAROMAN, broadcast on the NHK network. Mixing mockumentary elements with the tropes and aesthetics of 1970s tokusatsu superhero shows – ULTRAMAN in particular – the series was purported to be an obscure archival find… and the result? A sublime mix of public art education, nostalgic invention, and gleeful weirdness for its own sake. With such big ideas and such a gigantic protagonist, Fujii and friends simply had to revive TAROMAN for the big screen. TAROMAN EXPO EXPLOSION has arrived, and with a bang! World Premiere.

FLUSH

Middle-aged coke fiend Luke (R. Jonathan Lambert of Quentin Dupieux’s REALITY) has gone to confront his ex at the club where she works, determined to somehow win back her love. One thing leads to another and he soon finds himself wedged firmly in a toilet, effectively trapped in a bathroom stall – with a heap of drugs that he stole from the bar’s resident dealer. He’s soon found, setting off an increasingly crazy series of events as Luke’s world is assailed from every conceivable direction in a bizarro race against time that will leave you gasping for air. After years of winning awards everywhere from Clermont-Ferrand to Sitges with his inspired short film work (DERNIER CRI, PARIS BY NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD…), Parisian super force Grégory Morin has finally made a feature, and it’s utterly, gloriously insane. Evocative of Dupieux by way of Gaspar Noé and early Álex de la Iglesia, FLUSH is as inventively delirious as it is wickedly cinematic, a real-time, over-the-top blast of absurdist indie brilliance. World Premiere.

GOOD GAME 

Grab your controllers! With an exciting mix of badass action and the first-person-shooter perspective of HARDCORE HENRY, the Hong Kong eSports thrill ride GOOD GAME is a total blast! Tai, the middle-aged owner of a failing internet cafe, joins a gaming tournament to hopefully win the grand-prize money and save his business. He assembles a team of oddballs, and these underdogs will have to combine their strengths in gaming if they’re to win this fierce competition. Director Dickson Leung Kwok-Fai makes sure you’re constantly locked in and immersed in the narrative, providing a stylish, high-energy experience that makes you feel like you’re part of the game—and an inspiring and genuine story loaded with a never-say-die spirit. World Premiere.

MAYA, GIVE ME A TITLE

In high demand for his cleverness and creativity, French director Michel Gondry (THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP, BE KIND REWIND, and legendary music videos for the likes of Björk, Daft Punk, and the White Stripes) is often away from home for work. To keep connected with his beloved daughter Maya, he made nightly calls with requests for story titles, to prompt quick, rough little animations crafted with colored paper, markers, and scissors, always starring Maya herself, with MAYA, GIVE ME A TITLE assembling an assortment of these little vignettes. Whether she’s a mermaid, a ship’s captain, an earthquake investigator, or just herself shrunk by “cucumber-reducing solution”, Maya’s tales are told in true Gondry style—wry, inventive, and tactile, favoring the excitement of process over polished final product. Oh, and it’s all voiced and narrated by Pierre Niney, star of last year’s Fantasia hit THE COUNT OF MONTE-CRISTO! My First Fantasia and Animation Plus Sections. North American Premiere.

THE BOOK OF SIJJIN AND ILLIYYIN

A woman regularly belittled and bullied by her employers calls upon evil forces to obtain her vengeance in the most heinous of ways. Blending Islamic folk horror, ocular torture à la Lucio Fulci, and imagery evoking THE EVIL DEAD, Indonesian director Hadrah Daeng Ratu’s THE BOOK OF SIJJIN AND ILLIYYIN will satiate even the most ravenous fans of gore and ultraviolence. Writer Lele  Laila offers a gut-churning script that plunges us into the heart of a waking nightmare in which even children aren’t safe – and can end up splattering the walls like miniature Jackson Pollock artworks. Viewer discretion is highly advised here, as Indonesia has become an inexhaustible source of terrifying works, generous in their offerings of gore, twisted tales, and fascinating Muslim mythology populated by djinns and other demons. All we can really do is sit back and take pleasure in discovering and exploring – to our own risk and peril! North American Premiere.

ANNA KIRI

A young delinquent narrowly escapes a violent altercation with a local gangster after a robbery gone wrong. Anna (Catherine Brunet, FARADOR, IN MEMORIAM) seizes the chance to turn her life around, but soon realizes the price of freedom is high and the past is not so easily left behind. Francis Bordeleau’s second feature is a unique exploration of a young woman’s emancipation and a quest to find her voice through relationships and writing. Brunet’s performance is stellar and she is accompanied by an impressive cast including Charlotte Aubin (L’EMPEREUR, VIRAGE), Maxime de Cotret (LE PLONGEUR, FRONTIÈRES), Caroline Néron (STAT, ÉTERNELLE), and Anne-Marie Cadieux (SOLO, LES HOMMES DE MA MÈRE). A thriller in its own right, sometimes playful yet often tense and shocking, ANNA KIRI creates a sharp juxtaposition between the lowest rungs of the city, struggling to make ends meet, and the elegant if not outright elitist members of the literary scene. The two worlds attempt to coexist on screen, setting up a collision course with a wildly explosive conclusion. Les Fantastiques Week-Ends du Cinéma Québécois Section. World Premiere.

 REWRITE 

Fantasia alum Daigo Matsui returns this year with another hit, collaborating with talented screenwriter Ueda Makoto, who previously worked with Junta Yamaguchi on Fantasia-favorite time-loop films BEYOND THE INFINITE TWO MINUTES (2021) and RIVER (2023). REWRITE brings fresh ideas in the beloved genre, challenging and playing with its audiences’ minds. Transfer student Yasuhiko has had an amazing 21 days with Miyuki and their shared secret, that Yasuhiko comes from the future, binds them even closer. This seemingly cute, slightly sad, coming-of-age time-traveling romance somehow doesn’t work the way it should, though. What could be wrong? Are there more secrets to come? The outstanding performances include Elaiza Ikeda (SADAKO), Yuki Kura (SHOGUN), Ai Hashimoto (HOLD ME BACK), and J-pop idol Kei Adachi’s acting debut. If you had the chance, would you rewrite your past? North American Premiere.

STRAIGHT OUTTA SPACE!

Best friends Amin (Shahine El-Hamus, THE PROMISE OF PISA) and Mitchell (Daniël Kolf of Netflix’s FOREVER RICH) work as street coaches in the lively neighborhood of Schijndrecht. It’s not exactly a flashy job, and that all changes when the people around them transform into creepy, slimy creatures due to an intergalactic intervention! Together with a motley crew of local residents, the duo gets the ultimate chance to prove themselves to their entire community, or at least, what’s left of it. It’s not every day that the Netherlands produces a big-budget sci-fi/horror/comedy, let alone one that tackles gentrification in such witty ways. Directed with style by Cannes Lion winner Michael Middelkoop  (TRAUMA PORN CLUB) and co-written by Fantasia alumni Nico van den Brink (MOLOCH, SWEET TOOTH), STRAIGHT OUTTA SPACE plays like an especially unhinged – and very, very Dutch – variation of ATTACK THE BLOCK by way of NIGHT OF THE CREEPS… with just a touch of NIGHT OF THE COMET! It’s full of personality, big set-pieces, and a ton of goopy, high-energy fun. North American Premiere.

FRAGMENT 

The emotional and powerful FRAGMENT follows the lives of two teenagers intertwined in a devastating way. Jun-gang (Oh Ja-hun) takes care of his little sister while being threatened with eviction, while Gi-su (Moon Seong-hyun) lives alone since his father was killed… by Jun-gang’s father. Will they be able to resist the vicious cycle brought on by such a sordid crime? FRAGMENT explores pain, trauma, and conflict in a profound and intense way that stays with you long after the credits roll. With this shattering first feature, pondering the heartbreaking choice between vengeance and redemption with acute maturity, writer/director Kim Sung-yoon has already known significant success on the festival circuit, receiving three prizes at his World Premiere at the Busan International Film Festival in 2024 and another win in Florence in 2025. Carried by the stellar performances of three exceptional young actors, this dramatic suspense story is sure to leave no one indifferent. North American Premiere.

OCCUPY CANNES

This moving, hilarious, and inspirational documentary follows legendary filmmaker (and creator of THE TOXIC AVENGER) Lloyd Kaufman – recipient of this year’s inaugural Indie Maverick Award at Fantasia – leading the Troma Team’s fight to sustain independent art amidst an industry that increasingly removes any space for outsiders. Known for deliriously boundary-pushing works of maximalist insanity, NYC-based Troma Entertainment may be the last surviving truly independent film studio. They’re also at risk of going extinct. After 40 years of selling films at Cannes, OCCUPY CANNES follows them on what could be their final trip, as their notoriously crazy publicity stunts are consistently shut down by the authorities while they encounter endless obstacles in spaces they once had a place at. The film is presented through the lenses of Kaufman’s daughters, director Lily-Hayes and director of photography Charlotte, whose unparalleled access to Troma frees them to pose questions that no other filmmakers could: Does Kaufman’s defiant stance attract buyers or ostracize Troma from the industry’s inner circle? Can Troma survive in an ever-shifting and consolidating entertainment industry? Can any independent artist survive? Documentaries From the Edge Section. World Premiere.

HAUNTED MOUNTAINS: THE YELLOW TABOO 

A couple’s peaceful hiking trip takes a wrong turn and becomes a nightmare when a mysterious force targets Yu Hsin, repeatedly taking her life in horrifying ways. Chia Ming, unfortunately, is trapped in a time-loop and forced to witness her death over and over again, always powerless to stop it. What went wrong? Why Yu-Hsin? Directed by emerging filmmaker Tsai Chia Ying and adapted from one of the scariest urban legends of Taiwan, HAUNTED MOUNTAINS: THE YELLOW TABOO, depicts not just traditional horror, but its layered narrative explores love, grief, and the emotional burdens we all carry. With a powerful cast including Jasper Liu (MORE THAN BLUE), Angela Yuen (CHILLI LAUGH STORY), and Tsao Yu Ning (PIERCE), HAUNTED MOUNTAINS: THE YELLOW TABOO brings not just the scares, but a reflection on the ties that bind us. International Premiere.

CIELO

Eight-year-old Santa (Fer Monserrat), a plucky Indigenous girl, seeks to rescue her mother from violence and poverty. With unlikely allies, she performs miracles across Bolivia’s sublime landscapes, where survival becomes a sacred, elemental act of love and divine ritual. CIELO, directed by Alberto Sciamma (JERICHO MANSIONS, KILLER TONGUE) and featuring an extraordinary lead performance from its gifted young star, presents itself as an achingly beautiful elemental tale, packed with the sacred energy of magical realism, despite its darker themes. Ultimately, this is a mythopoetic story – THE FLORIDA PROJECT, if it were retold by Clarissa Pinkola Estés – one which re-fashions the traditional Hero’s Journey into an ode to feminine resistance as an act of love in the face of violence. A modern fairytale unlike anything you’ve ever seen, CIELO World Premiered at the Fantasporto Film Festival earlier in the year, winning three awards at its very first bow. North American Premiere.

MESSY LEGENDS

Adapting their iconic short film MESSY LEGEND for their feature debut, Montreal icons Kelly-Kay Hurcomb and James Watts bring a slacker comedy for the modern age to Fantasia with MESSY LEGENDS. Following a group of disaffected millennials clinging to the past, the film takes place over one night along Montreal’s St. Laurent strip. Desperate, funny, and awkward, the movie captures the city in a state of flux, as the rising cost of living and inaccessible housing slowly erode the artsy slacker culture that once flourished in the city. For the former disco-pant wearers and OG fans of The Unicorns, MESSY LEGENDS aims for the hearts of former cool millennials unable to let go of what once was and never will be again. Underground Section. World Premiere.

