THERE’S NOTHING OUT THERE is a low-budget independent film which critic Joe Bob Briggs described as having “invented the self-referential horror flick”. Released in 1992, the film told the classic story of a group of teens who go to a cabin in the woods for spring break, only to be terrorized by an alien creature. But one of the kids has seen every horror film, and knows all the warning signs and rules of the genre.

The Trocadero is at 1003 Arch Street, Philadelphia. Tickets are $10 and are available from www.thetroc.com or by calling 215-922-6888

Italian Toxie tape

Russian Toxie

The gritty, gruesome, grindhouse FATHER’S DAY follows that classic story we all grew up with: boy watches father murdered, boy grows into a vengeful one-eyed man, man teams up with a priest and a male prostitute to take down his father’s killer. Variety calls FATHER’S DAY ”a gleefully tasteless quasi-grindhouse nasty that’s funnier than most of the many such parodic cheesefests that have been created since, well, Grindhouse!” Ain’t it Cool News adds “Father’s Day is over the top, tasteless, senseless, and completely hilarious.”  For more on FATHER’S DAY, including information on filmmakers Astron-6, visit www.thefathersdaymovie.com

Two feature films have been selected to screen – the first, The FP, tells the story of two gangs locked in a turf war in rural wasteland Frasier Park, in the deadly arena of competitive dance-fight video game Beat-Beat Revolution. The FP is a fury of fierce footwork, triumphant montages and neon street wear. Also screening is Manborg, in which a soldier, brought back to life as a cyborg, fights alongside a band of adventurers against demon hordes in a dystopian future. These will screen along with thirty-six films already announced.

More films are added every day, but the features currently available are: A Nymphoid Barbarian In Dinosaur Hell – Stuck On You! -  Monster In The Closet -  Story Of A Junkie - Troma’s War -  Waitress! -  Class of Nuke’Em High 2: Subhumanoid Meltdown -  Class Of Nuke ‘Em High Part 3: The Good, The Bad, And The Sub-Humonoid - When Nature Calls -  The Wedding Party -  Sgt Kabukiman NYPD -  The Toxic Avenger -  The Toxic Avenger Part 2 -  Toxic Avenger Part 3: The Last Temptation Of Toxie – Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger Part IV -  Terror Firmer - Plutonium Baby - Nightmare Weekend

Rabid Grannies

Opening the festival on Friday, May 4 is Manborg, directed by Steven Kostanski of filmmaking collective Astron-6, whose latest feature Father’s Day is currently touring with highly successful theatrical screenings both nationally and internationally. In Manborg a soldier, brought back to life as a cyborg, fights alongside a band of adventurers against demon hordes in a dystopian future. The festival begins at 7pm and Manborg will screen at 8pm.

Closing the festival the following night at 7pm is The FP, which tells the story of two gangs locked in a turf war in rural wasteland Frasier Park, in the deadly arena of competitive dance-fight video game Beat-Beat Revolution. A fury of fierce footwork, triumphant montages and neon street wear, The FP is directed by Jason and Brandon Trost, two brothers known for their cinematography work on many films including Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor’s Crank: High Voltage and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

TromaDance will be held at Asbury Lanes in historic Asbury Park, New Jersey on May 4th and 5th. All TromaDance screenings are free and with the festival’s “No VIP Policy“, celebrities and fans are treated equally. Unlike mainstream, elitist festivals like Cannes and Sundance, TromaDance does not charge film makers anything to submit their films. As is the tradition, part of the TromaDance 2012 budget is funded by fans. This year the festival is being partially crowd-funded through Kickstarter.

Ti West is best known as the writer and director of House of the Devil (2009), The Innkeepers (2011) and a segment of upcoming horror anthology V/H/S. This year the panel discussion will be extended to 90 minutes to accommodate all the talent and wisdom our guests have to impart on promoting and distributing movies, both historically and currently.

Two feature films have been selected to screen – the first, The FP, tells the story of two gangs locked in a turf war in rural wasteland FrasierPark, in the deadly arena of competitive dance-fight video game Beat-Beat Revolution. The FP is a fury of fierce footwork, triumphant montages and neon street wear. Also screening is Manborg, in which a soldier, brought back to life as a cyborg, fights alongside a band of adventurers against demon hordes in a dystopian future. These will screen along with thirty-six films already announced.

Russian Toxie

James Gunn wrote the cult hit Tromeo & Juliet (1997), the re-imagined Dawn of the Dead (2004), and box office hits Scooby-Doo (2002), and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004). He wrote and directed the acclaimed horror comedy SLiTHER (2006) as well as SUPER (2010) which stars Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page & Liv Tyler. His video game, Lollipop Chainsaw, will be released June 12 on PS3 and Xbox by Warner Interactive.

