I'm one of those kind of movie fans that get a kick out of being on a kick. Here a while back I was on a Friday the 13th binge. I sat down and watched all of the original Friday the 13ths in order from the first to the last. The first one was the most interesting, the second one I breezed through, but by the third installment I was shifting around in my chair valiantly fighting off boredom....and it only went down hill by degrees from there.

Another time, not too long after that I got on a Nightmare On Elm Street kick. That was quite a bit more enjoyable. I'd rather watch a crappy Freddy movie any day over a crappy Jason movie.

Anyways, my latest kick is Troma.  Have you ever heard of Troma?  If you hate "bad" movies then Troma is your WORST NIGHTMARE!

A few paragraphs borrowed from Wikipedia:

"Troma Entertainment is an American film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Hertz in 1974. The company produces very low-budget independent movies, many of which have developed cult followings."

Troma films are known for their surrealistic or automatistic nature, along with their use of shocking imagery; some would categorize them as "shock exploitation films". They typically contain overt sexuality, graphic violence, gore and nudity, so much that the term "Troma Film" has become synonymous  with these characteristics." 

In short, Troma is a paragon of the highest low standard in cinema. Back in the mid-eighties, before any kid with a camera and an internet connection could become his or her own movie distributor, it was the go-to place for basement budgeted gorehounds to get distribution. Also, the home video market was just getting cranked up and video stores gobbled up anything they could to stock their shelves which Troma was happy to oblige.

The first Troma release I remember renting was Toxic Avenger.  It was the story about a wimpy janitor kid that becomes exposed to radiation and becomes a mutant-freak-hero.  I remember having a few friends over and watching  it in complete silence.  We were stunned. We'd all seen "bad" movies before but we'd never seen a film THIS BAD! Naturally, we had to watch it again!

The Toxic Avenger was so popular that it became the mascot for Troma and spawned several seizure inducing sequels.

Anyways, I only rented a few Troma videos back in the day. My interests at the time were leaning in so many directions that I just never kept up with the denizens of Troma. Well, the other day I was playing on Netflix and randomly ran into Toxic Avenger. It got me to thinking: Why not go on a Troma Kick? Hell, it's been so long since I saw The Toxic Avenger that I barely remember anything about it. So, I've decided to make my way through the entire Troma catalog and watch these...mmmm...interesting gems of celluloid.


I decided to begin my journey with the epic "spill-ology" of Class of Nuke Em High.  The plot concerns a nuclear power plant leaking toxins next to a high school. Eventually the students are affected by the toxic gunk and all sorts of weirdness ensues. I guess.

Part II picks up a few years after the events of I. The High School was demolished in the last flick so this time the events happen in and around a Junior College where some scientist lady with a wicked Marge Simpson-like beehive hair-do is experimenting with creating a race of "sub-humanoids". Most sub humanoids have an extra mouth-where their belly buttons should be. A student journalist winds up falling in love with one of these sub-humanoids and they have to struggle against everyone to be together. OK! Thats really as in depth as I can go with the first two movies. It's hard to watch this stuff AND keep tabs on what the plot is supposed to be.  I haven't watched the third film yet.

The writing is atrocious, the acting will make your eyes bleed, and the direction (do some of these movies really have a director?) is directionless...but they're fun. These films are made by adult sized kids who love to make movies (not pretentious art or "film") and want to share them with their friends. That's the only explanation I can find about why this stuff is made by people like them...and watched by people like me.