# Troma Team Films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 2, 2001, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443 "2001-09-02T22:35:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Akatsukami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Akatsukami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akatsukami)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2001, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/1 "2001-09-02T22:35:10Z")
Hi, my name’s Akatsukami, and I like Troma films. For those of you who have better taste than to watch these movies, _viz._, everybody, let me explain briefly. Troma is an independent studio that has, for over a quarter of a century, delivered consistently schlocky movies combining the worst scripts, the poorest “actors” (even coupled with the word “poorest”, the quotes seems mandatory), and the lowest budgets since that Edison guy invented the movie camera. I believe that the term “Z-movie” may have been invented strictly for Troma’s films. If it wasn’t, it should have been. _Chopper Chicks in Zombietown_ (1989) is a bit formulaic (especially for Troma) but has its redeeming features. An all-girl biker gang rides into a town where an evil undertaker is secretly converting the residents into zombies to work in the uranium mines. No, really, that’s the plot. Particularly striking moments, I thought, were the bits were one of the girl gangstas shoots the undertaker in the leg and he hops away cursing, and where the junior member of the gang, the rifles conveniently stocked by a hardware having been grabbed off by everyone else, seizes a heavy-duty staple gun and begins stapling zombies. Also, the dwarf undertaker’s assistant delivers one of the most profound lines in the history of miserably wretched films: "If God had wanted me to do normal things, He would have made look like normal people. _Surf Nazis Must Die_ (1987). I’d like to tell you what this film is about, but I can’t. The first time I saw it was on TV, where it had been so heavily edited that it didn’t make sense. Then, I finally rented it on video, and it _still_ didn’t sense. In Troma’s tradition of bad taste, however, there weren’t only the Surf Nazis (who were, yes, a gang of Nazi surfer dudes and babes with nicknames like Hitler and Eva), but a gay hairdresser surfer dude gang, too (whose members went by the monickers Curl, Blow, and Dry). Very poignant was the final scene, where the woman whose son was murdered by the Surf Nazis, and who spends the last act of the film running them down and blowing them up, watches Hitler climb aboard her boat, then shoves a .45 in his mouth, and exclaiming, “Have some of Mama’s good home cooking!”, blows the back of his head off. So, anyone else like Troma films? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Raven\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@The\_Raven\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Raven_1)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2001, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/2 "2001-09-02T23:15:30Z")
Howyadoin, I once rented _Bloodsucking Freaks_, a movie so vile and wretched it left me slackjawed for hours afterward, which caused my mouth to dry out, leading to the aforementioned halitosis :o Jesus! Great T&A flick, other than the fact that the T&A was chained up in a dungeon while the Toulouse-Lautrec-alike henchman threw raw meat to them. I must admit that the theatre critic in the film deserved everything he got though! I would put this film in the same category as _I Spit On Your Grave_ for sheer yecch factor… -Rav ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2001, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/3 "2001-09-02T23:26:32Z")
Ah, I remember the Toxic Avenger, particularly the scene in the fast-food restaurant where he gives one of the thugs’ hand a run through the deep-fat fryer. It was also the one where the creep menacing the sweet young thing gave her the old “Ben Dover” trick. It was stupid, but he said it with such energy; you have to give them credit for that. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2001, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/4 "2001-09-02T23:33:10Z")
As odd as it seems, _Canibal, The Musical_ which, despite it’s name, is actually an hilarious comedy movie made by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, of South Park fame - when they Parker was a film student, I think. Troma was the only “studio” they could get to finance/distribute it. So by that account, yes I am a Troma fan. However, I really can’t take any of that other schlocky crap. It’s amusing at first glance, but the over-the-top sexism, gratuitous (and poorly done)gore and the painful performances in general are just too much for me to take. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/5 "2001-09-03T00:24:18Z")
This thread CLEARLY belongs in the rarified atmosphere of the Cafe Society. So I’m moving it there. Lynn ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/6 "2001-09-03T06:44:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jack Batty \* > \*\*As odd as it seems, _Canibal, The Musical_ which, despite it’s name, is actually an hilarious comedy movie made by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, of South Park fame - when they Parker was a film student, I think. Troma was the only “studio” they could get to finance/distribute it. > > So by that account, yes I am a Troma fan. > However, I really can’t take any of that other schlocky crap. It’s amusing at first glance, but the over-the-top sexism, gratuitous (and poorly done)gore and the painful performances in general are just too much for me to take. \*\* Jack, do you remember a looooong time ago in one of those “favorite band” threads when I listed some of my favorite bands and you said how you were going to list the same bands but I already did (or something along those lines)? Remember that? Yea…scary… ---
