Poultrygeist

"Night of the Chicken Dead"

Troma really has come along way since The Toxic Avenger. Films from Troma have been lacking in originality lately (Not the creative umph! but rather the flawed execution), and seems like the company hasn’t aged a year since it’s beginning in 1974. Troma, if you don’t know, is an independent film company centered on fart jokes, lesbians, and cheap gore effects.

So the plot is about a balding goof ball named Arbie (Get it? Fast Food) who is in love with a woman who went to college and became an artfag liberal lesbian and in order to go against her ways, he accepts a job at a chicken shack ran by a black militant. I imagine that Kaufman has a team of Jewish writers to come up with this kitsch. This Indian burial ground that is below the restaurant creates chicken zombies that ultimately make Michael Herz skinny, which is highly unlikely.


Denny, the black store manager, instantly becomes a trembling “slave” in front of the general - Yet another example of the horrible undertones of the film. This is not a bad thing at all. Propaganda is a must at times. What would society be without it? Another hilarious scene is in which the militant states that blaming the Jews is the first thing to do, which in most cases of Chicken Zombies would be appropriate.

What Poultrygeist does best is mock many races and countercultures which most films dare not to intimidate due to the amount of population conformation. Artfags surrounding in a lesbian protest suddenly pause from their protesting of something they know nothing about other than the fad (This includes Gay Rights parades), to slurp on a smooth latte from their very favorite - Starbucks.


There is also a similar scene to the parody in Wayne’s World. An old, crooning man who had wasted his life working a part-time job recollects of a time when he was young and had youth. I wonder what would have happened to Lloyd without his film making career? I can see him being a disgruntled office worker which he happens to half-way become later in the film.

Lloyd is the kind of Jew that I can appreciate, one who is aware of his own religion and can mock it openly, rather than pretending to be a lawyer or an intellectual. Family Guy can make fun of black but not Jews? Lloyd basically says fuck it, and proceeds without caution. So besides the gore and implants of racial tension and slut chickens, how does this film hold up?

To put it simply, Poultrygeist is the most ambitious film created by Troma and puts Lloyd on top of his campy goodness game. Besides being a wonderful musical and a social commentary on fast food and racism, it manages to uphold as the best of Troma. Poultrygeist is perhaps even better than The Toxic Avenger and Terror Firmer. The soundtrack is amazing while breathing recklessness and amazing direction in the cast. Troma made up for the "you either love it or hate it" abomination Cannibal the Musical, although I still respect Parker & Stone.


In terms of flat out splatter, Poultrygeist reigns supreme. The slaughter scene in which all the Chick-zombies go on a mad hunt for flesh is one of the most inventive massacres I have seen in recent years. It’s impossible to write down the utter enjoyment I had for this film. I can no longer go to Chick-Fil-A due to the cows stating, “Eat more chikin.”

The gore is top-notch and is only set down by its amazing effects in the creation of the chicken zombies. Such a raunchy tale of “fowl” play can only be undermined by its ridiculousness. Scenes are parodying Jaws, Poltergeist, and many other classic horror films. Tromaville sure is a funky place, with satire and exploding faces and NES cartridges, I’d only like to imagine the headlines. Not since prohibition has there been so much death and despair.

-mAQ