The Toxic Avenger Remake Unrated DVD

 

TITLE-The Toxic Avenger Remake

SOURCE-Unrated DVD

Feels like 20 years ago I heard a rumor that the cult classic 80s gore/comedy/horror film The Toxic Avenger was getting remade. I was worried. I love the Toxic Avenger franchise and felt a remake wouldn't work. Film gets completed then sat on the shelves for a few years. Mostly cause the owners of the film wanted to get a Unrated version in  wide release. 

This time instead of a nerdy dude that cleans up at a health club our lead is a midget that is a janitor at the big chemical plant that is polluting the entire area. Peter Dinklage is our lead and he is struggling to pay bills and take care of his stepson. Plus Peter is dying from some brain issue.

Kevin Bacon is the owner of this big poluting Chemical Plant and we get Elijah Woods as a very   Danny Devito Batman Returns Penquin looking character. The rest of the cast is mostly folks I dont know from other films or tv shows.

Leaning heavy on the current problem of healthcare costing so much. And how a simple operation  could bankrupt a family,this remake takes the gore and dark comedy of the original updates it for a modern audience and makes it a film that I could see being a bigger hit than any of the previous 4 Toxic Avenger films.

Gory as hell. I do love how this feels like a big budget 80s/90s era Troma film. Yea there is more CGI than you would see in a Troma film. Thankfully most of the CGI works and looks decent.

No clue how this would play to your standard horror fan. One that thinks the Terrifier series is the gorest films ever,not even close if you know Euro Horror or Asian horror. For me it was a great way to kill almost 2 hours.

For me the best scene is when Toxie goes to a concert and does a great cover of Motorhead's Overkill while killing the band on stage.

The Toxic Avenger Remake Unrated gets a B+

31 Days of Horror 2021 Day 12 Return to Return to Nuke'm High AKA Volume 2

 

TITLE- Return to Return to Nuke'EM High AKA Volume 2

SOURCE-Troma Blu Ray

Back in 2013 Troma released the first part of what is the 4th film in the Nuke'Em High franchise.  I got it as soon as it hit Blu ray and figured in a year or at most 2 years and the second part would hit home video.

It was 6 years. In 2019 Volume 2 hit home video. And by then I had kind of forgot about the film. Then this year back in the end of March a buddy of mine suddenly passed. Blade Braxton was the name most people knew him by. He was a huge Troma fan. And had been one of the Cretins in Return to Nuke'Em High. After seeing the first part I contacted him and got told "Ya most of my scenes will be in the second part." He passed all of the sudden and after getting over the shock of him dying at a young age,he was 45 or 46,I thought damn I need to see Volume 2. Went and saw that Amazon was sold out. But found a copy at Troma's website.

This film picks up right were volume 1 ended.Lauren is in the shower and like in the movie Carrie blood starts to run down her legs. Seems Lauren is pregnant. She got raped by a duck in volume one. After spraying blood and slime all over the shower. Which causes damage to some of the other girls in the shower,Lauren gives birth to a human/duck hybrid. That looks like a chicken nugget mixed with a duck.

Now this is a Troma film so the plot doesn't always make the most sense. The film is mostly about Lauren and her girlfriend,Chrissy trying to stop an evil corp from poisoning the word. This corp is ran by Lloyd Kaufman.

While I did enjoy this movie it does feel like there was at most 40 minutes leftover after volume 1. So Lloyd used stuff that was filmed years before,like the scenes with Lemmy from Motorhead as the President of the USA,and of course the Sgt Kabukiman NYPD car flip stunt is reused. Then there is a pile of new stuff filmed with Lloyd on very limited sets.

This isn't a film that will convert someone into a Troma fan. But if you already are this is one of the wildest Troma films in a long time. You got piles of nudity,male and female. Piles of gore and offensive material.

As far as Blade. Now I've only watched this movie twice now. And spotted him in 2 scenes. One of them he is on camera for a decent amount. The other it is a pause to find him moment. 

This Blu Ray has two discs. And the second disc includes a documentary on the making of the 2 volumes of Return to Nuke'Em High. This documentary is titled 2 Girls 1 Duck. And it is great. Troma makes movies on a low budget. Lots of the time with a crew that is either not getting any pay or getting paid very little. In this documentary there is a great scene of Blade on set. And you can tell he is having a blast. 

So if you are a Troma fan you should go out and get both volumes. If you want to see a decent documentary on the making of a low budget film get Volume 2 and watch 2 Girls 1 Duck.