GARO: TAIGA 

Since the 1980s, director, screenwriter, and designer Keita Amemiya (KAMEN RIDER, ZEIRAM) has brought his special touch, full of surprising innovations and peculiar fascinations, to the universe of tokusatsu—Japanese sci-fi cinema and television. For the last twenty years, Amemiya’s main focus has been his ever-expanding world of GARO, an ongoing chronicle of otherworldly conflict resplendent with gothic gravitas and gruesome monsters, mystical symbolism, and elegant steampunk accents. This latest work reveals the story of Taiga Saejima, who, like his descendants after him, assumes the lupine aspect and magical armor of Golden Knight Garo to battle the demonic Horrors. Entirely accessible to newcomers to the franchise, GARO: TAIGA marks its 20th anniversary in grand style. World Premiere.

BARBIE BOOMER

67-year-old Sylvie is a passionate Barbie collector. To make sure that her collection lasts over time, she decides to donate some of her childhood dolls to the Musée de la civilisation in Quebec City, which agrees to evaluate the proposal. But will she be able to cope with the grief of separation, especially as the physical condition of her best friend Linda, also a Barbie collector, is affected by severe illness? BARBIE BOOMER is an incredibly moving new documentary by Marc Joly-Corcoran (QUE LE FAN SOIT AVEC TOI). Les Fantastiques Week-Ends du Cinéma Québécois and Documentaries from the Edge Sections. World Premiere.

ADDITIONAL THIRD WAVE TITLES

AU PIED DU MUR (Canada) – dir. Alexandra Elkin
From Red Rock Canyon to Yosemite, filmmaker Alexandra Elkin follows two seasoned climbers in their seventies, Jack Lambert and Dierdre Wolownick, who push the boundaries of age in the extreme sport of climbing. Between breathtaking ascents and personal transformation, AU PIED DU MUR is an inspiring human adventure where fear becomes a driving force, and each summit reached redefines the very notion of limits. Les Fantastiques Week-Ends du Cinéma Québécois Section. Montreal Premiere.

CONTACT LENS (China) – dir. Lu Ruiqi 
Paying homage to Chantal Akerman’s JEANNE DIELMAN, CONTACT LENS, the feature debut of Lu Ruiqi, portrays a woman aching to break free – searching for a transformative becoming as she escapes the rituals and expectations of her existence. Official Selection: Tallinn Black Nights 2024, Fantaspoa Fantastic Film Festival 2025. Underground Section. Canadian Premiere.

DOLLHOUSE (Japan) – dir. Shinobu Yaguchi
Director and screenwriter Shinobu Yaguchi (SWING GIRLS) takes an intelligent and effective approach to horror cinema in this downward spiral involving an evil doll. Official Selection: Fantasporto 2025, Hong Kong International Film Festival 2025. Canadian Premiere.

FUCKTOYS (USA) – dir. Annapurna Sriram
Written, directed by, and starring Annapurna Sriram (BILLIONS), FUCKTOYS reimagines the classic Fool’s Journey through a radically queer, maximalist lens, following a sex worker living in “Trashtown” who discovers she’s been cursed. Hilarious, raw, and full of soul, it’s a glitter-coated, piss-soaked fairytale for the forgotten. Winner of a special jury award at SXSW 2025. Official Selection: Seattle International Film Festival 2025, Boston Underground Film Festival 2025. Canadian Premiere.

GOOD BOY (USA) – dir. Ben Leonberg
A curious and resourceful dog senses something supernatural is threatening his owner in this one-of-a-kind ghost story that features one of the greatest canine performances in movie history. Already one of the most talked-about genre films of 2025, and for good reason. Official Selection: SXSW 2025, Overlook 2025, Calgary Underground Film Festival 2025. Quebec Premiere.

HI-FIVE (South Korea) – dir. Kang Hyung-chul
Five people receive superpowers and mysterious tattoos from a body donated for organ transplants. However, they’re not the only ones whose lives have been changed. A cult leader gains the ability to absorb the life energy of others, and he’s now coming after these individuals to steal their powers. Writer/director Kang Hyung-chul (SWING KIDS) delivers a ridiculously hilarious and action-packed superhero extravaganza with an incredible all-star cast. Quebec Premiere.

HOLY NIGHT: DEMON HUNTERS (South Korea) – Dir. Lim Dae-hee
Legendary action powerhouse Don Lee (THE ROUNDUP) leads a team of exorcists against a criminal gang of devil worshipers and the demons they summon. This adaptation of the 2024 webtoon perfectly mixes genuine horror scenes, hard hitting brawls, and hints of well-calculated humor to create the ideal supernatural action film. Quebec Premiere.

OBEX (USA) – dir. Albert Birney
Conor’s life takes a turn for the fantastical as he is transported into the video-game world of OBEX, where he must rescue his kidnapped dog and come to terms with the grief buried deep inside himself. An extraordinary new creation from the co-director of STRAWBERRY MANSION and SYLVIO. Official Selection: Sundance 2025, Chicago Critics Film Festival 2025. Canadian Premiere.

OMNISCIENT READER: THE PROPHECY (South Korea) – Dir: Kim Byung-woo
An ordinary office worker suddenly finds his favorite apocalyptic web novel unfolding in real life before his eyes. Director Kim Byung-woo (TAKE POINT) offers a spectacular, action-filled fantasy, as meta as could be, blending deadly games, video game-style superpowers, kaiju, and even a stay inside a giant fish. Canadian Premiere.

$POSITIONS (USA) – dir. Brandon Daley
Local loser Mike ((Michael Kunick, WOLVES AGAINST THE WORLD), desperate and overwhelmed, turns to crypto to keep from drowning in debt. Instead, he finds himself in a spiral of bad decisions in this darkly comedic tale of addiction and family that will have you gripping your seat as you’re laughing out loud. Official Selection: SXSW 2025, Calgary Underground Film Festival 2025. Quebec Premiere.

IT ENDS (USA) – dir. Alex Ullom
In one of 2025’s major genre breakouts, four college friends find themselves on an infinite, unending road, forcing each of them to decide how to confront their fate in an unnerving journey into the unknown. Writer/director Alex Ullom and his gifted cast work miracles and offer a compelling, constantly intriguing, and often terrifying road trip into adulthood. Official Selection: SXSW 2025, Overlook 2025. International Premiere.

STUNTMAN (Hong Kong) – dirs. Herbert Leung Koon-Shun and Albert Leung Koon-Yiu
When an old-school, high-risk Hong Kong action director is hired for a modern, safety-first production, which style will win out? First-time directors Albert and Herbert Leung hit a bullseye, capturing the insane beauty of Hong Kong’s Golden Age of action films in modern times while keeping it brilliantly refreshing. Nominated for best Action Choreography at the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Awards. Official Selection: Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 2024, Hawai’i International Film Festival 2024. Quebec Premiere.

SWEETNESS (Canada) – dir. Emma Higgins
They say you should never meet your idols, and Emma Higgins’ first feature offers up a pitch-black coming-of-age tale to teach this lesson. Rylee (Kate Hallet, WOMAN TALKING), a troubled teenager, is presented with an unimaginable situation: her pop idol, Payton (Herman Tømmeraas, RAGNAROK), is a low-key drug addict and she’s taken it upon herself to help him get sober after he accidentally hits her driving under the influence. Co-starring Justin Chatwin (ANOTHER LIFE), Aya Furukawa (THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER), Amanda Brugel (THE HANDMAID’S TALE), and Steven Ogg (DARK MATCH). Official Selection: SXSW 2025. Septentrion Shadows Section. Canadian Premiere.

SUGAR ROT (Canada) – dir. Becca Kozak
A girl at an ice cream shop is assaulted and becomes horrifically pregnant with some… thing that begins to turn her into ice cream in this burst of in-your-face, offensive, punk body horror. A relentless sensory onslaught—depraved, delicious, and unafraid to plunge into the darkest, dankest corners of the imagination. A bold and sticky scream of rebellion, SUGAR ROT tells a fiercely feminist story about autonomy, capitalism, and pleasure. Official Selection: FogFest 2024, Calgary Underground Film Festival 2025, ShockStock 2025. Underground Section. Quebec Premiere.

THELMA’S PERFECT BIRTHDAY (Latvia/Luxembourg) – dir. Reinis Kalnaellis
A little penguin girl’s wish for the best birthday ever leads to an adventure full of strange surprises and new friends. A weird, wonderful, and award-winning animated journey for the little ones, it blends 3D animation and lovely, hand-painted ink-wash artwork in an innovative and immersive way. Official Selection: Mill Valley Film Festival 2024, Tallinn Black Nights 2024, Annecy 2025. My First Fantasia and Animation Plus Sections. Canadian Premiere.

TOUCH ME (USA) – dir. Addison Heinmann
From the director of HYPOCHONDRIAC comes a singular work that breakdances seamlessly from tentacle sex and practical exploding heads to beautifully touching monologues and heartbreaking reflections on trauma and toxic relationships. Two codependent best friends become addicted to the heroin-like touch of an alien narcissist who may or may not be trying to take over the world. With Olivia Taylor Dudley (SHE DIES TOMORROW), Jordan Gavaris of ORPHAN BLACK, and Lou Taylor Pucci (SPRING). Official Selection: Sundance 2025, SXSW 2025. Canadian Premiere.

QUEENS OF THE DEAD (USA) – dir. Tina Romero
Director Tina Romero takes the ghoul genre invented by her father in a new direction when a zombie apocalypse breaks out in Brooklyn on the night of a giant warehouse party. Now, an eclectic group of drag queens, club kids, and frenemies must use their unique skills to fight back against the undead. Starring Katy O’Brian (LOVE LIES BLEEDING), Riki Lindhome (THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW), Jaquel Spivey (MEAN GIRLS), and comic icon Margaret Cho, who all bring their over-the-top roles to life with energy and a core of humanity that has us hoping they’ll survive this new night of the living dead. Official Selection: Tribeca Film Festival 2025, Chattanooga Film Festival 2025. International Premiere.

THE VIRGIN OF THE QUARRY LAKE (Argentina) – dir. Laura Casabe
Young Natalia (Dolores Oliverio) turns to witchcraft to give herself an upper hand against a changing world. A supernatural, feminine coming-of-(r)age film that captivates with enormous power, THE VIRGIN OF THE QUARRY LAKE is based on the writing of acclaimed Argentinian horror author Mariana Enriquez. It stands completely alone, both as a provocative work of horror and as a remarkable exploration of the volcanic emotions of teenhood conveyed through a visceral genre lens. Official Selection: Sundance 2025, TIFF Next Wave 2025. Quebec Premiere.

FANTASIA RETRO!
Fantasia’s long-standing showcase of classic film restorations and rare 35mm screenings returns with big-screen showings of landmark works from John Woo, Pupi Avati, Mamoru Oshii, Paul Morrissey, Koji Shiraishi, George Mihalka, Ching Siu-Tung, Robert Butler, and more.

ANGEL’S EGG (Japan, 1985) – dir. Mamoru Oshii
Can two broken souls in a broken world keep a mysterious, perhaps divine egg intact? A rare, early work from two of the biggest names in anime, Mamoru Oshii (GHOST IN THE SHELL) and Yoshitaka Amano (FINAL FANTASY), emerges from the shadows at last in a special 40th anniversary 4K restoration.

THE BATTLE WIZARD (Hong Kong, 1977) – dir. Pao Hsueh-Li
A bookworm (Danny Lee, THE KILLER) drinks the blood of a serpent and becomes invincible in this outlandish kung fu-meets-STAR WARS classic, now miraculously restored in its fully uncut version. World Premiere of Arrow Films’ New 2K Restoration.

BULLET IN THE HEAD (Hong Kong, 1990) – dir. John Woo
In 1967, three Hong Kong friends (Tony Leung, Jacky Cheung, and Waise Lee) on the run flee to Vietnam to make their fortune, only to face the horrors of war and the pain of betrayal. John Woo’s 1990 masterwork. Canadian Premiere of Shout! Factory’s New 4K Restoration.