Gunn joins the panel along with former editor of Fangoria Magazine and Fangoria.com, Tony Timpone, and co-director of the Queens World Film Festival, Katha Kato. Discussion will be moderated by President of Troma Entertainment and creator of The Toxic Avenger, Lloyd Kaufman. The panel will discuss independent filmmaking at 5pm on Saturday May 5 at Asbury Lanes.

 TromaDance will be held at Asbury Lanes in historic Asbury Park, New Jersey on May 4th and 5th. All TromaDance screenings are free and with the festival’s “No VIP Policy”, celebrities and fans are treated equally. Unlike mainstream, elitist festivals like Cannes and Sundance, TromaDance does not charge film makers anything to submit their films. As is the tradition, part of the TromaDance 2012 budget is funded by fans. This year the festival is being partially crowd-funded through Kickstarter, and the campaign has raised over $5000.

Combat Shock beta tape

Demented Death Farm VHS

The gritty, gruesome, grindhouse FATHER’S DAY follows that classic story we all grew up with: boy watches father murdered, boy grows into a vengeful one-eyed man, man teams up with a priest and a male prostitute to take down his father’s killer. Variety calls FATHER’S DAY ”a gleefully tasteless quasi-grindhouse nasty that’s funnier than most of the many such parodic cheesefests that have been created since, well, Grindhouse!” Ain’t it Cool News adds “FATHER’S DAY is over the top, tasteless, senseless, and completely hilarious.” For more on FATHER’S DAY, including information on filmmakers Astron-6, and additional theatres where FATHER’S DAY will be presented, visit thefathersdaymovie.com.

Girl School Screamers

Make Your Own Damn Movie! is an informative, interactive and highly entertaining crash course on filmmaking, aimed at anyone who’s ever wanted to make movies but doesn’t have the cash. Using real-life examples from Kaufman’s own decades of experience in the business, Make Your Own Damn Movie! illustrates the whole independent filmmaking process from conception to completion.

TromaDance will be held at Asbury Lanes in historic Asbury Park, New Jersey on May 4th and 5th. All TromaDance screenings are free and with the festival’s “No VIP Policy”, celebrities and fans are treated equally. Unlike mainstream, elitist festivals like Cannes and Sundance, TromaDance does not charge film makers anything to submit their films.

In addition to the highly diverse films, ranging in genre from comedy to experimental, the festival will also host a discussion panel of independent film legends, who will share their wisdom and secrets to success with the audience. Stay tuned for guest and feature film announcements soon!

As is the tradition, part of the TromaDance 2012 budget is funded by fans. This year the festival is being partially crowd-funded through Kickstarter, and the campaign has raised over $5000. Backers received a variety of exclusive rewards, including signed collectible posters, DVDs, original Toxic Crusaders animation cells and even lunch with Lloyd Kaufman!

Toxie stuff

The conference focuses on issues facing physical media and the ever-changing media landscape as digital media becomes part of daily life. As consumer media usage evolves, traditional media manufacturers like Troma are transforming their business models to find new revenue streams in the new media marketplace.

“When home video first came in, we saw the potential for the magic – being movie nuts ourselves. We immediately loved it and embraced it.” Remembers Kaufman of the home video revolution in the early 1980s. By that point, Troma had been in business for nearly 10 years and had accumulated a robust catalog for a renting public. “The Toxic Avenger was the first horror-type film, although it’s not really a horror film, to get VHS treatment. Vestron released it, and it was a huge success.” says Kaufman. “We understood that home video was a way to embrace our fans and for the fans to embrace us, and we got in ahead of the majors.”

Not surprisingly, Troma also jumped onDVDearly. “Being movie nuts, we liked that we could do commentary tracks and put a humorous, interactive tour of the Troma film studios as a bonus extra to go along with the movie. We also went back and interviewed actors for featurettes. Unfortunately, we spent a fair amount onDVDbefore people actually had machines in their homes. It was pretty stupid, but at least we were there.”

Kaufman points out that Troma DVDs are all-region with no territory restrictions. “We want as many people to see our movies as possible, which will eventually pay off financially for us.”

Troma titles never were available in Blockbuster-owned stores, Kaufman notes, but they were in many of the chain’s franchisee outlets, which were able to determine their own stock. Troma titles are now available via Netflix, iTunes, Sony PSP, and Xbox, and there’s a dedicated Troma YouTube channel, which features daily updates.

Adapting to the digital age, Troma now streams its movies. In the same way that theMPAAopposed home video, theHollywoodmovie studios’ association came out against Net Neutrality, a principle that advocates no restrictions by Internet service providers or governments on consumers’ access to the Internet. Kaufman is 100% on the other side of the issue. “We believe the business models are going to have to change. The big studios trying to squeeze every nickel out of the fans are making a mistake. We’re on the side of sharing our art.”

