European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 3, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Vij fat go Loyd Kaufman fell and Michael Herz in the wilting room to right Are the producer of a Success til Sleazy Tow budget new York my company called Troma. Bringing sleaze to the screen by Jerry Schwartz associated Pressi none scene in the Trama film the toxic Avenger the hero a hulking Green Lellow who is covered with boils and slime makes last work and last food of three murderous cretins in a restaurant. One is baked in a pizza oven. Another has his head turned into a Milkshake. The third screams As his fingers Are French inc excessive Well yes but the toxic Avenger is an excessive Guy. At another juncture he leaves an alleyway lit crud Wilh eyeballs and Bone marrow a scene that the own police chief Calls the most gruesome thing i be Ever  have you seen my Molher in Law that s  replies a politician. Excruciating Gore dumb humor Low budget ingenuity it s a textbook example of the Troma Louch the touch that has made the company a leading producer of exploitation films that revel in cheesiness. Troma is nol a grand Hollywood studio where starlets sashay executives take meetings and do lunch and directors throw around million Dollar figures like so much stale Popcorn. It is mislead the cinematic Loyol Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Chrz two Wise Guys who spin their escapist fare Erma Bombeck from a Len Emcil adjoining a boarded up fish store in new York s Moll s Milchan. We re film nuts. We love  Kaufman says. Bui Money also is a major consideration Kaufman makes ii Clear Hal he does not intend to lose his shirt on a film version of Strindberg s the Saga of the Folk Ungs. Troma films have lilies Lite class olm teem High demented Dea try farm massacre. The movie i was a teenage to terrorist Zombie Island massacre sizzle Beach. Usa and fat Guy goes Nuzzo a. We want to provide Low budget movies to what we perceive to be ensling set audiences Kaufman says. Rather than Pul All our eggs into a $20 million movie and aim it at nobody we make dims in a More Modost fashion and aim them at groups we know  the Troma brain Rusl knows Hal there arc some people who will go to see any movie in which some poor soul is dissected by a maniacal sushi chef or in which curvaceous females expose their breasts White humiliating teen age boys. Troma also knows that multiplex Heaters Are sprouting All across America s suburbs and that As Kaufman says you can t til them All up with Crocodile  theater owners want Low priced movies that will do Good business for a week or two until flock Xiv arrives. Trama also knows that there is a voracious Appel to for video rentals. Troma movies generally appear Only briefly in movie Heaters and i hero is a great untapped Reservoir of viewers who missed fat Guy goes we Zorro. Early on Kaufman and her put Brothers Sisters parents and others in their movies. Most of my friends and relatives find it s fairly Bong to be in 9 movie so i m having trouble recruiting these Days Kaufman says. Not that a has to Saab the Lor actors we re Theoff Broadway of movies he Sayo. We re the Opportunity Lor Young latent to gain  some Troma actors Are paid 11,000 a week but not Many. Some Are paid nothing. Many Troma movies do not have unionized Crews and casts. Troma specializes in pre production work. Every scene is rehearsed extensively on videotape to Cut Down on the Cost of shooting. Most of Trona s to is done on location no need to build costly sets but there is a Troma Bach lot in Jersey cily,. The Troma system Means the company which is privately held and releases Lew figures nearly always makes Money. The toxic Avenger Cost is minion to make Lar toss than the average Hollywood feature some of the reviews were Good and a modest hit was bom. So Lar it has brought in $15 million. A Hollywood studio. L they make a movie that makes there Are some parents who believe you Don l have Cadien 10 reap dividends they say you can get bigger returns Downing the bottles out of your basement As my has have Lold me Many times they Drin t ask Lobo ban  nun a figure that was destined to walk Down a run aay m a bathing suit. It was t Hie idea to live in the Mburns away irom Public transp orillion making it nut scary for us to provide a  for them. And we pushed Lor Lour years of College when i Hoy would have been just As Happy to take Lime Olf watching jeopardy and finding themselves we have never at one moment bought Hal Theo y thai kids owe you Noling they owe us and they owe us big1 we plucked them trom the jaws of a genetic mess and folded them into the Bright human a Wolers they air today we straightened their Teeth corrected their Over bile their speech. Ihei walk and their Altitude we sent them to Camp introduced them to sports and music and encouraged them to think we Sel their broken Bones cooled their fevers stoic had up their bodies and lived above our income. We Isle Ned when we were led advised Vohon we weren t asked Hung around when we were no i wanted and showed up Tor parenting every Day of oui lives at great emotional Sucre lick. We carved a permanent place for each of them into a family Structure that will be there for them forever no one else will occupy thai spot those who oppose this theory say they cannot imagine How kids could repay them anyway naive Illta fools. There Are a million ways. When they Are Small they can get me a Glass of water when i am tired or Busy talking to someone. They can help me find my car keys when they Are lost they can thank me for staving up until Midnight to get the last tray of cookies out of the oven Tor the halloween party at school. They can breathe without having aft allowance increase they can let me touch them without flinching they can Tell their friends riot to smoke or use bad language around me i abhor both they can play Tennis with me once in a while and be considerate enough to hit the Ball Only where i am standing. They can take me to lunch occasionally and pick up the Check. They can Pul away the Butler and the milk when i am sick. T hey can thank me by introducing me to their friends or by saying they like something i Cook. They can show their appreciation for Ali my sacrifices by answering their phone when i Call instead of lying in bed listening to me having an Antiely attack at the sound of the beep once in a while they can remember some Good things from their childhood. Too Ollen we Lei kids of the Hook by suggesting they Don t owe us a thing Lor hew existence. True they re not an endowment that you Cash in alter 20 years nor Are they an Art Ira sure Hal you Hope will increase in value As the years go on. They re an investment thai returns Courtesy and respect Lor those parents old fashioned enough to earn ill Page 16 the stars and stripes saturday october 3,1987