A CHINESE GHOST STORY III (Hong Kong, 1991) – dir. Ching Siu-Tung
Award-winning director Ching Siu-Tung (HEROIC TRIO, SHAOLIN SOCCER) and writer-producer Tsui Hark return with another wild joyride where laws of gravity are jettisoned in favour of exhilarating kung fu involving flying monks and monsters, mixed with a kinky subtext. Canadian Premiere of Shout! Factory’s New 4K Restoration.

THE DEVIL’S BRIDE (Lithuania, 1974) – dir. Arūnas Žebriūnas
Biblical myths and Baltic folklore meet fuzz guitar, funky bass, and a big, bold brass section in the Soviet Union’s first rock-opera movie, a rare gem of Lithuanian cinema gorgeously restored at last! North American Premiere of the Lithuanian Film Centre’s New 2K Restoration. Presented by Deaf Crocodile.

FUNKY FOREST (Japan, 2005) – dirs.  Katsuhito Ishii, Hajime Ishimine, and Shinichiro Miki
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, a defining work of Japan’s millennial new wave of outrageously original pop cinema, guaranteed to confuse, amuse, repulse, and excite you returns to the Fantasia screen. Presented in celebration of the filmmakers attending the festival to present their latest project at the Frontières Market.

HOSTILE TAKEOVER (Canada, 1988) – dir. George Mihalka
Police surround a hydroelectric plant where an armed accountant (David Warner) is holding his boss (Michael Ironside) and colleagues (Kate Vernon, Jayne Eastwood) hostage while they all work overtime during the Thanksgiving vacation. Released in some territories as OFFICE PARTY. Special Presentation of Library and Archives Canada (LAC)’s New 4K Scan.

HOUSE WITH THE LAUGHING WINDOWS (Italy, 1976) – dir. Pupi Avati
A brilliant, unsettling outlier for the Italian giallo from the great Pupi Avati (ZEDER). A haunting meditation on art, madness, and the failure of reason against pagan chaos, set in a village where silence conceals a disturbing legacy. Canadian Premiere of Arrow Films’ New 4K Restoration.

MIXED BLOOD (USA, 1985) – dir. Paul Morrissey
A drug-dealing matriarch who lives with her son and his gang of juvenile delinquents starts a brutal turf war in Alphabet City in this long-unavailable cult classic from the legendary Paul Morrissey (FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN, TRASH). A family film in the same sense as John Waters’ similarly acerbic FEMALE TROUBLE. World Premiere of Vinegar Syndrome’s New 4K Restoration.

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (USA, 1993) – dir. Henry Selick
It’s Christmas – and Halloween – in July! Celebrate a very special evening at Fantasia with genre cinema’s most iconic composer, Danny Elfman, which includes the presentation of a Career Achievement Award, the World Premiere of Eddie Alcazar’s wild animated short film BULLET TIME (scored by Elfman, of course), and a rare big screen screening of Henry Selick’s kooky, spooky stop-motion musical masterpiece which – over three decades after its release – remains a beloved icon around the world.

LOOKING FOR AN ANGEL (Japan, 1999) – dir. Akihiro Suzuki
A late-1990s queer classic that sheds light on a vision of Japan rarely seen on the big screen. Intimate and honest, the movie follows two friends in search of meaning after the death of their friend Takachi, a young porn star from a small rural town. Underground Section. Canadian Premiere of Kani Releasing’s New 2K Restoration.

NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER (USA, 1980) – dir. Robert Butler
Take a wild ride through one of the scuzziest, seamiest entries in the late ‘70s / early ‘80s New York City crime-film canon as James Brolin tears Manhattan apart to rescue his daughter, kidnapped by a twisted psycho after mistaking her for the child of a wealthy businessman. From the director of TURBULENCE. World Premiere of Kino Lorber’s New 4K Restoration.

NOROI: THE CURSE (Japan, 2005) – Koji Shiraishi
In celebration of Koji Shiraishi (SADAKO VS KAYAKO, HOUSE OF SAYURI) attending the festival to present his new project at the Frontières Market, Fantasia is proud to host a special 35mm screening of his cult horror classic NOROI: THE CURSE.

PINBALL SUMMER (Canada, 1980) – dir. George Mihalka
George Mihalka’s first feature film celebrates the summer of 1980 with its colorful arcana, funky, whiter-than-white music, gleaming cars, customized minivans, and fashion victims. PINBALL SUMMER is an ode to free-spirited youth, shot on Montreal’s South Shore in Oka Park and at La Ronde.

A CAVALCADE OF SPECIAL LIVE EVENTS
Fantasia is proud to reveal the following exciting array of special live events occurring across its 29th edition, all presented completely free-of-charge.

I AM FRANKELDA: PUPPETS AND NIGHTMARES
BBAM! Gallery
This summer, Fantasia is proud to present the North American premiere of I AM FRANKELDA, Mexico’s very first stop-motion animated feature film. To mark the momentous occasion, the festival is hosting a very special pop-up exhibition, a chance to come face to face with Frankelda, Herneval, and all the other “stars” of the film. Brothers Roy and Arturo Ambriz, co-directors of I AM FRANKELDA and founders of the studio Cinema Fantasma, generously share the puppets of their film’s protagonists and supporting characters—a chance to examine their magnificent creations up close!

• Friday July 18, 4:00PM-7:00PM (opening)
• Saturday July 19, 12:30PM-6:00PM
• Sunday July 20, 12:30PM-6:00PM

ARTIST TALK: ANNE-MARIE GÉLINAS
Sunday July 20, 2:00PM, Reggies
A master class with Anne-Marie Gélinas is an illuminating look at the power of cinema: it’s about sharing a vision of the world and the power of images while simultaneously a look back at an international career. From 1995 to the present, it’s a journey through a golden age of cinema that is free, uninhibited, multi-ethnic, and universal in scope, but always with a sense of identity and Quebecois values. We’ll take a look back at those early days and the founding elements of her career as a producer. We’ll discuss FLOTS, her next film to be directed by Éric Tessier, based on a book by Patrick Senécal, and we’ll look back at her genre films, including SLAXX, RADIUS, TURBO KID, and MARS ET AVRIL – and of course we’ll be talking about Kim Nguyen’s adventure REBELLE! We’ll also be discussing her documentary productions, including CHIENNE DE VIE. Trailers of her films will precede the discussion, and questions from the audience will be welcomed at the end.

MERMAIDS, MENNONITES, AND MATRIARCHS: AN ARTIST TALK WITH SHEILA MCCARTHY
Moderated by Carolyn Mauricette
Monday July 21, 5:00PM, Cinéma du Musée
If you’ve watched Canadian film or television, you’d have to be living under a rock if you didn’t recognize a certain pixie-haired actress with sparkling green eyes: the mercurial Sheila McCarthy. Gracing stage and screen for decades, from her breakout role as Polly in Patricia Rozema’s I’VE HEARD THE MERMAIDS SINGING, to EMILY OF NEW MOON, to the Oscar-winning WOMEN TALKING, plus genre hits ANTIVIRAL, LEVEL 16, DIE HARD 2, ANYTHING FOR JACKSON, THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY, and the Fantasia 2025 selection THE WELL, this multiple-award-winning actress-turned-director has a storied career that we’ll delve into—from her early days as a dancer to becoming one of the most beloved Canadian performers ever.

BULLET TIME BREAKDOWN WITH DANNY ELFMAN
Moderated by Jeff Waye of Third Side Music
Thursday July 24, 3:00PM, Cinéma du Musée
It takes a film composer as playful and imaginative as Danny Elfman to match the manic energy and goofy excellence of BULLET TIME, the new animated short by Eddie Alcazar (DIVINITY, Fantasia 2023). On the afternoon following its World Premiere at Elfman’s Cheval Noir Career Award event at Fantasia, the composer discussed making BULLET TIME happen, and creating music that makes animation and genre cinema come alive.

– Panel Discussion
ART LIVES! CANADIAN OUTSIDER CINEMA VS. THE MACHINE
With panelists Ethan Eng, Lea Rose Sebastianis, Avalon Fast, Terry Chiu, Maurane, Annie Wren, Kelly Kay Hurcomb, and James Watts
Moderated by Vincenzo Nappi
Thursday July 24, 5:00PM, York Amphitheatre
We live in a time where filmmaking is often described as being more accessible than ever. The phrase “Just make a movie with your iPhone” is repeated by those who have never been forced to consider it. But when rent is due and $30K, $20K, or even $10K is the kind of money that could derail your entire life, that supposed accessibility begins to feel like a mirage. For filmmakers whose ideas fall outside the bounds of government grants or mainstream tastes, a debut feature can feel more distant than it has ever been. However, from this tension brought on by capitalism and conformity comes a new wave of Canadian filmmakers defying the norm and making uncompromising films unique to their visions. Discussing the realities of DIY filmmaking, staying true to your vision, keeping filmmaking accessible, and navigating both indie and professional distribution are filmmakers Ethan Eng (THERAPY DOGS), Lea Rose Sebastianis (PLEASE LOVE ME), Terry Chiu (OPEN DOOM CRESCENDO), Avalon Fast (HONEYCOMB), Maurane (ME AND MY VICTIM), Annie Wren (STEAL MY LIFE), and Kelly Kay Hurcomb and James Watts (MESSY LEGENDS). Q&A with filmmakers will follow.

– Book Launch Event
FEAR, FEMINISM, AND THE AMERICAN WITCH FILM: AUTHOR TALK WITH PAYTON MCCARTY-SIMAS
Saturday July 26, 3:00PM, York Amphitheatre
It might sound obvious to suggest that the witch is a feminist symbol in 2025–– but that hasn’t always been the case. In this talk, marking the release of author and film critic Payton McCarty-Simas’ second book, That Very Witch: Fear, Feminism, and the American Witch Film, Payton will delve into the evolution of the witch as a figure in horror cinema. Touching on everything from Second Wave feminism to the Satanic Panic, from the #MeToo Movement to QAnon and beyond, they will examine the political interplay between feminist activism and American genre film culture, unpacking films big and small along the way.

This is a special book launch event for Payton McCarty-Simas’ THAT VERY WITCH: FEAR, FEMINISM, AND THE AMERICAN WITCH FILM (Luna Press Publishing), with copies available for purchase from the author.

GEORGE MIHALKA MASTERCLASS
Moderated by Marc Lamothe and Elza Kephart
Sunday July 27, 2:00PM, Reggies
George Mihalka’s body of work is massive, and his place in the hearts of Quebec and Canadian cinephiles is indelible. Listening to George speak is more than just a lesson in cinema. The world knows him for MY BLOODY VALENTINE and BEIJING EXPRESS, and Quebecers adore him as much for his films (notably SCANDALE, LA FLORIDA, L’HOMME IDÉAL and Les Boys IV) as for his cult TV series (including SCOOP 1, SCOOP 2, and OMERTA LA LOI DU SILENCE). Marc Lamothe, programmer and curator of the Denis-Héroux Award, and Elza Kephart, director and environmental activist, will lead this lively discussion that will cover George’s beginnings, his craft, and all of his major local and international films and TV series. Presented by the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC).

THE MAYOR OF TROMAVILLE SPEAKS: AN ARTIST TALK WITH LLOYD KAUFMAN
Moderated by producer, film critic, and journalist Heather Buckley (Black Mansion Films)
Friday August 1, 4:30PM, Cinéma du Musée 
Join us for a very special artist talk with the inimitable director, screenwriter, producer, distributor, and entrepreneur Lloyd Kaufman, co-founder of Troma Entertainment, creator of THE TOXIC AVENGER and recipient of our inaugural Indie Maverick Career Award. Many films these days are independent, but Kaufman and Troma are among the most independent of them all, battling the status quo each day and every step of the way. And while it’s definitely not easy, they make it all look like so much fun. At this talk, Kaufman will discuss the mountains of resourceful filmmaking adventures that have lit up his extraordinary 51-year (and counting!) career, from the creation of landmark exploitation film oddities and the eternal struggles to get wildly excessive, against-the-grain movies financed, shot, and sold in an overwhelmingly corporatized landscape, to his early discoveries of a slew of talents including James Gunn, Trey Parker, and Matt Stone. You won’t want to miss this!

