Terror Firmer

As a long time Troma fan I have enjoyed the Renaissance that the company has enjoyed in the wake of Tromeo & Juliet. After the success of Toxic Avenger (and video success of Class of Nuke em' high) troma had fallen off the chart. Several dismal Toxie sequels and the long wait for Sgt. Kubuki Man NYPD created the impression that Troma had lost their way but Tromeo & Juliet reminded everyone why they had fell in love with the company to begin with. Tromeo raised the bar once again for what you could expect from a Troma offering and with high expectations I watched Terror Firmer and thankfully this movie delivered.

Someone is killing people on the set of a Troma film. As the body count rises the crew must rally together to get their blind directors vision to the screen (or at least to the video shelves). From that absurd premise we launch into what I truly believe is the best in house Troma production ever (2nd only to pick up film Cannibal the musical over all) and this movie works as a valentine to the beloved company.

Indie-film god, and troma co-founder, Lloyd Kaufman finally responds to the worlds demands and returns to leading man status as Larry Benjamin, director of the newest Toxic Avenger film. Larry tries to get the best out of his inexperienced, though largely enthusiastic crew. Tromeo himself, Will Keenan plays the Spielberg loving crew member who competes for the affections of the pretty Alyce LaTourelle with Trent Haaga. Haaga plays Jerry, a guy who seems to be living out his dream (as well as the dream of most fans) working on a Troma film. With a very likable cast this film can, and often does, takes many detours. From a Seinfeld parody to a odd public service announcement, the story often wanders off in odd directions only to be corralled back by another killing.

As you can tell by some of the other reviews, this film is clearly not intended for the mainstream. It was specifically designed to appeal to the faithful, not to win over any new fans. From the lead performance by Lloyd Kaufamn to the tons of cameos by Troma veterans like Lemmy, Joe Fleishaker, Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Lisa Gaye this movie seems to be like Troma doing a victory lap to celebrate the fact that in a industry where independents get chewed up constantly, They are still standing. And their fans are grateful for that.

The makers of a Troma film, including its director Larry Benjamin (Troma head honcho Lloyd Kaufman) are both hard at work and hard at play. Some of its crew members get targeted by a crazed mystery woman (Sheri Wenden), who's busy slaughtering people in inventive ways.

It wouldn't be inaccurate to consider "Terror Firmer" a magnum opus, as far as Troma product goes. It goes on a LOT longer than a typical film from the independent studio, clocking in at almost two hours. As a result, if you're not on board with the kind of crude, graceless tomfoolery on display, that will make sticking with this difficult if not impossible.

Of course, if you're a fan of Kaufman and these guys & gals, you'll be amply rewarded with an amazing plethora of bad taste gags and twisted characters. In his review for the excellent sleeper "Def by Temptation", Leonard Maltin referred to Troma as being "aggressively schlocky", which is as good a way to describe them as any. Here they have tremendous fun just tossing anything resembling decorum out the window. They've always *embraced* the tackiness to be found in many a B picture, and you can certainly see that in a lot of the hammy, campy performances and the onslaught of hilariously crude gore effects.

The cast is enthusiastic as Hell. Future Oscar winners they might never be, but they give this production everything that they've got. Will Keenan, Trent Haaga, and Alyce LaTourelle play the love triangle at the heart of the story, with the appealing LaTourelle cast as the script girl who gets a chance to be an acting star. Uncle Lloyd himself is a gas as the flamboyant director, who happens to be blind. B movie icon Debbie Rochon is fine as temperamental actress Christine; look for cameos by such people as Ron Jeremy, Lemmy, and Joe Franklin.

*Obviously* not to many tastes, but if you love Troma to begin with, you'll likely have a good time.

Inspired by the book "All I Know About Filmmaking I Learned from the Toxic Avenger", written by Kaufman and Troma alumnus James Gunn.

Seven out of 10.

Terror Firmer (Quickie Review) This is a Troma gem we've got here. And we all know what that means, right? It's likely going to be bizarre, violent, absurd, ridiculous, offensive... whathaveyou. And this film is all of those things--and then some. It revolves a film crew, led by a blind director (played by Troma founder, Lloyd Kaufman), making another Toxic Avenger movie. But the film crew is constantly plagued with problems, foremost among them is a psychotic killer doing in people throughout the film in humorous and gory ways. And, in typical Troma fashion, there's insults and spoofs galore, including repeated verbal attacks on Spielberg and a mocking of Seinfeld. Lloyd Kaufman really seems to have a hatred of fellow entertainment business Jews, it would seem... At any rate, the acting, at times is surprisingly good, the gore quality is about average--sometimes, however, laughably weak, entertaining and surprising nudity, and the story is somewhat ridiculous. Bizarre and shocking ending, to boot! Ron Jeremy has a small starring role as an abusive father... sort of...

So, who should watch this thing? Well, gorehounds with an interest in crazy movies will enjoy it, Troma fans will enjoy it--that's almost a given. A unique film, however you look at it. Recommended strongly to curiosity seekers with a tolerance (or love) for weirdness, violence, gore, nudity, and independent film fans. 7/10

www.ResidentHazard.com

Indy directors schooled in shock had two options when Hollywood stepped in and stole their thunder with bad taste comedy hits like THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY and American PIE.

1. Become like John Waters, lose your edge and deliver much tamer (and much more bland) stabs at the establishment or...

2. Up the ante in terms of nihilistic gore, nudity, amorality, cruelty and cheap toilet gags.

Lloyd Kaufman has, with this film, undoubtedly established himself as the poster boy for the latter. So possessed is this man to disgust, offend, shock and give viewers an alternative to good, decent, Speilbergian entertainment, he has whipped out a film that includes, but it certainly not limited to, dismemberment, decapitation, impalement, castration, breast mutilation, urination, scat, puking, incest, rape, child molestation, drug use, cheesy sound effects, flatulence, deformed sex organs, full nudity (male and female), a fetus ripped from a womb, soft core sex and gore-dripping overkill in any and every other possible department. I must say, that it's a hectic, erratic, messy film, but I was never once bored while watching it.

Since the story takes place around the set of an independent movie (invaded by a hermaphroditic serial killer who hacks his/her way through the cast and crew in an effort to shut down the production) we also get some commentary on how the film industry works (and how it doesn't) and on the comedic virtues found in the lowest of low human behavior.

All four of the leads (Will Keenan, Alyce LaTourelle, Trent Haaga and Debbie Rochon) are great. Kaufman himself also shows considerable on-screen appeal as Larry Benjamin, the aloof director of the film in question, who also happens to be blind, an idea copied by Woody Allen for his acclaimed (but apparently not all that original) film Hollywood ENDING in 2001!

Fair enough to say that not everyone will be able to endure TERROR FIRMER, but be grateful someone has the audacity to slap Tinseltown in the face by beating them at their own game. The video and DVD both contain deleted scenes and outtakes and are available in uncut or R-rated versions. Watch for a cameo by SOUTH PARK creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Motorhead's Lemmy during an amusing end credit sequence.

Debbie Rochon as a blond? Wow, this is something different! Of course, this whole movie is something different.

Lloyd Kaufman has really pulled out all the stops to give us the grossest film I could ever imagine. No, I would be Lloyd Kaufman if I imagined this stuff - this is waaaay beyond my imagination.

Extreme amounts of blood and gore and body fluids and solids. This was the ultimate in gross, but you had to look.

Once again, there was a perfect part for me. I coulda been a contenda in indy film.

Not for those with a weak stomach.