TROMA PRESIDENT TALKS TRASH

The Retro-Trash Theater Company, a troupe of actors who base their work on exploitation films of the 70s and 80s and Grindhouse cinema which is making a comeback thanks to Quentin Tarrantino and Robert Rodriquez had their first variety show benefit at Porky’s in New York. The entertainment was just as unique featuring comic Angry Bob, dirty folk singer Jessica Delfino and the sexy stylings of the Queen of rock n’ roll burlesque, dancer Lucy Buttons.

Lloyd Kaufman, president of Troma films and the king of B-movies such as The Toxic Avenger and upcoming Poultrygeist, Night of The Chicken Dead was the perfect guest for the quirky evening. Very loosely based on Steven Spielberg’s Amistad, Kaufman describes the plot.

“What happened was a fast food chicken restaurant was built on an ancient Indian graveyard, the graveyard of the Troma Hawk Indians and as you know the chickens are mercilessly destroyed, hundreds of thousands of chickens are living horrible inhumane lives in concentration coups in our country and the Indians were also exterminated so the spirits of the dead Indians and the dead chickens get together and come into the fast food chicken restaurant and basically get revenge on the workers as well as the customers.”

Believe it or not Kaufman was a musical theater buff who began Troma Entertainment with his buddy at Yale college, Michael Herz in 1974 so his Broadway influences can be seen in the film.

“There’s also some singing and dancing in Poultrygeist because I’m a song and dance man myself. And so you’ll see some original songs and some dancing on screen in Poultrygeist, five or six songs. It’s not a musical. Poultrygeist is not a musical, it’s a Troma movie, a satire on the fast food industry but I would guess it’s the first Indian chicken zombie movie with some singing and dancing. I think that’s for sure.”

Poultrygeist Night of The Chicken Dead featuring Ron Jeremy is on its way to the Cannes Film Festival. The Retro Trash Theater Company’s next production Erotic Nights of Death and Torture is written by artistic director and founder Christopher Brown.