From early raunchy comedies like SQUEEZE PLAY!, STUCK ON YOU! and WAITRESS! to their breakthrough hit THE TOXIC AVENGER (1984), and onto offerings such as the CLASS OF NUKE ‘EM HIGH trilogy, SGT. KABUKIMAN NYPD, TROMA’S WAR, TROMEO AND JULIET and POULTRYGEIST: NIGHT OF THE CHICKEN DEAD; Troma Entertainment, Inc is today still going strong after nearly 40 years and has amassed a catalogue of nearly 1,000 films, cartoons, TV shows etc).
Lloyd Kaufman was recently in
London at the Prince Charles Cinema (PCC) for the UK premiere of his latest
directorial offering: RETURN TO NUKE ‘EM HIGH VOL.1. and on a surprisingly hot Sunday
afternoon I caught up with this independent auteur of exploitation in the welcoming
surroundings of the PCC’s air-conditioned bar...
LK: Well thank you Fleapits and Picture Palaces!
LK: (A Diet Coke please and I’m happy to pay for it).Well I come from the traditional (do you want me to pay for that?) No, oh thank you. Note that the Prince Charles Cinema has given Bruce Springsteen AKA Lloyd Kaufman a free diet coke!
Duly noted.
LK: Deeply appreciated and what a nice cinema it is. You know I’m old. I learned French as a child at home because French was a useful language – it is no more of course, it’s a totally useless language...
Are you sure you wouldn’t
like a seat?
Is this a bad gesture in China? [Raising pinkie finger in the air – my 7 year-old daughter suggested this question].
LK: I don’t know. My daughter speaks fluent Chinese – she would know – and she has just done by the way the first Troma Meltdown in Beijing! Throwing up green fluid at The Great Wall - first time ever!
LK: No I’m good, but you sit down.
Thank you
LK: ...and I felt that since my high school years were
devoted to Western society, American and European history and culture, I should
spend my Yale university years on China and Africa. I discovered there were
lots of people and there must be some reason for all those people there, so I
studied Chinese! I was recently in a movie - in London - yesterday in fact! I
was in a film in London, a small part just because they were fans, and I was
playing a Chinese pousse-pousse
(pedicab) driver and that guy who they got the pousse-pousse from was Chinese
and he could not speak English. Luckily I could speak a little Chinese and
translate for the movie director (who was a non-male by the way – which is rare
in our business). Is this a bad gesture in China? [Raising pinkie finger in the air – my 7 year-old daughter suggested this question].
LK: I don’t know. My daughter speaks fluent Chinese – she would know – and she has just done by the way the first Troma Meltdown in Beijing! Throwing up green fluid at The Great Wall - first time ever!
Is it true that the
first ‘film’ you shot was footage of a pig being slaughtered - which you then
screened for your family?
LK: Yes, well it was kind of a short film.
Pork snuff!
LK: Pork snuff for sure. I spent a year in the Republic of
Chad, with no electricity, no phones, no nothing. Because I went to all-boys
schools for 20 years basically, I was very immature in my attitude toward women
so Chad had lots of naked young women running around and they slaughtered
animals right in the market place - so sex and violence in my beat all thanks
to the Republic of Chad!
(We raise a toast to
the Republic of Chad)
I went to see THE
TOXIC AVENGER when it first hit UK shores purely on the basis of a review in a London magazine called Time Out -
LK: Ah, thank you Time Out. You know I became friendly with
that critic Nigel somebody or other...
Floyd?
LK: Yes! Nigel Floyd, a lovely guy, how is he? I haven’t
seen him in years. He’s a good guy. He didn’t really get our movies – but he wanted
to because we were independent - whereas the other guy from The Guardian, er...
Derek Malcolm?
LK: Yes! Derek, he got it immediately, he liked it, and I
think he got ‘em. But Nigel was a wonderful guy; do send him my best...
Did you have any
inkling whilst making THE TOXIC AVENGER that it would achieve the success it
did?
LK: Every time we make a movie I believe it is a great film
because I only make movies that I really believe in – which is why I haven’t
yet started shooting TOXIC AVENGER PART V because I cannot write a script that
I really believe in. It’s been four or five years and I haven’t gotten there
yet so I don’t want to make it. I think RETURN TO NUKE ‘EM HIGH is fabulous,
and in a fair world... And POULTRYGEIST is a great movie -
Agreed.