The post Fantasia 2025 Final Wave Includes Indonesian Gorefest ‘The Book of Sijjin and Illiyyin’ and Tribute to Troma appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

With classic artwork and new designs from Sam Coyne, Mister Black, Brandon Stecz,and Matthew Skiff, The Toxic Avenger collection includes four shirts, while the “Toxic Crusaders” line has six shirts.

There are also nine “Crusaders” enamel pins designed by Skiff: Toxie, Dr. Killemoff, Headbanger, Major Disaster, Nozone, Radiation Ranger, Junkyard, Bonehead, and Psycho.

Printed to order, tees cost $35 and will ship in 2-3 weeks. Enamel pins are $13 each and are in stock.

In 1984‘s The Toxic Avenger, a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength is born when meek mop boy Melvin falls into a vat of toxic waste, leaving evildoers with a lot to lose.

The low-budget gorefest was cleaned up for “Toxic Crusaders,” an environmentally-conscious superhero cartoon that ran for one season in 1991.

In Macon Blair‘s fresh take on The Toxic Avenger, downtrodden janitor Winston Gooze is exposed to a catastrophic toxic accident, transforming him into a mutant vigilante who targets ruthless corporate overlords and corrupt forces.

Peter Dinklage (“Game of Thrones”) stars with Kevin Bacon (Friday the 13th), Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings), Jacob Tremblay (Doctor Sleep), Julia Davis (Phantom Thread), and Taylour Paige (Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F).

The post Clean Up Your Wardrobe with ‘Toxic Avenger’ & ‘Toxic Crusaders’ Apparel from Gutter Garbs appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The contest runs now until May 16 at 9am ET, and the winner will be chosen later that day. The lunch will be held sometime between May 20-May 25 and may be filmed and streamed.

The winner of the Lunch With Lloyd Kaufman contest must reside in the tri-state area and be able to travel on their own expense to Long Island City (where Troma’s offices are).

To enter, you must follow the official @ToxicAvenger account on IG, comment on the contest post (below) tagging 5 additional friends and use the hashtags #LunchWithLloyd and #OfficialTAGiveaway, and fill out the entry form at https://toxicavenger.com/lloyd-lunch/.

You can look over the full contest rules by clicking here.

Primetime Emmy-winning actor Peter Dinklage stars as The Toxic Avenger in the new Unrated movie, which will be released exclusively in movie theaters on August 29, 2025.

When janitor Winston Gooze is exposed to a catastrophic toxic accident, he’s transformed into a new kind of hero: The Toxic Avenger. Now, Toxie must rise from outcast to savior, taking on ruthless corporate overlords and corrupt forces who threaten his son, his friends, and his community. In a world where greed runs rampant… justice is best served radioactive.

Kevin Bacon (They/Them, Hollow Man), Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings), Jacob Tremblay (Room, Wonder) and Taylour Paige (Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Zola) also star.

With 25 reviews so far, The Toxic Avenger is 92% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes!

The Toxic Avenger is distributed by Cineverse, produced by Legendary Entertainment.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by The Toxic Avenger Movie (@toxicavenger)

The post Win Lunch With Troma Legend Lloyd Kaufman Ahead of ‘The Toxic Avenger’ This Summer! [Contest] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

36 years later, the filmmakers’ initial vision for the sequel has been reconstructed under its original title, Mr. Melvin.

Andrew L. Miller, Kaufman’s assistant, and Adam Peltier, star of Troma’s upcoming film The Power of Positive Murder, unearthed the original script and edited footage from the two films together as originally intended.

Toxie actor Ron Fazio provided some new voiceover for Mr. Melvin. He stars alongside Phoebe Legere, John Altamura, Rick Collins, John Altamura, Rikiya Yasuoka, and Lisa Gaye.

Clocking in at around two hours, the Mr. Melvin cut will premiere as part of Troma-Thon 2025 at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater in Lehighton, PA on July 18-19.

“I always dreamed of reconstructing The Toxic Avenger Part II and III into the single epic we originally intended before the MPAA sliced it up like week-old sashimi,” Kaufman tells Bloody Disgusting.

“I’m extremely delighted this is finally happening before I croak, and it’s even given me a reason not to blow my fucking brains out! It’s a very happy ending, and I’m proud to say Michael and I are leaving our mop in toxeriffic hands.”

“Honestly, it looks fantastic. The story makes way more sense, and in my opinion it’s a much better film than the other two individually,” says Miller.

“We’re going to be premiering the Mr. Melvin cut at Troma-Thon this year at The Mahoning Drive-In, our annual drive-in Troma movie marathon, and I think it’s going to be a really great experience for people to see this cut for the first time at the drive-in, the way it should be!”

“This isn’t a restoration. It’s a resurrection. We’re taking Parts II and III and making them whole—one film, one story, told the way it was originally intended. After this, you won’t want to watch them any other way,” adds Peltier.

“Lloyd Kaufman is a true auteur. His work is important. It has meaning. I hope Mr. Melvin gives people—especially the naysayers—another chance to actually look at what he’s been doing all these years. Because Mr. Melvin isn’t just a goofy sequel—it’s a complex piece of work.”

Peltier continues, “It’s as much about Toxie trying to figure out his place in the world once there’s no more crime to fight as it is about Lloyd grappling with what to do after creating a surprise cult hit. Both of them—Toxie and Lloyd—are facing the same question: do I sell out to the corporate overlords, or do I keep fighting the good fight?”

“We couldn’t be more excited to have Mr. Melvin premiering at Troma-Thon 2025,” enthuses Troma-Thon co-founder J.T. Mills. “In what’s being dubbed as ‘the year of Toxie,’ it’s perfect timing to see Troma finally putting together what was the original vision for the Toxic Avenger sequel, and getting to show our drive-in audience this historic, definitive cut, first, is a real honor!”

After ridding Tromaville of evil, Melvin Junko, the Toxic Avenger, has nothing left to fight. Evil has been vanquished, his mop is clean, and his heart feels… empty. Depressed and emotionally adrift, a psychiatrist with questionable motives encourages him to reconnect with his long-lost father in Japan. But this heartfelt journey is merely a charade, as Apocalypse Inc. lures Toxie overseas in order to blast him with Anti-Tromatons, corrupting his superhuman senses.

Blinded to the forces of evil, Toxie returns home and becomes a corporate puppet for infernal forces bent on enslaving Tromaville… and the world! Can the Toxic Avenger reclaim his soul and save Tromaville once again, or is the hero of the people doomed to become the very monster he always feared?

Troma-Thon tickets are on sale now. Along with Mr. Melvin, the two-night event includes screenings of Surf Nazis Must Die, Rise of the Super Tromettes, Rabid Grannies, Class of Nuke ‘Em High, and Def By Temptation.

Additional screenings of Mr. Melvin are being planned. The film is likely to eventually join the original four Toxic Avenger films in streaming on Troma Now. There’s also potential for physical media edition accompanied by newly discovered making-of footage.

The Toxic Avenger‘s legacy continues with Macon Blair‘s reboot starring Peter Dinklage, opening unrated in theaters on August 29.

The post ‘Toxic Avenger’ Sequel Reconstruction ‘Mr. Melvin’ to Debut at Troma-Thon in Pennsylvania [Exclusive] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Lyndsey Craine (Book of Monsters) and Lala Barlow star in the gory high school horror-comedy from British writer-director Liam Regan (My Bloody Banjo).

Vito Trigo (Return to Nuke ‘Em High), James Hamer-Morton, Charlie Bond, Emily Haigh (Jane Eyre), Michaela Longden (Book of Monsters), Sierra Summers, Alexander J. Skinner, Justin A. Martell (Return to Nuke ‘Em High), Annabella Rich, Dani Thompson, Laurence R. Harvey (The Human Centipede 2) round out the cast.

Of course, Troma president and The Toxic Avenger creator Lloyd Kaufman makes a cameo.

Special Features:

• Introduction From Lloyd Kaufman
• Audio Commentary
• 7 Days of Hell: Making of Documentary
• Deleted Scenes
• Outtakes
• Gore Reel
• VFX Reel
• Raw B-Roll
• Cast Interviews
• Behind the Scenes Footage
• Frightfest Premiere
• Trailers

Beth Conner is a vegan-goth introvert who attends an elite high school in England. She emerges from her shell when new teacher Miss Campbell arrives on campus. Their affair triggers Beth to develop a new appetite. Let’s just say she’s definitely not a vegan anymore.

The new Beth is eager to win the school’s celebrated “All You Can Eat Massacre” contest that has a very unique first prize. Can she devour everything to achieve her dream?

Nostalgia is cancer in Eating Miss Campbell, turning a darkly comic light on posh academia, cannibalism, school violence, child predators, alternate realities, horror movies, and Alec Baldwin.

The soundtrack features music from Tom Green, Wheatus, Twiztid, and more.

The post Troma’s ‘Eating Miss Campbell’ Will Feed Your Appetite for the Grotesque on Blu-ray in March appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Poultrygeist 2: The Henpire Strikes Back will be written and directed by Mercedes the Muse, who helmed Troma’s upcoming Rise of the Super Tromettes.

Andrew L. Miller is producing, with Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman (who directed the first Poultrygeist) and Michael Herz serving as executive producers.

No plot details have been revealed, but the sequel promises “more guts, more blood, and more poultry.” If you’ve seen the 2016 original, you know that’s no easy feat.

Jason Yachanin, Kate Graham, Allyson Sereboff, and Robin L. Watkins starred Poultrygeist, in which zombified chickens attack a fast-food restaurant built on an ancient burial ground.

The post ‘The Henpire Strikes Back’ in Troma’s Upcoming ‘Poultrygeist’ Sequel appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

An environmentally-conscious superhero cartoon in the vein of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Captain Planet,” the show ran for one season. All 13 episodes are coming to Blu-ray from Troma on December 10.

While originally animated on 16mm film, “Toxic Crusaders” was mastered on videotape for broadcast, including all digital effects and transitions. To present the series in the best possible quality, Troma has used advanced AI models to upscale the standard definition masters in high definition to capture the original broadcast’s intended experience.

Special Features for the two-disc set include:

• Introduction by Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman (new)
• Original Toxic Crusaders toy commercials and TV spots
• Feature length documentary on the making of Retroware’s Toxic Crusaders video game
• Long lost Toxie archival footage
• Bonus cartoons

Toxie and his nemesis Dr. Killemoff are both voiced by Rodger Bumpass, best known as Squidward on “SpongeBob SquarePants.” The cast also includes Paul Eiding (“Ben 10”), Ed Gilbert (“Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills”), Hal Rayle (“Swat Kats: The Radical Squad”), John Mariano (“The Tick”), Kath Soucie (Space Jam), Susan Silo (“Biker Mice from Mars”), and Gregg Berger (“Duckman”).

Set in the fictional city of Tromaville, the show finds nerd-turned-superhero Toxie leading a group of fellow mutants to stop evil alien Dr. Killemoff and his cohorts from destroying the planet.

The first episode of “Toxic Crusaders” was written by sitcom magnate Chuck Lorre, who went on to create “Two and a Half Men” and “The Big Bang Theory.” The Toxic Avenger co-directors and Troma co-founders Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz worked on the show as well.

Lorre also co-wrote the “Toxic Crusaders” theme song, featured in the video below, which also serves as a preview of Troma’s high definition up-scaling.