**Author:** ![slimrockwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@slimrockwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slimrockwell)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/7 "2011-05-19T15:17:59Z")
Man… I grew up watching Troma! This punk kid I hung out with in high school got me hip to their films. We had this cool video store that stocked all the great cult films. I used to have Toxic Avenger and Class of Nuke’em High on VHS. I need to try to find Troma DVD’s and get a collection going. I heard they got their own comcast channel now and are showing Terror Firmer this month. But I don’t get it in my area. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/8 "2011-05-19T15:45:02Z")
I remember watching a lot of Troma movies on TMC’s _Drive-In Theater_ back in the day. Joe Bob Briggs was unsurprisingly a big fan, as their movies were seemingly custom-made for him. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/9 "2011-05-19T15:49:41Z")
Did Troma do any zombie films? ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/10 "2011-05-19T19:49:03Z")
Troma hovers right around my minimum production value threshold for enjoyment. Many of their movies are just so awful that I cannot enjoy them. Others, I like just fine, and can enjoy the wacky off-kilter sensibility they bring. ---
**Author:** ![slimrockwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@slimrockwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slimrockwell)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/11 "2011-05-24T19:58:58Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > Troma hovers right around my minimum production value threshold for enjoyment. Many of their movies are just so awful that I cannot enjoy them. Others, I like just fine, and can enjoy the wacky off-kilter sensibility they bring. yeah, you gotta just love the aesthetic of crappy b-movies. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/12 "2011-05-24T23:50:02Z")
Pretty much all the Troma I’ve seen was back when USA UP! All Night with Rhonda Shear (or sometimes Gilbert Gottfried) would sometimes air the Toxic Avenger movies, but I also used to get the Marvel Comic version of Toxic Avenger. Not to be confused with the kiddified cartoon version Toxic Crusaders. Wow that was weird, a Troma property being turned into a kids show. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/13 "2011-05-25T03:20:24Z")
I saw The Toxic Avenger way back when, and thought it was funny, but yeah, it’s production values are crappy. It was filmed in this area, the fast food place is in Rutherford, it’s a Popeye’s Chicken place now, and some scenes were shot in Jersey City. I rented it again a few years ago so my (then) boyfriend could see it. His reaction: Wow! My girlfriend got me porn! ---
**Author:** ![NateW24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@NateW24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NateW24)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/14 "2011-06-06T16:40:26Z")
I think Troma films are fun. Unfortunately I’ve only seen two, but I’m working on seeing more. So far I’ve only seen The Toxic Avenger and The Children. I’m also really excited about Father’s Day coming out soon. If you get a chance, watch the trailer! ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/15 "2011-06-06T17:35:17Z")
I shall always consider Tromeo and Juliet a cult classic. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/16 "2011-06-06T20:41:39Z")
I’m not completely sold on Troma. I have no objection to cheaply made indie films but I feel every filmmaker should try to make the best film he or she can within the limits they have to work with. If they have a low budget and a B-list cast, they should try to disguise that fact rather than embrace it. Troma, like Frontline Entertainment or Seduction Cinema, seems to feel a low budget is an acceptable excuse for making bad movies. ---
**Author:** ![NateW24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@NateW24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NateW24)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/17 "2011-06-07T17:28:27Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Did Troma do any zombie films? Off the top of my head Poultrygeist and Buttcrack are zombie movies. ---
**Author:** ![NateW24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@NateW24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NateW24)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/18 "2011-06-07T17:56:21Z")
There’s also redneck zombies. ---
**Author:** ![slimrockwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@slimrockwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slimrockwell)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/19 "2011-06-07T19:05:19Z")
I just bought 10 dvds from Troma for 50 cents a pop! They’re having a huge blowout sale for the month of June. Get 'em while you can! [https://buy.tromamovies.com/](https://buy.tromamovies.com/) ---
**Author:** ![NateW24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@NateW24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NateW24)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/troma-team-films/79443/20 "2011-06-14T15:12:16Z")
A lot of these movies are presented on Troma’s Hulu channel. Films such as Mother’s Day, The Toxic Avenger, Rabid Grannies, and Cannibal the Musical are all on there.