LK: - And in a fair world it would be a huge hit, it’s just
that we’re independent. You know, Billy Friedkin just made an independent movie:
KILLER JOE - he can’t get arrested with that – it’s a masterpiece - it’s a
masterpiece - and because it’s independent it’s playing shitty movie festivals
and not Cannes or you know whatever...
Back to THE TOXIE
AVENGER, is it true that grandparents in the US unwittingly bought uncut copies
of the film as presents for their grandchildren mistaking it for the far tamer
and more wholesome TOXIC CRUSADERS animated TV series? 
LK: That did happen many times; the grandmother would go
into a video store and take home the uncut video cassette of TOXIC AVENGER. The
cover is a drawing - it’s a painting, so it looks like a cartoon, but it always
says: “gross and disgusting scenes” or “this movie contains scenes of an adult
nature” or something. Once, Blockbuster
actually put a sticker on THE TOXIC AVENGER movie saying: “Blockbuster family
recommendation” – so things like that did happen, yes.
Is life easier or
harder now for independent filmmakers with digital technology, the internet,
YouTube, crowd-funding schemes etc?
LK: I think it’s the democratisation of the making of cinema
– you can make a movie with no money, money is not the issue anymore. Everyone
can make a movie - and that’s wonderful. But, how do you live off your art, that is almost impossible unless you’re in with
one of the cartel, one of the elite, one of the Rupert Murdoch’s vassals
otherwise you can’t survive. Which is why I’ve given away 250 of our movies on
YouTube for free. I never went into this business to make money, and I think its
better that people share our art and our fans will take care of us because I
think there will be some kind of a new model, even though maybe the AVATAR’s
continue to charge too much money. I think that the smaller films will have to
either be shared or the fans will have to decide how much to pay because
there’s a consumer rebellion. So, to answer your question, the miracle of the
technology has liberated us from the expense of making a movie – you used to
need a lot of money to make even a Troma movie. $500,000 is nothing compared to
a typical American movie. RETURN TO NUKE ‘EM HIGH was $500,000, but that’s less
than one half of one percent of a typical US conglomerate made movie. That’s
still a shitload of money – you can start a lot of dress shops for that money –
but now with digital cinema you just need to be talented. The problem is the
distribution system has not kept up with the progress of the making of the
movies – that’s the problem. That’s why we are filming OCCUPY CANNES
documentary about the Cannes film festival because we want to underscore how
Cannes doesn’t really understand that there’s thousands of talented young
filmmakers who they’re ignoring because they don’t know about them because the
big conglomerates are smothering everybody with their advertising dollars and
their McDonalds-ization of art.
And presumably the
TromaDance Film Festival was created in response to this?
LK: Yes. Trey Parker, the South Park guy, suggested we put a
festival in Sundance because we were so disgusted by Sundance’s unpleasant
atmosphere. So he said let’s put a festival in the same town at the same time
but don’t charge people to submit their movies; don’t charge people to see the
movies and no VIP policy: no snotiness. And we’ve been doing that for 15 years,
although we’ve moved it as Tromadance outgrew Park City Utah, so we moved it to
New Jersey, home of THE TOXIC AVENGER. And obviously Tromadance has no revenue
so our fans help us; crowd-sourcing has helped TromaDance and somehow it keeps
going. It’s very warm and idealistic and we’ve shown some marvellous
movies.
Many contemporary film
directors have quoted Troma as being an inspiration to them. Take Guillermo del Toro for
example. Having seen the trailer for his upcoming PACIFIC RIM; to me it’s basically a re-staging of the classic
sequence from Troma’s CLASS OF NUKE ‘EM HIGH PART II: SUBHUMANOID MELTDOWN when
giant mutant squirrel Tromie trashes Tromaville – albeit this time with a
budget of approx. $200 million dollars.
LK: [Ha-ha]
So which directors, contemporary or otherwise, do you
admire?
Who’s your favourite
actor / actress that you’ve worked with over the years?