The post ‘Toxic Crusaders’ Animated Series Heads to Digitally Remastered Blu-ray from Troma appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

TOXIC AVENGER #1 will land in stores on October 9, 2024.

While you wait, you can exclusively check out the issue #1 cover art from Fred Harper below, along with a set of emojis designed by Harper for the extremely online teens of Tromaville.

“The Toxic Avenger delivers what Troma fans want,” said AHOY Comics Editor-in-Chief Tom Peyer. “The series has violent action, gross mutations, bursting pustules, eye-popping visuals, and trenchant humor.” 

“If there was ever a superhuman hero for these toxic, miserable times, Toxie is the one!” said Lloyd Kaufman. “Only AHOY Comics and Bors & Harper could pull this off…er…mop this up! Toxie and the Troma Team can’t wait ‘til you read -no, experience – the art and stories that the Toxic Avenger Comic Book will explode in your brain, your soul, and your heart. Above all, remember – Toxie loves you and so do I.”

“This series will combine elements of the original films with the Toxic Crusaders cartoon and characters in familiar ways, updated to tell a story of environmental devastation, corporate control, and social media mutation,” said Bors. “The Toxic Avenger is first and foremost an environmental satire, one about a small town and its unremarkable people trapped and transformed by circumstances they don’t control. The story Fred Harper and I are telling is about people frustrated by authorities telling them not to worry about their life, that things are fine, even as their dog mutates in front of their eyes. And at its core it is about a powerless boy, Melvin, who finds out he can be incredibly strong, hideously mutated, well-admired, and incredibly heroic… but still ultimately powerless over human behavior.”

In The Toxic Avenger, teenager Melvin Junko helps run his parent’s junkyard in Tromaville, a small town in New Jersey where nothing much ever happens — until an ill-timed train derailment of toxic waste transforms Melvin into a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength: the Toxic Avenger!

Under a media blackout imposed by Biohazard Solutions (BS) and their PR-spewing Chairwoman Lindsay Flick, Melvin emerges as a hero fighting against BS and the mutated threats that keep popping up around Tromaville.

Eventually Melvin uncovers a vast conspiracy more far-reaching than he could have ever imagined — but he knows if everyone is simply made aware of the crisis, they’ll act to stop it. Right?

The post ‘The Toxic Avenger’ Returns with Cover Artwork for First Issue of New Comic Book Series [Exclusive] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Toxic Crusaders is now available to preorder on Steam, with the game set for Fall 2024 release. Exact date TBA.

Developer and publisher Retroware has teamed up with Troma Entertainment to bring the characters from the 1991 cartoon “Toxic Crusaders” back, for an all-new, all-action beat ’em up for one to four players.

In the game, “When the evil Dr. Killemoff attacks, only one team of hideously deformed creatures of superhuman size and strength stands between him and his plans for global pollution: the Toxic Crusaders, Earth’s last, greatest and ugliest hope for survival! Battle across seven disgusting levels rendered in vibrant pixel art as you defend Tromaville from hordes of Radiation Rangers, mutated thugs and zombie chickens. The odds might be stacked against you but with awesome powers, a winning personality, and up to four-players on your side, the Smogulan Empire’s days are numbered!

“Choose from seven playable characters, including Toxie, No-Zone, Junkyard, Major Disaster, and Headbanger – plus, for the first time, play as Toxie’s musically “gifted” girlfriend Yvonne, and the mother of all mothers, Mrs. Junko, Toxie’s mom!”

Considering this is set in Tromaville, it’s a safe bet that we’ll see more Troma characters beyond the Crusaders here.  Toxic Crusaders will also feature fully voice-acted motion comic cutscenes, featuring voice acting by TeamFourStar, industry veterans, and of course, Troma actors.

Check out the gameplay demo below for a closer look at the Toxic Crusaders in action.

Toxic Crusaders is coming soon to Xbox Series X + S, Playstation 4 + 5, Steam, Nintendo Switch, and the Epic Games Store. But you can wishlist on Steam in the meantime.

The post ‘Toxic Crusaders’ – Retroware’s Side-Scrolling Beat-‘Em-Up Coming Fall 2024 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Bloody Disgusting has learned that Matt Bors — the founder of The Nib and a political cartoonist who has twice been named a Pulitzer Prize finalist —and acclaimed artist Fred Harper (Snelson) are collaborating on an all-new 5-issue comic book series, THE TOXIC AVENGER, starring the satirical superhero of the Troma Films cult classic films.

“THE TOXIC AVENGER delivers what Troma fans want,” said AHOY Comics Editor-in-Chief Tom Peyer. “The series has violent action, gross mutations, bursting pustules, eye-popping visuals, and trenchant humor.” 

“If there was ever a superhuman hero for these toxic, miserable times, Toxie is the one!” said Lloyd Kaufman. “Only AHOY Comics and Bors & Harper could pull this off…er…mop this up! Toxie and the Troma Team can’t wait ‘til you read -no, experience – the art and stories that the Toxic Avenger Comic Book will explode in your brain, your soul, and your heart. Above all, remember – Toxie loves you and so do I.”

“This series will combine elements of the original films with the Toxic Crusaders cartoon and characters in familiar ways, updated to tell a story of environmental devastation, corporate control, and social media mutation,” said Bors. “THE TOXIC AVENGER is first and foremost an environmental satire, one about a small town and its unremarkable people trapped and transformed by circumstances they don’t control. The story Fred Harper and I are telling is about people frustrated by authorities telling them not to worry about their life, that things are fine, even as their dog mutates in front of their eyes. And at its core it is about a powerless boy, Melvin, who finds out he can be incredibly strong, hideously mutated, well-admired, and incredibly heroic… but still ultimately powerless over human behavior.”

In THE TOXIC AVENGER, teenager Melvin Junko helps run his parent’s junkyard in Tromaville, a small town in New Jersey where nothing much ever happens — until an ill-timed train derailment of toxic waste transforms Melvin into a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength: the Toxic Avenger! Under a media blackout imposed by Biohazard Solutions (BS) and their PR-spewing Chairwoman Lindsay Flick, Melvin emerges as a hero fighting against BS and the mutated threats that keep popping up around Tromaville. Eventually Melvin uncovers a vast conspiracy  more far-reaching than he could have ever imagined — but he knows if everyone is simply made aware of the crisis, they’ll act to stop it. Right?

TOXIC AVENGER #1 will land in stores on October 9, 2024.

The post ‘The Toxic Avenger’ Returns in New Comic Book Series Featuring Elements from Films and ‘Toxic Crusaders’! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

You’ll find it only on Troma’s dedicated streaming service, Troma Now.

“This Toxic Avenger in 4K is historic! It has already played to full houses throughout the Alamo Drafthouse circuit and others,” says Troma Prez, Lloyd Kaufman. “Toxie has a new life. And Michael Herz and I are very proud of his mopping up on Troma-Now!”

In the wake of The Toxic Avenger, Troma Now will premiere 4K restorations and new transfers from the original materials of a number of classics on the 15th of every month.

Rabid Grannies (1988) will be coming to Troma Now in 4K this year, in its original 96 minute uncut format, scanned and restored from its 35mm interpositive.

Mother’s Day (1980), Charles Kaufman’s cult classic horror film, will premiere in April. Newly scanned and restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative.

Bloodsucking Freaks (1976), Joel M. Reed’s equally celebrated and reviled film will premiere in 4K, scanned and restored from its 35mm internegative.

Other titles coming this year include The Last Horror Film in 4K, a newly restored transfer of Redneck Zombies, and more Troma classics like you’ve never seen them before.

The post New 4K Restoration of ‘The Toxic Avenger’ Now Streaming Exclusively on Troma appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Starting in February, streaming service Troma Now will premiere 4K restorations and new transfers from the original materials of a number of classics on the 15th of every month.

On February 15, the new 4K restoration of The Toxic Avenger will be available to stream exclusively on Troma Now. The rest of the series will follow throughout the year.

Rabid Grannies (1988) will be coming to Troma Now in 4K this year, in its original 96 minute uncut format, scanned and restored from its 35mm interpositive.

Mother’s Day (1980), Charles Kaufman’s cult classic horror film, will premiere in April. Newly scanned and restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative.

Bloodsucking Freaks (1976), Joel M. Reed’s equally celebrated and reviled film will premiere in 4K, scanned and restored from its 35mm internegative.

Other titles coming this year include The Last Horror Film in 4K, a newly restored transfer of Redneck Zombies, and more Troma classics like you’ve never seen them before.

Stay tuned for more streaming dates as we learn them.

The post 4K Restorations of ‘Toxic Avenger’ and More Troma Classics Are Coming to Streaming This Year appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The film is preceded by an “extreme violence” warning. The gore is indeed graphic — the first kill features a kid’s head being run over by a car, firmly establishing that no one is safe and nothing is off limits — but it could use about a dozen more trigger warnings by today’s standards. If you can be offended, you will be offended by the boundary-pushing content that includes (but is certainly not limited to) racism, homophobia, ableism, and sexual misconduct — yet there is substance behind the sleaze.

Set in Tromaville, New Jersey — the toxic waste dumping capital of the world — a prank gone wrong results in meek mop boy Melvin (Mark Torgl) taking a swan dive into a barrel of toxic waste. The “98-pound weakling” transforms into a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength, The Toxic Avenger (played by Mitch Cohen, with Kenneth Kessler’s mellifluous voice). With his newfound powers, the monster hero cleans up the corrupt streets of Tromaville. Along the way, he finds love in a blind woman named Sara (Andree Maranda).

Starting at the top with co-directors/producers Lloyd Kaufman (under the pseudonym Samuel Weil) and Michael Herz, everyone is self-aware and fully committed to the on-screen insanity. Joe Ritter’s script is outrageous, and the actors push it even further. Many scenes go on longer than necessary, despite a scant 84-minute runtime, but sometimes that works to its advantage: the seemingly never-ending sequence of car stunts and the Mexican restaurant melee come back around to being funny again.

The Toxic Avenger became synonymous with Troma, setting a precedent for its signature blend of madcap exploitation, crass humor, outlandish violence, and social commentary. The over-the-top gore is schlocky but effective, and special makeup effects artist Jennifer Aspinall went on to win Emmy Awards for her work on Mad TV and Pam & Tommy. Future Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny) makes a brief, uncredited appearance.

Toxie returned five years later in The Toxic Avenger Part II and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie, both of which debuted in 1989. Originally intended to be one movie, Kaufman and Herz filmed so much material that they split it into two. Although there is a continuing story arc between them, neither one feels like only half a story (although Part II is rather anticlimactic). Even divided, however, both parts are overlong and monotonous.

In Part II, Tromaville’s crime-free tranquility is shattered when the corrupt chemical company Apocalypse Inc. comes to town. Toxie (played by Ron Fazio and John Altamura) is tricked into traveling to Tokyo in search of his estranged father, leaving Tromaville vulnerable to the seedy villain syndicate. Japan provides a nice change of scenery, but the repetitive fish-out-of-water sequences fail to advance the plot. Toxie ultimately returns home to save the day… for now.

Part III opens with a wild video store sequence that serves as a thinly veiled allegory for Hollywood’s homogeny and greed. Toxie makes a Faustian bargain with Apocalypse Inc.’s chairman (Troma regular Rick Collins), becoming a corporate yuppie in exchange for the money needed for his girlfriend’s sight-restoring operation. His boss is revealed to be the devil, in a birthing sequence that remains a highlight of the franchise, and the two face off in a video game-inspired duel.

Toxie received a slight upgrade in the form of a mask that features a remote control eye, albeit one that is only occasionally functional. His beloved, still blind but now inexplicably named Claire rather than Sara, is played by musician Phoebe Legere. And Michael Jai White (Spawn) makes his film debut as an Apocalypse Inc. executive.