Cannes 1984

Mr. Bricks: A Heavy Metal Murder Musical introduces tattooed muscleman Tim Dax as Mr. Bricks, an ex-con left for dead in an empty New York City warehouse. Rocked by headaches caused by the bullet lodged in his brain, he pieces together memories – the barrel of a gun…his girl’s scream…and eventually, the face of the dirty cop (Vito Trigo, Dark Windows) who pulled the trigger! All he wants is to find his missing girl Scarlet (Nicola Fiore, Miss Cannibal Holocaust, Game Over), and vows to kill anyone who gets in his way…but what if Scarlet doesn’t want to be found?

Love is murder in this bloody tale of lust, desire, and revenge. Like G. G. Allin meets The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Mr. Bricks will knock you out of your seat with nine head-banging musical numbers, including Motörhead’s latest hit, “Outlaw.”

They drool and shiver in fear in cages. Mothers scream in agony as their young are ripped away. They are stunned with a blow to the head, hung upside down, and have their throats slit. It happens to chickens, pigs, and cows every day on factory farms—and at “Sunny Acres Farms,” it happens to humans. The result of a collaboration between cult-film icon Lloyd Kaufman’s Troma Entertainment and peta2, PETA’s youth division, “Sunny Acres Farms” is a new video short written and produced by Nina Gielen in which humans experience the shocking practices that are routine and completely legal on American factory farms.

“‘Sunny Acres Farms’ shows the bloody truth—that when you eat flesh, you’re eating the corpse of an abused animal who did not want to die,” says peta2 Division Manager Marta Holmberg. “peta2 is confident that people who watch Lloyd Kaufman’s gruesome new film will think twice before chowing down on a burger.”  “PETA has been a big influence on my life and filmmaking,” says Kaufman. “PETA is a major reason why I am vegetarian and why I made Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead. This pro bono (not to be confused with Cher’s smooth-dancing son) PSA against factory farms is further evidence of my support of PETA. I am always available to rePETA my services to animal civil rights.”

All proceeds from screenings of “Sunny Acres Farms” will be donated to peta2. And in honor of the video’s launch, visitors to peta2.com can enter to win a prize pack from Troma Entertainment, including signed memorabilia from The Toxic Crusaders and Tromeo and Juliet.

Featuring fatal sushi and lethal chopsticks, but as American as violence, Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. (1990) introduces Sgt. Harry Griswold (Rick Gianasi), a streetwise New York cop who transforms into the world’s most unusual super-human hero.

Porn legend Seymour Butts stars in the drop-dead-funny slasher spoof Slaughter Party (2005). When a twisted mad scientist sets his sights on a gang of bikini-clad lesbians, he unleashes a murderous midget to crash their Sapphic slumber party! Featuring Ron Jeremy (Orgazmo, Citizen Toxie) Slaughter Party is a splatter-punk freak-out you’ll never forget!

Blood Oath (2009): When a group of friends on a weekend camping trip decide to an urban legend, all their lives are changed. They will have to fight to stay alive, but they will soon pray for death!

In Bigfoot (2009), something monstrous is slaughtering deer in the marshlands ofOhio, leaving them torn to shreds. Authorities believe it to be the work of a bear, but army veteran Jack Sullivan knows the truth. The deer were just the beginning.

Stuck on You! (1982) is a hilarious sex odyssey about lovers through the ages. A couple in Family Court are brought before Judge Gabriel (comedy legend Professor Irwin Corey) who takes them back in time. Find out for yourself the surprise truth about who Judge Gabriel really is!

Variety calls FATHER’S DAY ”a gleefully tasteless quasi-grindhouse nasty that’s funnier than most of the many such parodic cheesefests that have been created since, well, Grindhouse!” Ain’t it Cool News adds “FATHER’S DAY is over the top, tasteless, senseless, and completely hilarious.”

The gritty, gruesome, grindhouse FATHER’S DAY follows that classic story we all grew up with: boy watches father murdered, boy grows into a vengeful one-eyed man, man teams up with a priest and a male prostitute to take down his father’s killer. With good reason, FATHER’S DAY won Best Film, Most Original Film, Best Kills, and Best Poster at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival and has been invited to other prestigious festivals all over the world.

In KILL, six strangers, winners of a dream vacation contest, awake to find themselves terrorized by insane Tiki-men in masks and taunted by their deranged captors.  It soon becomes clear than only one thing will save them: kill or be killed! Directed by Chad Archivald and Philip Carrer, get Kill on DVD in April!

