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 Greetings from Tromaville!
I’m Actium Maximus .
So, it’s been a little over a month since the glorious release of the TROMEO AND JULIET 10th ANNIVERSARY 2-DISC EDITION and already the response has been phenomenal. If you have yet to pick up this 2-disc set, you are missing out on one of the most essential DVDs Troma has ever put out. People will be talking about it for years to come.
Just like they’ll be talking about…
. . . September New Releases!
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THE EVOLVED (PART 1)
This bizarro British buddy-comedy is about 2 cops on the trail of a dog-kidnapping, burger-chef-murdering shark-man. The cops are assisted by a heroin-addicted fetus and an alcoholic woman in a wheelchair (as played by a ventriloquist’s dummy). Needless to say, this is easily some of the most fucked-up shit you’ll see. Also, you might laugh once or twice.
Shot in hi-def video, THE EVOLVED is the second of Troma’s DVDs to be presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen for viewers with widescreen TVs. (The first being the homemade sci-fi epic ROCK AND ROLL SPACE PATROL ACTION IS GO! ).
The disc has a commentary with EVOLVED directors/stars Andy Senior and John Turner as they drink and smoke their way through the film. Also, there’s Tromatic teaser features for POULTRYGEIST, including a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Joe Fleishaker’s head mold for the film and an unused DVD intro shot on the set of POULTRYGEIST which features footage of Joe’s scene in the movie being shot.
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 YELLOWNECK
Florida auteur R. John Hugh (who also directed the underground cult favorite YOU’VE RUINED ME, EDDIE!) aims his camera lens at the Florida Everglades as the lush background for a story of Confederate soldiers going AWOL. They have to battle the wilds – and each other – in order to get free, in this almost completely unknown gem culled from the Roan archives.
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We don’t have anything on the slate yet for October (although – Don’t Forget – Troma catalog titles are perfect for those Halloween parties), so rather than looking ahead, let’s look back at some favorite and some unsung DVDs from the past year of Actium Maximus columns.
In no particular order:
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LOLLILOVE (released March 2006)
This little-mockumentary-that-could has its fans and its detractors in equal measure, but there’s no denying this flick is a Tromatic smash, which Amazon.com named one of its top 50 DVDs of 2006 so far. This is due to the brilliant lead performances by Jenna Fischer (of NBC’s Emmy-winner® THE OFFICE) and James Gunn (the Troma alum whose underrated flick SLITHER will be hitting video store shelves this October) as a self-absorbed rich couple who decides to help the homeless with lollipops. The grassroots promotion of the filmmakers (including TROMEO AND JULIET star Stephen Blackehart, who produced the film) through their website and their myspace page, really got the beautiful message of LOLLILOVE to the people. And the disc itself is probably one of our most loaded bonus-filled single-disc releases. |
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THE CHILDREN (November 2005) One of the most successful cult hits of the 80s finally hit DVD courtesy of Troma. Admittedly we got some flack for the way the transfer of the movie looks, with bits of print damage. But unfortunately, there are only about 4 film prints of the movie in existence anymore, and all of them have seen better days. That said, only the pickiest videophilic nerds have really kicked up a fuss. Most folks have been pleased to have this drive-in classic back in circulation, accompanied by interview vignettes with writer/producer Carlton J. Albright (director of Troma’s LUTHER THE GEEK), production manager David Platt and costar Gil Rogers and a commentary from Carlton J. Albright.
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The Mr. Skin Picks-To-Click:
CRAZED (November 2005), WITCHCRAFT 666 (January 2006), ACTING OUT (April 2006), VIDEO VIXENS (May 2006), EAST END HUSTLE (July 2006)
It is a match made in heaven. Mr. Skin (www.MrSkin.com) is a fan of cinematic nudity, and we at Troma have been no slouches in that department over the years. Culling our archives for T&A classics, we've rediscovered some of Troma's most interesting and unusual gems, running the gamut in terms of
different genres:
a ‘70s sexploitation comedy (VIDEO VIXENS), a proto-reality-TV sex documentary (ACTING OUT), a guns and gals revenge movie (EAST END HUSTLE), a cheapo Gothic horror skin flick (WITCHCRAFT 666 – which features pioneering jump-to-the-nude-scenes technology), and a psychosexual thriller featuring the only nude appearance by a television icon (Catherine Bach, aka Daisy Duke, in CRAZED). While admittedly WITCHCRAFT 666 and CRAZED have nudity going for them and not a whole lot else (but it’s some really really good nudity, I must say), the other three entries are neglected cult masterpieces which I recommend heartily, and not just for their vintage skin.
Giuseppe Andrews and Troma – Year 3:
TOUCH ME IN THE MORNING (January 2006) and PERIOD PIECE (May 2006)
After the pomp and ceremony surrounding Giuseppe Andrews’s short film DRIBBLE, featured at the 2004 Tromadance Film Festival and included on the BEST OF TROMADANCE, VOL 3 DVD, and his visionary feature film TRAILER TOWN, Troma released two more of Giuseppe’s masterworks on DVD (including PERIOD PIECE) accompanied by new interviews and additional short films. For those of you who still haven’t discovered this mad genius of outsider digital filmmaking, there’s no better time to start than now. And don’t forget: when the stars finally align as they should, Giuseppe’s Bathrobe Home School Box Set, a set featuring five previously unreleased feature films, will finally be unleashed on the world.
Of course, these aren’t the only movies that came out this past year, and I very well could have skipped over some you might like a lot. If you want full monthly coverage of the last year’s worth of DVDs, just go to the archive below.
Until next time,
Rock over London, Rock on Chicago,
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