Long before multiverses and legacy sequels were fashionable, Troma made Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV in 2000. In the opening narration, the legendary Stan Lee declares it to be “the real sequel” to The Toxic Avenger after apologizing for the previous two “rotten” follow-ups. While Parts II and III leaned into the camp, Part IV is perhaps the most distasteful of the series. Look no further than the opening scene, in which gunmen take hostages at a special needs school on “Take a Mexican to Lunch Day.”

When the barrier between Tromaville and its diametrical opposite dimension counterpart, Amortville, is weakened, The Toxic Avenger (played by David Mattey, voiced by Clyde Lewis) inadvertently switches places with his evil counterpart, The Noxious Offender (Mattey). It also bridges the gap between Sara and Heidi (both played by Heidi Sjurse), positioning them as interdimensional doppelgängers. It culminates with an insane finale involving twins duking it out in a womb, an exploding penis creature, and recycled footage from the original film.

In addition to Lee’s voice-over, Citizen Toxie features cameos from adult film star Ron Jeremy as the ill-fated mayor of Tromaville, Corey Feldman (The Goonies) sporting a phony mustache as a gynecologist, The Howard Stern Show personality Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf as God, and Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister as… Lemmy. (The threat of litigation forced Troma to cut Hugh Hefner’s appearance as the President, resulting in a “no thanks” in the end credits.)

A plethora of Troma regulars also appear, including Torgl reprising his role as Melvin, original Toxie actor Cohen as a redneck, James Gunn providing obligatory exposition as a Stephen Hawking parody, Eli Roth sharing the screen with Lemmy as a frightened Tromaville citizen, scream queens Debbie Rochon, Tiffany Shepis, and Julie Strain, fellow superhero Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D., and Kaufman in his underwear to bring the film to a close.

If nothing else, Citizen Toxie is more streamlined than the previous two entries. Kaufman directs solo this time around, working from a script he co-wrote with Trent Haaga (Cheap Thrills), Patrick Cassidy (Terror Firmer), and Gabriel Friedman (Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead). It addresses topical issues like abortion and school shootings in between the madness. Toxie’s makeup, back to facial appliances rather than a mask, is perhaps the best of the franchise.

The unrated director’s cuts of all four films have been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negatives by Vinegar Syndrome with HDR for Troma’s The Toxic Avenger Collection 4K UHD + Blu-ray box set. (A digital master was sourced for brief sequences missing from Part II’s negative.) The 4Ks’ picture quality and the DTS 2.0 Stereo audio offer significant improvements over the Blu-ray counterparts.

Kaufman shot new intros for each film and, as he’s wont to do, made each one quirky and unique. For Part I, he talks up the film, touting how it paved the way for the likes of Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy, from his cluttered office. For Part II, he microwaves sushi in Troma’s commissary since they shot in Japan. For Part III, he discusses the subtext of the film in Troma’s wardrobe department (one clothing rack). For Part IV, he sits outside the Troma office playing the oboe before explaining why he considers it to be the best of the franchise.

Kaufman’s existing commentary tracks on each movie consist of a worthwhile mix of practical filmmaking advice, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and entertaining quips. The first film also has a comparatively slow track with actors Robert Prichard, Gary Schneider, and Dan Snow. Part III has a track with Troma regular Joe Fleishaker. Citizen Toxie has two additional commentaries: a hastily edited but entertaining cast track with Mattey, Sjursen, Haaga, Fleishaker, Michael Budinger, and Paul Kyrmse, and a lively track from editor Gabriel Friedman and associate editor Sean McGrath.

Many archival extras are included on the accompanying Blu-ray discs. Part I special features include: an archival intro by Kaufman; interviews with Herz, Cohen, Prichard, Snow, and actress Jennifer Baptist; a featurette in which Torgl shows off original props from the movie; American Cinematheque’s sizzle reel honoring 40 years of Troma; a slideshow of behind-the-scenes photos; and trailers.

Part II special features include: two archival intros by Kaufman; an interview with actress Lisa Gaye; a Japanese news report on the production; a short mockumentary titled At Home with Toxie; Radiation March, a public service announcement about pollution from Troma and the National Dance Institute; and trailers.

Part III special features include: an archival intro by Kaufman; “Make Your Own Damn Horror Film,” in which Kaufman interviews people (including horror icons Kane Hodder and Bill Moseley) on the set of the film Old 37; A Halloween Carol, Troma’s 2014 short reworking of A Christmas Carol starring Kaufman as himself; “TroMoMa,” which follows Kaufman and company to a prestige screening of Return to Nuke ‘Em High Volume 1 at the Museum of Modern Art; a Rabid Grannies infomercial; and trailers.

Part IV is accompanied by the 138-minute Apocalypse Soon: The Making of Citizen Toxie. A must-watch for any aspiring filmmaker, the exhaustive documentary provides a raw, honest look at the trials and tribulations of an independent production. Other special features include: an archival intro from Kaufman; a tribute to Lemmy’s Troma legacy; and Troma trailers.

With Troma celebrating 50 years of disrupting media, Toxie’s 40th anniversary coming up next year, and Macon Blair’s remake on the way, now is the perfect time to experience The Toxic Avenger franchise in 4K. It almost feels wrong to watch movies seemingly made for and by miscreants in ultra high definition, but beneath the virulent, subversive exteriors are sincere tales of an underdog triumphing over oppressors.

The Toxic Avenger Collection is available now.

The post ‘The Toxic Avenger’ Collection 4K Review – Troma’s Franchise Gets Ultimate Release Ahead of the Remake appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Described as a “brand new reimagining of Lloyd Kaufman’s classic The Toxic Avenger,” the film centers on Winston Gooze, played by “Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage!

Check out the “Eyewitness Toxie” trailer below to get a feel for the zany horror-comedy fun along with a few notable Troma callbacks.

Troma previews, “While the original film (which premiered in 1984 – almost 40 years ago!) followed the fate of Melvin Ferd Junko III (Mitch Cohen), who goes from zero to toxic hero in a case of bullying gone awry, Macon Blair’s contemporary take follows a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength all his own.

“Peter Dinklage stars as downtrodden janitor Winston Gooze who, after falling into a vat of toxic waste, becomes none other than The Toxic Avenger. This timely reimagining is up to its eyeballs in environmental themes as Winston goes up against the evil forces of greed and corruption to save his son, his friends, and his community.”

The official synopsis also notes, “Even as this story exists on its own terms, the spirit undoubtedly remains connected to the original. Troma fans old and new will be pleased to know that the film has been rated “R” for violence and gore – as per Troma tradition.”

Macon Blair’s The Toxic Avenger has indeed been rated “R,” specifically for “Strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity.”

And don’t forget the “butt guts.” Never forget the butt guts.

Elijah Wood, Julia Davis, Taylour Paige, Kevin Bacon, and Jacob Tremblay also star in The Toxic Avenger, which hopefully will get distribution and set a release date soon. Stay tuned for more.

The post ‘The Toxic Avenger’ Red Band Trailer Teases A Jaw-Ripping Good Time appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

A follow-up to Moore’s 2016 film Dolly Deadly, Kill Dolly Kill sees Tromaville’s local celebrity murderess, Dolly Deadly (Donna Slash) in competition to win Serial Killer of the Year. Unfortunately, rival drag queen Slasherella (Amy Vodkahaus) has designs on the title and will stoop to the lowest of lows to take the crown. To make matters worse, Tromaville’s ultra conservative and corrupt Mayor Cox (Tom Komisar, pulling double duty as the film’s co-writer) is campaigning to get the “weirdos” and “freaks” out of town, throwing a wrench in Dolly’s schemes.

While Kill Dolly Kill is a sequel, you don’t have to have seen Dolly Deadly to get any enjoyment out of it. The musical slasher (oh yes, this is a musical) kicks things off with an amusing, partially animated recap of the events of the first film, which saw Dolly (then a young, doll-loving boy named Benji) go on a killing spree against his bullies and tormenters before running away from home and restarting his life as drag queen Dolly Deadly. Kill Dolly Kill picks up some time after the end of Dolly Deadly, with Dolly having already made a name for herself in Tromaville.

Kill Dolly Kill is being sold as a John Waters-influenced serial killer comedy with drag queens galore and plenty of grisly deaths, and it is those things, but it’s also missing that spark that made Waters’ films shine. The problem with films that try to emulate the magic of John Waters (or go for intentional camp) is that they often us it as an excuse for just being “bad.” Waters’ films may have been micro-budget productions, but they always had something to say, often in transgressive ways, and always kept things funny. Kill Dolly Kill mostly achieves the first aspect, but fumbles with the latter.

The film sings (often literally) when its star is on screen. Donna Slash is a magnetic presence as Dolly, and she is able to make even the worst lines of dialogue tickle the funny bone. Her commitment to the bit is truly admirable. Unfortunately, there are far too many scenes (most of them in the middle stretch of the film) where she is absent, and those become an honest-to-God chore to sit through. Shots go on for seconds too long, killing many of the jokes, and some scenes are, quite frankly, boring. There is a refreshing lack of pretension here, but you’ll often wish you were having as much fun as the performers on screen clearly are.

The songs are a bit of a mixed bag. Musical styles range from ’60s pop to heavy metal, and actors lip sync to the songs, often terribly, with their mouths rarely lining up with the lyrics (though it should come as no surprise that Slash and Vodkahaus nail their lip syncs). One could argue that this is part of the charm of a film like this, but it proves to be more of a hindrance than an asset.

Still, in an age where drag as an art form is under attack and new anti-trans laws seem to pop up every day (especially here in Texas), there’s something deeply cathartic about an unapologetically queer film that is in direct conversation with the current social landscape. Dolly murders bigots and homophobes and transphobes with absolute glee, making the murder set pieces the film’s main draw.

All in all, the enjoyment you get out of Kill Dolly Kill will depend on your affinity for trash cinema. It’s a midnight movie through and through, but the humor might be more, well, humorous if you’re surrounded by a bunch of friends with more than a few drinks in hand.

Kill Dolly Kill made its world premiere at Fantastic Fest. Release info TBA.

The post ‘Kill Dolly Kill’ Fantastic Fest Review – A Mixed Bag of Campy Trash appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The opening of Amityville Vibrator tells you everything you need to know about the tone of the film: a title card reads June 6, 1976, 6:66am. In a green-lit room, a naked woman wearing a horned mask masturbates with a dildo. Moments later she is shot to death, a spray of blood and brains coating the wall. The green filter and the mask and horns are gone and all that’s left is the stark truth of a murder.

Then the film transitions into hand drawn credits, complete with stick figures and crude animated drawings.

Writer/director Nathan Rumler is far more self-aware than most of the preceding entries in the “franchise.” This is a film that is equal parts haunted item (the titular vibrator) and pornography; it’s also a buddy comedy film about newly single Cathy (Corella Waring) and her best friend (with benefits) Roxie (Mallory Maneater), whose search for sexual pleasure takes an unexpected detour into Amityville territory.

In those simplistic terms, Amityville Vibrator – at least the first two acts – is a rousing success. It’s low budget, poorly lit and looks cheap, yes, but the performances are amusing, the sexuality is frank, and the script is surprisingly funny.

It doesn’t hurt that Rumler knows exactly what kind of film he’s making and embraces it. Even the last film we examined, Amityville Island, was questionably so-bad-it’s-good camp; Amityville Vibrator is…well…it’s called Amityville Vibrator!

Cathy opens the film looking for satisfaction because her ex-boyfriend Chad (Rumler, in an uncredited role) was prone to prematurely ejaculating the moment he saw her breasts. Sex-positive Roxie encourages her friend to remove men from the equation and take control of her pleasure with a sex toy. En route to the sex shop, however, Cathy spots a yard sale and stumbles upon a second hand “fiddle stick” (Rosie’s words) in a holy Bible box and snaps it up. (And yes, there’s even a fourth wall-breaking joke about cleaning it before using it.)