Return to Return to Nuke'Em High aka Volume 2 gets a B+.

31 Days of Horror Day 29 The Children

Title-The Children
Source-Troma YouTube channel

A bus load of young children drive thru a toxic cloud while on a field trip. This causes their fingernails to turn black and their touch burns.

So you get lots of scenes of kids hugging  their parents. Then the parents burning up and huge yellow clouds.

Our heroes discover that the only way to kill the children is to chop off both hands.

Our lead's wife is pregant. She gives birth and the final scene we see the baby's fingernails are black.

Sadly the print used looks rough. But is watchable.

The Children gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2015 Day 08 Terror Firmer unrated Director's cut

Terror Firmer
Source-Unrated Director's cut 2 disc DVD

I have love Troma since when I first saw Toxic Avenger back in the 80s. So as soon as Netflix had Terror Firmer for rent I rented it. For a few years I would blind buy anything  Troma put out. But they had a 3 or 4 year long slump. So I switched to renting their stuff first to see if it was worth buying. And Terror Firmer was. But the only versions I could find locally for sale were used and looked to be in bad shape. So I figured if I waited I would find a decent copy for a good price.

I didn't know at the time I would be waiting 11 years. Yep 11 years. At the 2014 Coastcon,I was at this one dealer's table. She always has a great selection of new and used DVDs and Blu rays. I am standing there chatting with her. We found out the year before we have a mutual friend. When I saw Terror Firmer in her bins. And it was still sealed. "I am asking $8 for it since it sounds like one of the discs is loose." I shook the case heard a disc rattling around. But figured it wouldn't be too scratched up to play. Plus since it was still sealed that meant it would have the Terror Firmer mini poster. I paid her for it and the other things I was buying. And opened it up to see if there was any damage to the loose DVD. Nope not even a tiny scratch.

Set on the set of a low budget film,Terror Firmer is in some ways a film version of  Kaufman's first book on how to make a movie. There is some lady killing off people involved in the film. Add in the normal issues on the set of a low budget film and you get all kinds of mayhem.

The cast is pretty damn good for a Troma film. You got Debbie Rochon as the diva actress,Lloyd Kaufman playing a version of himself as the blind director,and then there is Will Keenan and Trent Haaga. I had seen Keenan in Tromeo and Juliet. And Haaga I had seen in a few Full Moon movies. Both are good actors and really shine in this film

The FX are also pretty damn good for a modern Troma movie. And thankfully there is no CGI. There is even a few scenes where Haaga,who plays the FX guy in the film,explains how they do a few of the FX.

Now of course with this being unrated and a Troma film that means it is loaded up with gore,nudity and plenty of non-PC stuff. If this film had been sent to the MPAA it would have gotten an NC 17.

The 2 discs of this set are loaded with extras. The movie has 2 commentaries. Both of which are worth listening too. And there is a great Easter egg. Where you will be shown the R rated version of the film. When it comes to a scene that had to be cut to get an R rating,Lloyd shows up on screen and describes  what is going on. The second disc has a really long and really good documentary on the making of Terror Firmer. Which is almost as entertaining as the film is.

Terror Firmer gets a B+.

31 Days of Horror 2015 Day 02 Return to Nuke'em High volume 1

Return to Nuke'em High Volume 1

Source-Anchor Bay/Troma Blu Ray

I saw the original Nuke'em High film during one of the Scifi Channels marathons of Troma movies. Yep back when Scifi was first hitting the airwaves they showed cut for cable Troma films. I enjoyed part 1,but parts 2 and 3 were much better.

So 3 years ago when I heard Troma was making a fourth film in the franchise I got pretty damn excited. But like with most recent Troma films it took a long time from when the film was finished until it got a home video release. I understand that Troma wants their films to play as many theaters as they can before it hits dvd/blu ray. But with no theater within a 3 hour drive of me that would show a Troma film I have to wait on home video.

The nuclear power plant by Nuke'em High is now the HQ of some giant global food corporation.And they are supplying food for Nuke'em High. Which of course is contaminated.

So the food ends up transforming the Glee Club into the new Cretins. And our heroes,if you can call them that,are two young ladies that goto Nuke'em high. Who through out the course of the film fall in love. 

Really my only complaint about this film is that it is broken up into two parts. And as of the writing of this post no release date has been set for volume 2.

I will say the blu ray of this looks great. And has well done sound. Plus you get two commentaries. One with some of the cast. And one with Lloyd Kaufman. And if you look around you can find this cheap.

Return to Nuke'em High Volume 1 gets a B.