WHERE EVIL LIVES, a buried treasure from 1991 directed by Stephen A. Maier, Kevin G. Nunan & Richard L. Fox Jr, consists of three 30-minute horror stories as told by Jack Devlin (Claude Akins).  The stories feature a mass murderer, a vampire, and a modern day witch who helps the police stop a demented doctor.  WHERE EVIL LIVES will be available in May.

Lloyd was a guest at the awesome BUTFF (B-Movie, Underground and Trash Film Festival) in the Netherlands in 2011

Amazing Cannibal VHS cover!

Adam Green directed Hatchet (2006), Hatchet 2 (2010), which starred Lloyd Kaufman, and Frozen (2010), and is now writing and producing Hatchet 3.  Joe Lynch, a former Troma alum, is the director of Wrong Turn 2 (2007) and the upcoming adventure Knights of Badassdom and the action thriller Everly, shooting this Spring.  He claims to be Kaufman’s adopted son, and more well endowed than Green and Kaufman combined.  Green & Lynch starred in and executive produced the FEARnet series Holliston, which Green wrote and directed.

Nuart Theatre is located at 11272 Santa Monica Boulevard, just west of the 405 Freeway, West Los Angeles.

James Gunn (Super, Slither) on the set of Tromeo and Juliet

History of Astron-6: On March 3, 1969 the United States Navy established an elite school for the top one percent of its pilots. Its purpose was to teach the lost art of aerial combat and to ensure that the handful of men who graduated were the best fighter pilots in the world.  They succeeded.  Today, the Navy calls it Fighter Weapons School. The flyers call it: Astron-6.

Troma Entertainment is proud to announce that Mark Neveldine (who has learned everything he needs to know about alcohol consumption from Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman) will host the New York premiere of Father’s Day at Sunshine Cinema at midnight on Friday, February 10. He will join Father’s Day producer and creator of The Toxic Avenger, Kaufman, in hosting this historic evening, which will include a Q&A with Astron-6, who directed the movie.  If conditions are right, Neveldine and Kaufman may recreate their famous “passing out drunk under the theatre seats” technique, which is instrumental to their filmmaking.

Mark Neveldine is best known as the writer & director of Crank (2006), Crank: High Voltage (2009) and Gamer (2009) which starred Lloyd Kaufman. His new film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, filmed in distant Romania (in order to get away from Lloyd Kaufman) and starring Nicholas Cage, opens on February 17 nationwide.

Sunshine Cinema is located at 143 East Houston Street, New York.  Tickets are now on sale online at landmark.com or from the box office.  If you are a film critic who would like a screener of Father’s Day for review, please email nina@troma.com with your mailing address.

The gritty, gruesome, grindhouse Father’s Day follows that classic story we all grew up with: boy watches father murdered, boy grows into a vengeful one-eyed man, man teams up with a priest and a male prostitute to take down his father’s killer.  Variety calls Father’s Day “a gleefully tasteless quasi-grindhouse nasty that’s funnier than most of the many such parodic cheesefests that have been created since, well, Grindhouse!” Ain’t it Cool News adds “Father’s Day is over the top, tasteless, senseless, and completely hilarious.” For more on Father’s Day, including additional theatres where Father’s Day will be presented, visit www.thefathersdaymovie.com.

Unlike mainstream, elitist festivals like Cannes and Sundance, TromaDance does not charge film makers anything to submit their films.  All TromaDance screenings are free and with the festival’s “No VIP Policy”, celebrities and fans are treated equally.  TromaDance will be held at Asbury Lanes in historic Asbury Park, New Jersey on May 4th and 5th.

As is the tradition, part of the TromaDance budget is funded by fans. This year the festival is being partially crowd-funded through Kickstarter. We still need donations to get to our fan goal of $4000. Please donate at KICKSTARTER.  Backers who donate will receive a variety of exclusive rewards, including signed collectible posters, DVDs, original Toxic Crusaders animation cells or even a round of bowling with TromaDance founder, Lloyd Kaufman or a cameo in an upcoming film!

In the past, TromaDance has presented the North American premiere of THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE, THE TAINT, KIDNAPPED.  The work of Giuseppe Andrews was also presented for the first time at TromaDance.  The festival also hosts discussion panels with independent filmmakers that share their wisdom and secrets to success with the audience.  Past panels include Oscar-nominated actress Karen Black, Jenna Fischer, GHOST RIDER producer Steven Paul, Adam Rifkin, director of THE DARK BACKWARD and DETROIT ROCK CITY, HOUSE OF THE DEVIL producer Larry Fessenden, Independent Film and Television Alliance CEO Jean Pruitt, and Oscar-nominated animator Bill Plympton.