On the way home, Cathy pricks her finger on the cursed sex toy, thereby initiating an Amityville-style possession wherein the more she masturbates, the stronger the evil becomes.

Cue sexy times and deaths.

If the film sounds like a comedy mixed with a porno, that’s because it is. There are several scenes of explicit sexuality as Cathy pleasures herself (and also fucks Roxie) while Chad and his new colleague Mallory (Emily Hillborn) spy on her.

Chad and Mallory’s subplot is less successful. Chad is a total doofus who is obsessed about sex but unable to perform; he’s a sexual imbecile, despite his tendency to wear crude t-shirts (“I Eat Ass”; “Kum and Go”) and whip out his penis (yes, the nudity is equal opportunity).

Chad is ultimately more of a collection of traits than a proper character, so despite his and Mallory’s hunt for Amityville objects (the vibrator is purportedly their last), the subplot never finds its footing. As a result, most of their scenes consist of little more than sitting in a white van for long stretches of time. It simply doesn’t feel essential to the film, and that’s before a five-minute shrooms montage that feels explicitly designed to pad the runtime.

Alas the film never recovers its sense of playful fun, leading to a climax that is both predictable and abrupt. While this is on par for many Amityville films, the tonal shift from tongue-in-cheek to standard horror fare feels jarring and less satisfying.

Thankfully the first two thirds of the film is a mix of weird, funny, sexy, and self-referential. This film is proof that the Amityville films could learn a thing or two about the benefits of not taking themselves so seriously.

The Amityville IP Awards go to…

• Best Dialogue: Roxie gets all of the film’s best lines. From her goodbye on the phone (“I love you, too, whore face”) to her greeting in the car (“Let’s go get some dildos, bitch”) to fielding an emergency plea from Cathy (“Be there in two shakes of Satan’s cock”), Roxie is an absolute delight.
• Groaner Jokes: Chad is meant to be garbage, but it seems clear that Rumler also wants the audience to think he’s a lovable doofus. Still, it’s hard to imagine anyone pulling off groaners like “I’m ambi-dicks-trix” (because he can use both hands to type and masturbate) or when Chad declares losing his lighter “worse than 9-11.”
• Secret Backstory: There’s a whole storyline in the back half that Cathy is the daughter of Ronnie (Steve Nolan), the man from the yard sale and also a rapist. It’s odd and poorly conceived and another part of why the last act feels tonally off.
• Sex Comedy: Several of the exchanges between Cathy and Roxie in the first half of the film play like a teen sex comedy from the late 90s, which is why the film’s self-awareness works so well. Case in point: Roxie complains of being cold, and Cathy coyly replies: “I have an idea of how we can warm up.” Cut to the pair warming their hands as they sit in front of the heater. After a few moments, Cathy asks: “Do you wanna have sex now?” It’s an obvious joke, but the beat in the middle beefs up the punchline and makes it so much more playful. There’s at least a half dozen of these kinds of jokes in the film and they all work.
• Crucifix Dildo: At one point a possessed Cathy kills a nun (Ashley Short) with a crucifix dildo, which looks great, but also begs the question: why would the production use the very boring, plain black one for most of the film?! Don’t give me a crucifix dildo for one scene when I could have it the whole time!
• Voices, Levitation and Puppets: The film is at its wacky best right before Roxie is murdered. Not only does the vibrator levitate (on highly visible strings), it speaks to Cathy in a high-pitched voice (Sadie Tate). Then there’s the possessed sexually aggressive ventriloquist doll that Cathy nicknames Spanky (voiced by Brian Papandrea) that is a cross between Goosebumps‘ Slappy and the clown in Poltergeist. All of this stuff is *great*.

Next Time: We’re getting witchy with Amityville Witches (2020) from director Tom Jolliffe and writer Rebecca Matthews, who is only the second female screenwriter in the “franchise.”

The post ‘Amityville Vibrator’ Is Silly, Self-Aware Fun [The Amityville IP] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The studios and physical media labels tend to save some of their best stuff for spooky season, and this year is no exception. The Criterion Collection, Kino Lorber, and Shout Studios all have a huge selection this month, and studios like Paramount, Universal, and Lionsgate are bringing forward some awesome releases with unique packaging that will appeal to collectors.

If you haven’t jumped back into the world of physical media, this is as good a time as ever to start a horror movie collection.

The Criterion Collection

The team at the Criterion Collection have truly outdone themselves with horror releases for October. First up on October 3rd is Nicolas Roeg’s thriller Don’t Look Now in a new 4K UHD release from a recent remastering of the film. This is followed by another 4K UHD release of David Cronenberg’s Videodrome on October 10th. Both of these films were previously available in the collection but are being upgraded to the new format.

For new titles, Criterion is releasing a Tod Browning Blu-ray collection titled Sideshow Shockers on October 17th featuring the films Freaks, The Unknown, and The Mystic. These films are all making their Blu-ray debut in HD. Freaks in particular has been on my wish list for a long time, so this is a very exciting day for film fans.

Finally, on October 24th, Criterion brings The Others, the severely underseen 2001 horror/thriller starring Nicole Kidman, to 4K UHD and Blu-ray. While many horror fans may know this one, I am hoping a Criterion release opens it up to new audiences, as it is a fantastic film. 

Kino Lorber

Kino Lorber has been around for a long time as an independent physical media label, but their recent output since the 4K format was released has been seriously impressive. In October they are adding two 4K upgrades and several new Blu-rays to their already impressive horror catalog.

On October 24th, Kino is releasing both Red Dragon and Cujo on 4K UHD with newly remastered video with Dolby Vision HDR. Kino also has a nice line-up of HD Blu-rays available on the 24th including Lorna the Exorcist, Black Sabbath, The Dark Power, Alien Outlaw, and It! The Terror from Beyond Space.

Shout! Studios/Scream Factory

Shout! Studios is well known for their line of Collector’s Edition Blu-ray and 4K UHD release under their Scream Factory label, and October is shaping up to be another big month for the label. 

First up is the Night of the Demons series, available on October 3rd. The first film Night of the Demons will be available in a new 4K UHD Collector’s Edition, while Night of the Demons 2 and Night of the Demons 3 will have new HD Blu-ray releases.

The fun continues on October 10th with Pumpkinhead making its 4K UHD debut, as well as a limited edition Blu-ray of the notorious Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey. Finally, on October 17th Scream Factory will release a Collector’s Edition 4K UHD of The Blob (1988). 

Paramount Scares

Not to be outdone by these boutique labels, Paramount has a big October planned for physical media collectors. Paramount recently announced a new line called “Paramount Scares” which will focus on the studio’s catalog of horror films. With this announcement came a brand new box set with 5 Paramount films on 4K UHD which will be available on October 24th. This set includes Pet Sematary, Rosemary’s Baby, Smile, Crawl, and a surprise fifth title which has yet to be announced. The limited edition set also includes a Collector’s Edition of Fangoria Magazine with all new articles and features edited by Justin Beahm from Reverend Entertainment, a limited edition pin, and all new artwork for each film. 

Paramount is also releasing Scream 3 on 4K UHD for the first time on October 3rd, and a new Friday the 13th 4K UHD SteelBook with brand new artwork as well as a standalone release of Rosemary’s Baby on 4K UHD on October 10th. 

Lionsgate

Lionsgate also has a great October planned, starting with The Mist making its 4K UHD debut on October 3rd with both a standard edition and a collectible SteelBook featuring all of the different cuts of the film. The fun continues on October 17th with a gorgeous new 4K UHD SteelBook release of The Wicker Man (1973) with incredible artwork and packaging that will please both hardcore and casual fans of the film. 

Also on October 17th, the smash horror hit Talk to Me is coming to physical media with several packaging options including a WalMart exclusive Blu-ray package and an Amazon exclusive 4K UHD package, as well as standard editions on both formats. If you want to go even bigger, Umbrella Entertainment in Australia is releasing an incredible collector’s edition complete with a replica embalmed hand which you can make your own!

Universal

Are you a fan of the Universal Monsters classics? Well Universal has a release for you. While these eight core Universal Monsters films were previously released on 4K UHD, Universal has a brand new box set featuring new artwork and a large book full of additional information which will go on sale on October 3rd and is limited to 5,500 copies. The films included in the set are Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman, The Invisible Man, The Mummy, The Bride of Frankenstein, Phantom of the Opera, and Creature from the Black Lagoon. 

Universal also has a 4K UHD + 3D Blu-ray release of the sci-fi classic It Came from Outer Space. I have always considered sci-fi, especially aliens, to be horror-adjacent, so make sure you check this one out if you enjoy that 1950s science fiction goodness!

Troma

Troma’s biggest franchise is The Toxic Avenger, and they have an amazing 4K UHD box set hitting shelves on October 24th with all 4 films from the franchise newly remastered in 4K. In typical Troma fashion, they had a cheeky press release that promoted the set better than I could myself, so here is the synopsis from their listing:

“For the first time in the history of mankind, all 4 Toxic Avenger films of the world famous franchise have been brought together into one Tromarific 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray package! This “TOXSET” (which you could hold in your hands if you hand over your money to buy these again) will prove to be an increasingly valuable collectible. Because Lloyd Kaufman, Toxie’s creator is over 70 years old, he could die at any time. This will make this limited edition soar in value!”

So those are the highlights for October, which is an absolutely packed month for horror movie collectors and physical media enthusiasts. The horror genre specifically is getting some of the best treatment it ever has with all of these amazing releases, so buy your favorites and support the physical media cause! If you want to learn more about these releases, watch reviews, and get back into collecting, come check out my YouTube channel Films At Home for all the latest in home entertainment and movie collecting.

The post October 2023 Physical Media Roundup – 20+ Horror Releases You Don’t Want to Miss This Halloween appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Described as a “brand new reimagining of Lloyd Kaufman’s classic The Toxic Avenger,” the film centers on Winston Gooze, played by “Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage!

Troma previews, “While the original film (which premiered in 1984 – almost 40 years ago!) followed the fate of Melvin Ferd Junko III (Mitch Cohen), who goes from zero to toxic hero in a case of bullying gone awry, Macon Blair’s contemporary take follows a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength all his own.

“Peter Dinklage stars as downtrodden janitor Winston Gooze who, after falling into a vat of toxic waste, becomes none other than The Toxic Avenger. This timely reimagining is up to its eyeballs in environmental themes as Winston goes up against the evil forces of greed and corruption to save his son, his friends, and his community.”

The official synopsis also notes, “Even as this story exists on its own terms, the spirit undoubtedly remains connected to the original. Troma fans old and new will be pleased to know that the film has been rated “R” for violence and gore – as per Troma tradition.”

Macon Blair’s The Toxic Avenger has indeed been rated “R,” specifically for “Strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity.”

And don’t forget the “butt guts.” Never forget the butt guts.

Elijah Wood, Julia Davis, Taylour Paige, Kevin Bacon, and Jacob Tremblay also star in The Toxic Avenger, which should be receiving a trailer soon. Stay tuned for more.

The post ‘The Toxic Avenger’ – Here’s the Full Plot Synopsis for the Gory Rated “R” Remake appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Then again, Troma’s catalog might be the most fertile soil for remakes, given how even midrange studio pocket change would be a budgetary increase. Troma Studios has earned its legacy as an independent horror tentpole, but rewatching older “classics” today can be … a challenge. Titles like Mother’s Day (1980) exist to offend and reach for extremes, which is what built Troma’s reputation decades ago. The problem is that borderline edgelord desire to be the nastiest, most disrespectful, and least tasteful version of horror cinema has aged poorly in some cases (gosh, did I like Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead way more when released in 2006 when I was in high school). Bousman’s approach to remaking Troma’s Mother’s Day lays a template for how to honor 80s low-budget splattergore cinema with the right mindset — very, very loosely.

