STOP TROMA BASHING

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STOP TROMA BASHING

In their 53rd issue, Dutch quality magazine SCHOKKEND NIEUWS (Shocking News, a bi-monthly publication devoted to horror, science fiction, fantasy and cult cinema) published a devastating review of two then recent Dutch DVD releases of Troma-titles MOTHER'S DAY and RABID GRANNIES. This review was so rediculously bad that I couldn't help but comment on it. Here's a translation of that letter, which was actually published in their next issue, taking up the entire last page, showing what a good sport the editor is.

Every two months it strikes me with what professionalism and love for the subject everything in SN is written - two facts that rarely go together. Therefore I was badly surprised when in issue 53 I encountered a dangerous, globally spreading phenomenon: Troma-bashing. Where serious media like the New York Times write serious publish serious reviews and articles about this sympathetic filmstudio, it is often those magazines that claim to be written by and for genre-addicts and connoisseurs that seem to find it necessary to illustrate their supposed knowledge by being negative even beforehand about anything Troma releases. Why this is the case has never been clear to me. OK, in the Troma-oeuvre there may be found some films that are not perfect, some maybe even bad. But name me one filmstudio with such an impressively enormous catalogue that does not include the same percentage of bad material. But even so, we never read about "giving the benefit of the doubt this once more" to Warner or Universal.

Tears sprang in my groins when I read Martijn Linneman's review of two recently released, already somewhat older Troma-titles. Linneman's limited knowledge of Troma's output is proven by his claim that he "still admired Kaufman c.s. for the endless enthusiasm with which the build an entire existence on complete nonsense".

From a serious reviewer of "our kind of films" I would expect more than such a cheap[ remark, without him having look a little further first and checking if his prejudice is really true and without watching any of the less known but beautiful and serious films that Troma owns and has released.

Not only is one of the two films he writes about in just this publication (MOTHER'S DAY) one of the most shocking and gripping films I know and devoid of any of the nonsense he mentioned earlier, but there are many other films in the oeuvre, pick-up or in-house production, that are utterly serious and just plain very GOOD.

And even movies that to the careless viewer might look nonsensical, like TERROR FIRMER, CITIZEN TOXIE, TROMEO & JULIET (to name but a few) are interspersed with biting cynicism and a very serious undercurrent.

Very early in his piece the professional reviewer informs us that he has not been able to watch the films "without any prejudice". But then what value does his article actually have? Further on Linneman also mucks things up even further. He talks about "a clever balance between painful horror-scenes and absurd humor [...] very acceptable acting [...] relate to the characters" to summarize it in the end as a "sympathetic waster". And after his remark that "especially MOTHER'S DAY is worthwile" he concludes with a mere "so so" two skull rating. It is clear the writer demonstrates here that indeed he had trouble putting aside his prejudice and in the nick of time realised it was a Troma film he was writing about. Especially taken into account his earlier confession I am absolutely sure that the same film would have received a higher rating were it released by a different studio.

I would have been interested to be informed on which points (other than the very positive remarks I quoted earlier, which seem to be disregarded in his final rating) MOTHER'S DAY is so much worse that other examples he mentions, of which especially LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT lacks a lot more cohesion and quality than Kaufman's film. Both concerning plot and acting. But of course, that is Wes Craven. I really wonder how that film would have been received if accidentally Troma would have gotten hold of it.

Furthermore it is a pity that, to underline his negativism, Linneman isolates a tongue-in-cheek remark by director Charles Kaufman about his brother Lloyd and treats it as a very serious comment, without him talking about the exceptionally entertaining, informative and often humorous commentary that accompanies the entire movie. Such a positive extra feature doesn't seem to fit in his plans.

When in the end he typifies RABID GRANNIES, being " only a Troma pick-up", as more defining for the "Kaufman mafia" and underlines this remark with examples as "satanic powers [...] bloodbath [...] distasteful scenes [...] meaningless plot", he proves once more that he goes to any lengths to defend his prejudice laden opinion. He could have drawn the conclusion from his findings after watching the excellent Troma-production MOTHER'S DAY that the image he has in his head is, simply, wrong!

What also seems to be overlooked is that a lot of the reasons Linneman uses to put down these titles also can be attributed to a film like BRAIN DEAD, where they somehow always seem to be used as a recommendation. But then again - then we are talking about Peter Jackson, aren't we? (Would this Peter Jackson have been given the opportunity to gamble almost a billion dollars making a pompous trilogy if his early works would accidentally be released by Troma? I am positive that would not be the case.)

Of course it is funny to talk about "the Kaufman mafia" - but when a professional reviewer does not understand that especially a small filmstudio that constantly has to fight the overpowering influence and obstruction of the true mafia of the Big Conglomerates is much more comparable to the oppressed family friendly high quality neighbourhood shop-around-the-corner, he simply hasn't the faintest idea what he is talking about.

Next time please give us a serious review by an unprejudiced writer!