LK: I think my
favourite cast is THE RETURN TO NUKE
‘EM HIGH cast. We’re a starting off part for actors so I don’t get to work with
them very often.
But you have worked
with some really big names early on in their careers though haven’t you?
LK: Yes, but they don’t stay with us - and rightfully so -
we’re their stepping stone. But the cast
of RETURN TO NUKE ‘EM HIGH - Asta Paredes, Catherine Corcoran, Clay von
Carlowitz, Mark Quinnette – the central cast are brilliant. They’re smart and
the two female leads (Asta and Catherine) are terrific, they created a
relationship between the two characters and they really took it seriously – and
you see it. We’re still editing volume 2 but I’m seeing how – even though we
don’t shoot totally in sequence – how they made the relationship between them
develop.
Speaking of big names
– one name in particular who’s most certainly not still in the early
stages of his career – Arnold Schwarzenegger –has been linked to a remake of
THE TOXIC AVENGER: is that really going
to happen?
LK: I don’t know, but apparently they’ve signed him...
He’s not going to play
TOXIE of course.
LK: Oh no, he plays an insect killer (an ex-terminator) [!], but I haven’t read the script. They
said they’ve paid him...By the way; the director is very good for this remake,
Steven Pink. He directed HOT TUB TIME MACHINE, and wrote the screenplays for GROSSE
POINTE BLANK and HIGH FIDELITY. They’re going to spend $150million dollars on it;
he’s a big Troma fan. I’ve met him a few times; I think he’s going to do a good
job.
Given the genre and
subjects Troma tackle, you’ve obviously had run-ins with the MPAA. Is there any
particular experience that stands out for you?
LK: I’m in HATCHET 2! – He’s very talented.
Yes you were, now
according to IMDB you’ve had 226 acting roles to date, (50 less than Sir
Christopher Lee – but he’s had a considerable head-start on you!) Are you
really a frustrated thespian stuck inside a very successful independent
filmmaker’s body?
LK: (Ha Ha) No I do it to help young filmmakers because if I’m
in a movie (and thank you for watching) our fans will maybe go and buy the DVD
or at least support it. My business partner Michael Herz, who never emerges out
into the daylight, he and I sincerely want to help independent cinema because it’s
really under assault (and it’s also under a pepper). You don’t have to laugh at
that. Those kind of jokes are a sign of dementia.
They’re puns. Hitchcock
said puns are the highest form of wit.
LK: They’re a sign of dementia - I’ve read articles about
it.
Well in that case let
me remind you of just a smattering of some of the roles you’ve played to date. You’ve
played Hitler, God, Satan, a character called ‘The Homo Killer’, Thomas Edison
(in THONG-GIRL 4), Bram Stoker, President Obama, the Pope and a character
called ‘Captain Orange-Piss Lawyer’. I actually think you’ve therefore got one
up on Sir Christopher Lee!
LK: Well when I started I was only playing doctors and drunken
bums. Tomorrow I’m going to be in a little film called...well I’m not supposed
to talk about it so don’t say anything.
[It’s a small part in
a very big, very cool film].*
Is there a question
that you’ve always wished someone had asked you during one of these interviews
but hasn’t to date?
LK: And that question is a good one but honestly I don’t
really think in those terms. I’m amazed anybody’s interested quite frankly. I’m
always astounded that anybody turns up at 4pm in the afternoon on a Sunday to
see a movie made in 1985 – and pays no less! We’re giving away by the way 250
movies on YouTube at this very minute to our fans to thank them – including this
one!
And finally, my 7 year old daughter has got a concept for a film which she’s asked me to put to you to see if Troma might be interested in developing it in the future. [At this point I pitched the concept to Mr Kaufman and he’s response was...]
And finally, my 7 year old daughter has got a concept for a film which she’s asked me to put to you to see if Troma might be interested in developing it in the future. [At this point I pitched the concept to Mr Kaufman and he’s response was...]
LK: Tell her I will consider stealing her idea, give her no
money whatsoever and then suing her for plagiarism.
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For more info on Troma, visit their website HERE
And for the Prince Charles Cinema's listings, visit their website HERE
P.S. (*the film was: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY)
Interview by Paul Worts
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