The Approach

Bousman and writer Scott Milam approach 2010’s Mother’s Day by cautiously dipping their toes into Tromaville’s polluted lakes. Backwoods murderers and sexual deviants swap for countryfied criminals who aren’t necessarily psychopaths by definition, just robbers who pick the wrong safehouse (until the whole virginity-be-gone scene). Troma’s sociopathic goofiness that blurs the lines between slapstick humor and perverse indulgences is nowhere to be seen — Bousman’s vision is gritty home invasion tension that doesn’t want you to laugh. It’s parallel to Fede Álvarez taking the dark-and-fucking-terrifying route to his remake of Sam Raimi’s more fun-and-games (in comparison) Evil Dead. New movie, new vision, same mad-in-the-head mommies.

Powerhouse actress Rebecca De Mornay is our maleficent matriarch, Natalie “Mother” Koffin. Her boys Ike (Patrick Flueger), Addley (Warren Kole), and Johnny (Matt O’Leary) seek refuge after a botched robbery at their mother’s house — only to find she fled after foreclosure and resale. In the basement is a birthday party for new homeowner Daniel Sohapi (Frank Grillo), organized by his wife Beth (Jaime King), with multiple friends in attendance. After hearing commotion upstairs, Daniel finds Johnny bleeding out on his couch and thus begins a standoff between the Koffin boys and their pesky hostages. Mother arrives in her RV with daughter Lydia (Deborah Ann Woll) to clean up her boys’ mess … by making an even bigger one.

The similarities between Milam’s script and Charles Kaufman’s and Warren Leight’s original screenplay are references sprinkled into dialogue. One of the Koffins remarks about how they hate disco, a callback to the teeth-brushing sequence where O.G. Addley (Michael McCleery) and Ike (Gary Pollard) argue over punk and disco. Another line complains about Fruity Pebbles since boxes of sugary breakfast trash are a staple in 1980’s Mother’s Day. Troma programming can be spotted on the background television. Queenie “lurks” as a spoken myth, and cleaning chemicals are once again a weapon. Other than that, Milam inverts almost every conceivable aspect, from bringing peril to the victims’ doorstep this time or making Mother a far more adversarial mastermind who enjoys verbally manipulating Beth and Daniel’s guests. No skinnydipping, no baseball stadium pranks, no police costumes. Mother’s Day (2010) might as well have a different title.

Does It Work?

We love a remake that’s adamant about clearing its own path. Bousman honors the genesis of Mother’s Day (1980) but stays wholly committed to his interpretation of events in a way that’s never beholden to existing fanbases. Everything works because Mother’s Day (2010) never holds nostalgia precious enough to let it distract Bousman from executing a still bloody, still ruthless struggle for survival against a mamma’s brainwashed brothers in arms. It’s how you usher a Troma concept into the 2010s — leave what appealed to ’80s raunch-and-shock behind and speak to contemporary audiences.

The dynamic storytelling switcheroos inject much-needed intensity as we fear 2010’s Mother even though she speaks politely and with comforting inflections. Ike and Addley also become more dangerous because they’re no longer bumbling juvenile oafs — they’re more formidable than manchildren. Bousman and Milam want their parallels to be The Strangers or Funny Games, dialing into a revisionist remake that doesn’t fumble Troma’s penchant for eye-rolling lewdness. A majority of Mother’s Day (2010) shoots as straight as the most mainstream horror presentations you’ve seen this side of You’re Next. Avoidance of repetition is a good thing, he says for the billionth time in this column’s history.

Although, there are choice touches that still nod back to Charles Kaufman’s blisteringly inappropriate tale of tortured and abused women. Bousman uses the hyper-sexual awkwardness of Mother guiding her possibly dying son’s first lovemaking encounter as something that seems bred from Tromaville sex education classes. It hits out of nowhere for a massive shock because hardly anything feels Troma-adjacent until Mother starts unzipping Johnny’s fly. There’s power in patience and reward in restraint, since Mother’s Day (1980) only has one desensitizing speed. Mother’s Day (2010) is a steamy build that boils over with such a scalding sting, and remains pleasantly in line with the tonal harmony that precedes then follows.

The Result

Mother’s Day (1980) and Mother’s Day (2010) feel like only-visit-on-holidays cousins, not even siblings. One listens to Butthole Surfers, watches VHS video nasties, and “reads” nudie magazines. The other listens to Killswitch Engage, watches slasher classics, and reads Fangoria. Neither are wrong; both are special little snowflakes. We’re lucky to have options so well suited for varieties of tastes throughout horror audiences, which Bousman clearly understands from the start. Mother’s Day (2010) is a traditional horror arrangement set to the tune of noose-tight devastation, never shy about its dare to differentiate.

De Mornay is endlessly watchable as Mother, the sly cat who adores batting around the mice she’s caught before showing her claws. The way Mother pits lovers against one another by exposing their secrets, or emasculates poor Dave (Tony Nappo) by tearing his hairpiece from his scalp is devilishly entertaining. Mother’s Day (1980) is about the snatch and inevitable revenge, whereas Mother’s Day (2010) delves into the messiness of shattered lifestyle perfection through character analysis. Milam strives to make his script more than just another murder spree, which leads to an accomplished cast meeting an array of fates from foolish to redemptive. Some might declare the ending divisive given how it exits on feel-bad bleakness even after so much avoidable sadness, but is it that much different than Troma’s decision to reveal Queenie as a final boss to battle (with the assumption that there’s no survival)?

Let’s not forget that Mother’s Day (2010) delivers special effects that might not be Troma sloppy but redecorate Daniel’s fixer-upper with gooey red colored accents. SFX creator Francois Dagenais honors Addley’s original death with ample brutality as he’s stabbed and suffocated, gives us nail gun glory against Ike, and shotgun blasts Dave’s noggin Maniac style. Tromafied gore is its own magnificent beast, but Bousman’s veteran understanding of the horror genre ensures that standoff violence remains just as important as psychological thrills and barbaric chills. The stacked cast is a massive upgrade (Briana Evigan, Lyriq Bent, Shawn Ashmore), overall quality benefits from a facelift, and we still get slathered in the yucky-chunky stuff — Mother’s Day (2010) is the revamp we deserve.

The Lesson

In most cases, remakes shouldn’t be an “anything you can do, I can do better” competition. Mother’s Day (2010) isn’t about Bousman usurping Troma. Mother’s Day (1980) would be received differently in 2010 or 2023. I’m not saying Troma wouldn’t still make it today, but there’s a reason you’re never hearing people rave about Troma’s newest releases like Shakespeare’s Sh*tstorm. Bousman’s take on Mother’s Day is a testament to how I always preach about the best remakes reflecting a filmmaker’s unique vision, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find an original-remake combination with that much distance between the two.

So what did we learn?

● Mother always knows best, even when dealing with a hostage scenario and possible jail time.

● Remakes should make something new, not refurbish something old.

● Some eras are more complicated than others to modernize, and 80s exploitation midnighters are a prime example.

● It’s not disrespectful to do your own thing with a remake — it’s quite the opposite.

Speaking of Troma remakes, I’m foaming at the mouth for Macon Blair’s The Toxic Avenger. It’s Troma’s premiere mainstream property and possibly the least egregious when it comes to the studio’s uglier tendencies. I’d love a remake of Poultrygeist without all the low-hanging racial humor and flagrant record-scratch-yikes usage of slurs, but The Toxic Avenger makes the most sense for contemporary success. Blair doesn’t have the same hurdles as Bousman when honoring source material for the new generations of horror fans, and an updated Toxie could be a massive success. Let’s get that into my eyeballs ASAP, please?

In Revenge of the Remakes, columnist Matt Donato takes us on a journey through the world of horror remakes. We all complain about Hollywood’s lack of originality whenever studios announce new remakes, reboots, and reimaginings, but the reality? Far more positive examples of refurbished classics and updated legacies exist than you’re willing to remember (or admit). The good, the bad, the unnecessary – Matt’s recounting them all.

The post How the ‘Mother’s Day’ Remake Properly Updates a Low-Budget Troma Film from the 1980s appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

The Toxic Avenger Collection 4K UHD Box Set from Troma

Troma will release The Toxic Avenger Collection on August 29. The box set collects the unrated director’s cuts of all four films in the cult classic franchise on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray, newly restored in 4K from the original film negatives with HDR and English DTS 2.0 Stereo audio.

Created by Lloyd Kaufman, the superhero horror-comedy series consists of 1984’s The Toxic Avenger, 1989’s The Toxic Avenger Part II, 1989’s The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie, and 2000’s Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV.

Kaufman recorded new introductions for all four films. Existing special features – audio commentaries for each film, cast interviews, making-of featurettes, short films, and more – are also included, along with a Toxic Avenger postcard.

The Nun Figure from NECA

After The Nun 2 hits theaters on September 8, Valak will haunt NECA’s ultimate action figure line in October. The 7″ scale toy comes with two interchangeable heads, four interchangeable hands, orb, painting, and display stand. It’s packaged in a window box with opening flap.

Pre-orders are up now for $36.99.

The Making of the Movie Leprechaun Book by B. Harrison Smith

It’s a lucky day for Leprechaun fans! The Making of the Movie Leprechaun – I Need Me Gold! by filmmaker B. Harrison Smith (Death House, Camp Dread) is out today from BearManor Media. You can get the hardcover edition for $38 or a paperback version for $28.

The 306-page book chronicles the making of the 1993 cult classic, doubling as a how-to guide for independent filmmakers. It has been endorsed by Leprechaun writer-director Mark Jones and features a foreword by actor Ken Olandt.

Evil Dead Rise Vinyl Soundtrack from Waxwork Records

After summoning Evil Dead Rise on Digital this week, you can possess the film’s soundtrack on vinyl from Waxwork Records. It’s composed by Stephen McKeon (The Hole in the Ground, Black Mirror).

The 2xLP album is pressed on 180-gram “Deadite & Blood” colored vinyl. It’s housed in a gatefold jacket featuring artwork by Steve Reeves and built-in Necronomicon pages. Priced at $40, it will ship in July.

Scarewaves Book by Trevor Henderson

Friend of the site, Mayfair Watchers Society podcast creative director, and internet horror superstar Trevor Henderson has written a children’s horror novel inspired by Goosebumps. Scarewaves will be published on October 3 via Scholastic.

Aimed at readers aged 9-12, the 208-page book follows group of kids in the small town of Beacon Point being stalked by monsters. It features cover art and 26 interior drawings by Henderson. Hardcover copies are up for pre-order for only $12.99.

For more merch madness, peruse the Killer Collectibles archives. You can also visit Broke Horror Fan.

The post 5 of This Week’s Coolest Horror Collectibles Including ‘The Toxic Avenger Collection’ 4K Set appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

On that note, the film’s sound editor Casey Genton teases one particular standout scene in a new chat with Slash Film, which is being referred to as… well… the “butt guts” scene.

Genton previews, “It’s a really funny movie. Macon Blair, the director, I think did a really good job with it. When they have tested it, fans of the film have been over the moon. It’s pretty out there. I think it’s a different crack. They’re giving the fans what they want, for sure.”

“There’s no lack of — I know everybody references the little kid’s head getting run over and stuff [from the original movie]. I think that there was an iteration of the film that didn’t have enough of that, so they made a very — I don’t want to ruin it,” Genton teases. “But it has, it’s been nicknamed the ‘butt guts’ scene, and it’s probably the best way to match that ‘head getting run over’ energy that everybody’s looking for. So it’s in line with the fan base, and I think it’s hilarious.”

Butt guts… consider us intrigued…

Elijah Wood, Julia Davis, Taylour Paige, Kevin Bacon, Peter Dinklage, and Jacob Tremblay lead the cast of Macon Blair’s The Toxic Avenger, being called a “contemporary reimagining.”

The post ‘The Toxic Avenger’ Remake Will Feature a “Butt Guts” Scene That’s Sure to Get People Talking appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.